ProGrad Brisbane

ProGrad are looking to update their case studies and is calling for any candidates who have recently been placed, looking to take part.

If you have been placed through ProGrad and would like to be covered for one of our case studies, please let us know by contacting the ProGrad Graduate Management Team on 02 8235 8300.

Feel free to share information about your ProGrad experience as it may assist other graduates thinking of applying.

Davinia

ProGrad will see hundreds of candidates each month through our assessment days in Sydney and Melbourne.  We value any feedback provided to assist in improving the sessions, and would like to welcome your feedback on this site.

Recent feedback we have had includes:

“I really had a great experience yesturday and gained valuable knowledge and insights.
I would really appreciate it if I could get some feedback about my assessment, my strenghts, weaknesess, area’s I need to improve and information as to why I wasn’t successfull.
It would also really appreciate if I could acquire informaton on how to close successfully from a job interview, and how to create a strong job prospect.
Thanks again for your time.”

ProGrad are a unique offering.  We not only assess and place graduates, but we also offer training during their first year of employment to guarantee their success.  Why is this?

We have proven our model to be hugely successful.  The training serves many purposes – we not only skill people in new areas, but we ensure the courses are motivational and supportive.  We ensure the content is relevant to any business career that you embark on.

Areas such as professional presentation skills, negotiation and key account management are all covered as topics.  Whilst they might not be areas of responsibility covered in your frist 12 months of working, they are certainly aspects which you will benefit from over the years.

The training is of no cost to our candidates.  The training is paid for by the employers as an investment in their team.  It is simply facilitated by ProGrad because that is one of our core activities and we’re incredibly well equipped as a training company.

if you’re interested in hearing more about ProGrad, please contact one of the ProGrad Graduate Management Team on 02 8235 8300.

Davinia

During a ProGrad Assessment Day, we will make a few recommendations about interviews.  One of the key things to remember is preparation.

Whilst there is a lot of research and preparation you can do at home…it is rather pointless putting all of that effort in, if you’re not going to demonstrate it in an interview.

We recommend to all candidates to take in a physical notebook to the interviews.  In this notebook, have your research already written down.  Also, we recommend having a list of questions you would like to ask.  Take in a pen too, and write down any relevant information covered off in the interview itself.

Not only does this show good preparation, but it demonstrates professionalism.  If you were to attend a business meeting, you would arrive with a notepad and a pen.  An interview is no different.  In essence, it is simply a business meeting.  So treat it with the same level of respect.  Take a pen and paper, and write notes to contribute to any other preparation you have completed.  Not only will you feel more confident, but you will look far better too.

ProGrad help many graduates with interview preparation and even provide a presentation during the assessment days, all about how to be successful in interviews.  If you would like to learn more, please contact ProGrad on 02 8235 8300.

Davinia

Mark Arbib, the federal Employment Participation Minister made headlines for telling Australian kids not to be so picky about taking jobs they didnt think paid enough, weren’t cool enough or didnt give them good vibes enough.

His message, which might offend some…was quite simply,

“Welcome to the wonderful world of economics, kids, and for the moment, it sucks.”

Fair point, wouldnt you say?  It does suck.  The “cool” jobs…they don’t exist right now.  I’m not entirely sure they ever did…but if they once did, they certainly don’t now.

Ignorance is still sweeping some…with lots of candidates still playing the waiting game for their “dream” jobs.  Our forecast is that things are still likely to be tough for a little longer yet, and the job market is still fiercely competitive.  Whilst I’m not suggesting candidates accept jobs for the hell of it, I do think its time we started to look more realistically around potential opportunities, and what may need to be sacrificed.  Not all roles will offer flexible time, playstations, “cool” offices and perks, particularly not for recent graduates with limited experience and a lack of value-add for an employer.

Think about what IS important:

Exposure, Experience, Development, Training and the opportunity to start in a role where you can demonstrate your worth before rising the corporate ladder.  Things won’t be handed on a silver platter…you’ll actually have to work for it.  And the work will undoubtedly be long, tedious, mundane, difficult…much like most jobs I imagine.

Davinia

ProGrad work with recent University graduates to kick start their corporate careers in a business to business sales environment.  To be considered for any of our roles, please contact ProGrad on 02 8235 8300.

Held at The Ivy in Sydney, the IAB awards are to recognise and reward interactive advertising campaigns that have met or surpassed their goals.  With many ProGrad employers sponsoring these awards, we felt it was a great opportunity show our support and hopefully bump into some of our ProGrad candidates.

http://www.iabawards.com.au/

We weren’t disappointed!  After a few short minutes, we had bumped into many of our candidates, placed within the media industry with companies like News Digital Media, Sensis and B&T Magazine.

We’re looking forward to the next awards event…and the free food/ drink that will come with it!

Davinia

For any recent University graduate at the start of their career, we strong recommend joining www.linkedin.com in order to start generating your business network.  It doesn’t happen overnight, and you can’t expect that you’ll have hundreds of contacts straight away, however it has proven to be a fantastic tool for ProGrad employees in order to track their client base and liaise with clients and candidates using it.

It works in a similar fashion to Facebook or Myspace, however it is geared towards a more corporate audience.  With a business focus, you set up a profile (which ressembles a resume) and start to build on it with recommendations from peers/ clients/ coworkers.  You then start to add contacts to your network.  Upon adding them, you then have access to their networks, providing you with an opportunity to be introduced to new business contacts.  Perfect for any strong networker!

So have a look, and if you’re not part of it now – then you should be.  There is even a ProGrad Graduates Group on the site, where we would love to hear from you.  We always like to hear what you’re up to and would value your input in the group.

ProGrad Business Information: http://www.linkedin.com/companies/prograd 

Davinia

At ProGrad, we’re primarily dealing with “generation Y” (yuk, I’m really starting to dislike that term).  Regardless, these are recently graduated individuals about to embark on their graduate career.  Great news!  Although…there are a few things to be aware of…

1) Voicemail:  expect that prospective employers will be calling you upon receipt of your resume.  With that in mind, REMOVE those “joke” voicemails.  Record a new, corporate sounding message.  If a potential employer calls your voicemail and is less than impressed, you can probably expect they won’t be a) leaving a message or b) calling back.

2) Email address: if your email address on your resume is that same one you registered in your school days, and represents something like sillychick1986, my professional recommendation is to CHANGE IT!  Goes without saying, right?  You’d be surprised…we see it all here.

3) Public Facebook/ Myspace profiles: just make them private.  Please! 

That should help for starters…assuming the rest of your resume is free from grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and photos.

For more information about structuring your resume, you are welcome to attend a ProGrad assessment day.  If you would like to find out more, please contact one of the ProGrad Graduate Management Team on 02 8235 8300.

Davinia

As we approach August 2009, we can certainly report an increase in graduate opportunities which have been available over recent months.

with a slow start to 2009, companies were reluctant to grow their teams, simply wanting to see what might happen with the global economy.  By May/ June, we started to see an increase in the confidence of companies, still realising the need to sell and therefore grow their teams using ProGrad.

Currently the majority of roles lie within FMCG, and Technology companies, proving their resilience to the recession.  We are still actively working with recent graduates to place them in corporate careers.  ProGrad have and always will specialise in the business to business sales teams within organisations, which again has proved to be a hot-spot for graduates opportunities.  With marketing roles deemed a “luxury” spend for companies, the emphasis is definitely back on the sales teams. 

If you are a recent University graduate, looking to kick start your corporate career within one of our client organisations, please contact ProGrad now by calling us on 02 8235 8300.  Alternatively, you can apply online, by clicking on www.prograd.com.au

Everyone has heard the saying “its not what you know but who you know.” This sentence couldn’t be more spot on, especially in the business world. Rapport building is all about finding a connection with someone and using that to build a strong relationship.

At the end of the day, people like people like themselves and people buy from people they like.

Here are some tips I have found quite useful when building good rapport:

      -                 Always make good eye contact

-                 Be professional, yet personable

-                 Ask open ended questions

-                 Use positive and open body language

-                 Find out as much as you can, without being intrusive

It’s important not to come across as fake, strong rapport is best built when people are open, honest and friendly.

Sophie

Call us at ProGrad for more information on our services. Our Sydney phone number is 02 8235 8300 or visit our website at www.prograd.com.au

Below is the feedback from four of the graduates that attended the 2 day workshop which aimed to teach them all about the importance of negotiation, and a few hints and tips on how to be a successful negotiator.

 “I found this workshop brilliant. I feel with a bit of practice some of these techniques will really be useful in the long term.”

 “Good group exercises – all were very relevant.”

 “I found the role plays worked very well. The workshop didn’t provide all new stuff but it was good because it was things we deal with everyday at in my role.”

 “The negotiation course taught me that its not all based on price! The training is fantastic, and definitely helps you gain confidence when going back to work.”   

Sophie

If you are interested in finding out more about the ProGrad training modules, please call us directly on 02 8235 8300 or visit our website at www.prograd.com.au

I was recently watching a news report on the different ways people are trying to find money these days. Without a large amount of full time or part time roles available, many 20-30 years old are looking into participating in focus groups, market research, and house cleaning services or even garage sales to collect a few extra dollars.

That said, the majority of people are simply looking for the easy option – “all I need is one great idea, thats all.”  There is this common misconception that business success stories (like Facebook/ Google/ Twitter) came about overnight and became this huge financial success – with limited effort.  As though the “one big idea” was all it took.  Frustrating I am sure for the people behind successful organisations.  I am sure that none of them would suggest it was easy. 

Ultimately, any entrepreneur needs to develop some business skills and some strong commerical accumen.  Only then, will any of your business ideas reach their ultimate success.  We would recommend any budding entrepreneur to start their career within a corporate sales environment in order to gain relevant skills in business.  Understanding the differences between profit and loss, the principles of cash flow, developing the ability to generate revenue through selling will all be essential skills for anyone looking to start their own business.  Don’t expect to put up a website and for it take off overnight and start to earn you copious amounts of money straight away.  Get some skills, generate some understanding and do things properly. 

Sophie

ProGrad is an assessment, placement and training centre. If you would like to know more about our services, please call us directly on 02 8235 8300 or visit our website at www.prograd.com.au

Working in a company, with the majority of employees in a sales role it is easy to see that sales are low and people are spending a lot of time talking about just how grim the economy is.

So what?! The last thing your business needs right now is even more negativity spreading in the office.  Rather than focusing on how awful things are, why not start to take action to change things.

ProGrad are like any other business, relying on sales to generate revenue and more than ever – the pressure is on!

We embarked on an aggressive new business campaign, along with heavy touch points with our existing clients.  Our presence in the field must have had a positive impact, sales soared within weeks and we started to see the benefit of such high activity levels.

We have maintained this high activity level which has been embraced across the entire business. Even within our operation teams, there is an increased work rate, more enthusiasm and a generally better attitude amongst the team.  Companies ARE still recruiting, and yes, they’re still recruiting graduates.  Why?  Because we’re working harder than ever to proactively generate these opportunities.

We’re not giving up just because the “going got tough”.  Rather, we’re ramping up for one of our busiest years ever.

Davinia

ProGrad as an organisation focuses on assessing, placing and training recent university graduates into business to business sales roles. Call us for more information on our processes, 02 8235 8300 or email us info@prograd.com.au

ProGrad is a leading assessment, placement and training centre. Our aim is to assist recent graduates by providing them with junior entry level business to business sales positions as well as providing organisations the chance to grow and develop their sales teams in a cost effective manner.

Our selection process involves online screening, telephone interviews and testing at an assessment day to ensure we select only the top candidates that we know will be suitable for our client partners opportunities.

We work with client partners from a variety of industries including, media, advertising, FMCG, IT, publishing and telecommunicaiton organisations.  Clients include Microsoft, Dell, Sage, Citrix, 3M, Electrolux, Samsung, ATCO, Lion Nathan, Frucor, Reckitt Benckiser, Fuji-Xerox, Recall, Thoughtworks, MCM Entertainment and Johnson & Johnson.

For a detailed list of all the major client partners we work with, please visit our main website at www.prograd.com and follow the links. 

If you’re an organisation, looking to parter with ProGrad for your graduate recruitment, please contact our main office on 02 8235 8300.  ProGrad service NSW, QLD and VIC from our Head Office.

Article taken from Sydney Morning Herald: 01/07/09

“When it comes to small business, there are three words that can make all the difference.

As a small business entrepreneur, you can often convince yourself that you need to do everything. And if you’re a control freak who can’t let go, you can end up with way too much on your plate. But instead of resigning yourself to the idea that it’s the small business owner’s lot in life to do everything – including taking out the rubbish – it could be time for a new mantra. Delegate, automate or delete.

Delegate
If you are new in business, you might think that you aren’t yet big enough to justify delegate. That might be true but remember that delegating does not mean you need a full-time staff member. You might have a casual person to help you with administration. You might have an bookkeeper that comes in once a month to do your accounts. Or you might have a virtual assistant to help you make calls and do research.

The beauty about these options is that you only have to pay for the hours you use. So you don’t have a fixed overhead that you have to feed each month. When you are deciding whether to delegate, compile a list of tasks that someone else could do – that could be anything from creating spreadsheets to vacuuming the shop floor. Identify the number of hours spent on these tasks and determine whether your time could be better spent generating revenue for those hours. If the revenue you can generate is much greater that the cost of delegating, go for it. You need to free yourself up from non-revenue generating work so that you can bring in the dollars.

Remember that delegating doesn’t stop there. Consider delegate your domestic duties too. If your time could be better spent generating revenue rather than queuing up at Coles, changing the kitty litter, or mopping your balcony, maybe it’s time to think about delegating your domestic tasks too.

Automate
If there’s anything you can automate, do it. Go through your business with a fine tooth comb and see where you can automate. The process of identifying then implementing the automation can be slow and painful, but it will be worth it in the end. I run a couple of training centres and enrolments used to be taken manually – either by phone, fax or email. Once the enrolment came in, we had to manually reply a confirmation to each person.

While this was fine when we started out some years ago, it soon grew into a time-sucking process. Since we have automated the system, it has saved hours of administration each day.

Remember that even though you should automate, that doesn’t mean you should take the human element out of the transaction altogether. Always be available to customers who want to speak to a real person. Some business owners get too excited about the idea of automating (thinking they never have to speak to customers again) that they no longer include a phone number on their websites. This is a big mistake. While there are some customers who are happy to use your automated process, there are many customers who still want the human touch.

Delete
In some cases, you may just need to delete. Perhaps you receive countless enquiries from people all asking the same question. Perhaps you have prospective suppliers knocking on your door every second day trying to get your business. In these cases, I’m not suggesting that you ignore them totally. But maybe you could create a form letter or series of FAQs that your assistant can use in replying to them.

You know that piece of paper that’s been sitting on your desk for the past two months? The one you’ve been meaning to read? If you haven’t read it already, chuck it in the bin. Deleting is about getting rid of clutter to clear your intray and reduce your to-do list. Be ruthless.

Delegate, automate and delete. Three words that can transform the way do you business.

Source: 01/07/09, Three Words That Can Transform Your Business, www.smh.com.au

ProGrad is an assessment, placement and training centre that specalises in placing recent university graduates into entry level business to business sales roles. To ensure these graduates grow and progress throughout their organizations, 4 modules of sales training and provided within their first of employment.

ProGrad recently ran a module 4 training session in Sydney and received the following feedback from its attendees:

“Account Management is very beneficial for future development and grow within my position”

“I found the workshop to be very relaxed, with a lot of informative and helpful issues discussed. This course would be very relevant to my company as we have many account managers in the organization.”

“The group discussions were the most useful part. I was also able to network and make some good contact points.”

“The content was practical and I was surprise by how much I learnt.”

Here at ProGrad, we are always looking to improve our training courses. If you have recently completed a course we would greatly value your feedback.

Sophie

For more information please call our office on 02 8235 8300 or visit our website on www.prograd.com