Graduate profiles

Sam Mulligan

A 2009 graduate, Sam studied for a degree in Law at the University of Kent, during which time he volunteered as an adviser at the local Citizens Advice Bureau.

“Before applying to the scheme, I had learnt a fair bit about social housing from cases I had dealt with at the CAB. However I hadn’t really considered a career in the sector until midway through my degree. It’s not a career path that’s particularly promoted at school or university. When I saw the Affinity Sutton advert, I was impressed by the structure of the programme and the breadth of experience you could gain. It seemed like a well thought out scheme, which could be the foundation for many different career paths.

There was certainly lots of variety across the first year. I was initially placed in the Customer Service team where I worked on projects including an appraisal of mobile working for housing officers and the development of our vision for customer service.

My law degree meant I was well suited to my second placement within the Company Secretariat and Legal Services team. I was responsible for leading a number of projects, which gave me exposure to cutting edge commercial developments such as the launch of our groundbreaking Santander Mortgage project. It was particularly pleasing to be given responsibility for shaping each project myself.

Next up was Supported Housing where I produced a report on our relationship with external agents which provide housing management and support services to our residents. My recommendations were received positively and will be implemented over the next 12 months in line with my action plan. Perhaps the most memorable part of that placement was shadowing a floating support team working with residents who have substance misuse issues – this was a genuinely eye-opening experience which really brought home the important role we play in helping people beyond providing homes.

My final placement was in Strategic Research where I worked on a customer insight project. This involved gathering data on the aspirations of our residents during different stages in their lives which I found really interesting.  The results will be fed into the overarching customer insight strategy we are currently developing and will impact on the entire organisation.

After all I’ve learned in the first year, I’m excited about having the opportunity to see a project through from initial idea to implementation. Also, we’ve all recently started on the Leadership in Action course, which will mean we’ll have a formal management qualification in less than twelve months time. Affinity Sutton has certainly kept to the promises it made in its graduate recruitment advert and I am very excited about my future here.”