Graduate profiles

Alexandra Willey

After graduating in Latin and Italian, Alex worked as a journalist for three and a half years then spent time volunteering for a charity in South Africa. On her return to the UK, she undertook a Masters degree in Town Planning with a focus on Urban Regeneration.

“My decision to change career was influenced by writing about community projects as a journalist and working in community development in South Africa. The graduate scheme appealed because Affinity Sutton’s ethos seemed to match my own career aspirations and related directly to what I’d covered during my Masters.

My first placement was within the Community Investment team which seemed ideal as it was exactly the type of work I’d wanted to get involved in when first looking into career options. It was certainly a case of hitting the ground running. I was involved in research and report writing and before long I was tasked with organising and recruiting for residents’ courses in areas such as DIY, gardening and computing. It was also during this placement that I started work on what was to become our first group project as graduates, the Affinity Sutton World Cup. Alongside this first placement we were provided with a comprehensive package of training  including courses such as report writing, project management and presentation skills.

My second placement was in the Key Worker department, where the learning curve became even steeper since this was an area of the business I had little knowledge of.  Reviewing policies and procedures and researching capacity for new projects were just some of the areas I worked on.

My placement in Asset Management proved to be more interesting than I had anticipated – I discovered that this department is about much more than simply managing housing stock.  My projects during this placement were regeneration focused including one which involved me producing viable proposals for some new community centres. This meant working with different stakeholders, from the architects designing the centres to the tenants who would use them.  Working on this and other projects within the department helped me to take a decisive step in my career when I was given the opportunity to join the Asset Management team permanently just before my final placement, working on an innovative and ground-breaking energy efficiency project called FutureFit.

Throughout the year I’ve been impressed with how well run and efficient each team is and how people are always looking to innovate.  There have been many memorable moments and achievements – lots of them involving direct work with residents. The World Cup football project, where I co-ordinated the Northern region, was challenging but hugely rewarding – working on an event involving 11 teams of mixed 9-11 year olds (and their enthusiastic supporters) is an experience you won’t encounter on many other graduate schemes!”