Graduate profiles

Tom Conlon

Before joining us Tom graduated as a teacher and taught history for a couple of years. After a year out travelling, he was keen on a change of direction.

“I was interested in a fresh start - something different to teaching - but I still wanted a job with a genuine social purpose. I looked into a wide range of graduate roles and Affinity Sutton’s scheme was one that seemed to suit me best. The assessment day reinforced my interest. It was very positive, professional and well organised.  The fact the Chief Executive, Keith, gave us a talk showed how highly the business values its graduate scheme.

My first placement was in Asset Management.  Within three days of starting I was able to get my teeth into some real work. I led on a project looking at our policy on internal decorating – an issue that is very important to our residents. This involved running a series of focus groups - it was good to meet residents at this early stage and they weren’t slow to speak their minds!

I then moved on to the Development team. There was a real commercial edge to this work – I met a wide range of partners such as contractors and consultants. I’m now specialising in Development for my second year, but with a much greater focus on regeneration.  My third placement was with Finance. I’d never seen myself specialising in this area, but it does give you a much better understanding of the business as a whole. In particular, undertaking work looking at our service charge costs and shadowing management accountants at budget holder meetings were really useful learning experiences. 

My final placement was with Housing Management. I was involved in a major consultation with residents from an estate just off the Kings Road in Chelsea, not somewhere you might expect to find social housing.  Again this was very different to everything else I’d done. The variety is one of the big reasons why the first year has been so good.  I’ve done everything from appearing on Radio Plymouth promoting our World Cup competition to accompanying surveyors on inspections of empty properties.

To sum up, I’d say housing is a fascinating sector, far more interesting and diverse than I imagined before first applying. Affinity Sutton is a great organisation to join because it’s commercially focused while remaining committed to improving its residents’ lives.”