ProGrad Brisbane

Have you ever felt defeated by the job hunting process?

Have you ever questioned if you will ever get the right job?

Do you spend an endless amount of time on seek?

ProGrad can help you! Let ProGrad be your librarian who guides you to the right book.

ProGrad can help take the stress out of trying to find the right job for you by:

• Showing you the full contents of what is expected by each role
• Can guide you to the right page number that has the most relevant information for your interview
• Can provide an index of understanding that explains all the questions you may have about a company or a role

If you would like to find out more on how ProGrad can assist you on providing employment opportunities, please give us a call on:

(02) 82358300

Alternatively, you can email Prograd on:

info@prograd.com.au

Prograd can help you write your next chapter in your career that is always guaranteed to have a happy ending!

ProGrad celebrated Halloween in style this year as we all got our best costumes on to celebrate!
Everyone in the office enjoyed some horror movie trivia, followed by some seriously competitive apple bobbing!

To see more photos of the Halloween dress up day at ProGrad, please go to our ProGrad Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/ProGrad/126475642525

If you would like to discuss any ProGrad opportunities, please do not hesitate to contact ProGrad on (02)8235 8300 or email us at: http://info@prograd.com

So you have finished your degree, maybe travelled a little, are well and truly sick of your part time job and decided you are finally ready to bite the bullet and get into full time work. But what job is that?

If you are a recent graduate looking to get into the business sector, it can be daunting knowing where to start, especially if your studies haven’t necessarily directed you into a one stop job.

One angle you may want to consider is a role in sales. 

No not tele-marketing, and don’t worry I’m not talking about standing on the street corner trying to get people to sign up to the latest scam.

I mean genuine corporate sales, working within a well established company on a competitive salary, getting that all important foot in the door and gaining the valuable experience that can take you from new comer, to old pro.

Sales provides graduates a unique opportunity to learn about a business from the inside out. Working in correspondence with all other parts of a business, the sales department gives you the best exposure and often a great head start into avenues usually closed to entry level positions.

It might not be an option you had ever considered before but for graduates who are ambitious, eager to work and wanting to get some hands on experience in a role that will help them progress in their career, Sales may be the yellow brick road for you.

ProGrad specialize in placing recent university graduates into business to business sales roles. For more information or to apply for any of our roles, contact the ProGrad Graduate Management team on 02 8235 8300 or alternatively email us at info@prograd.com.au

ProGrad will be running the “Young Achievers” awards ceremony later this year and are finalising the entries.  We have had approximately 100 applications for our awards ceremony so far and are awaiting more. 

Applications can be submitted online through our website www.prograd.com.au

Entry Criteria:

A ProGrad Graduate who has been placed in their organization by ProGrad.  Please ensure that each section has a response.  The deadline for this nomination form is Monday 11^th January 2010.

Please show in each section how you/ the nominee meet the criteria below

(This should ideally be submitted with evidence):

1)      Understands the business objectives, contributes to and agrees targets for own performance

2)      Identified appropriate sources of information relevant to company’s markets, customers and competitors so that the most profitable prospects are targeted

3)      Obtains access to decision maker(s), initiates dialogue and maintains effective customer relationships

4)      Accurately identifies customer needs and concerns gaining interest and commitment

5)      Responds appropriately to customer questions and objections, gains commitment throughout the sales process and closes profitable business for the organization

6)      Follows each order to completion, seeks customer satisfaction and obtains referrals

7)      Evaluates performance by analyzing win rate, order value, average length of sales cycle etc

      Reflects on own practice, develops skills/ knowledge using a variety of interventions, ensures own actions reflect industry “best practice” and always strives to act with integrity

If you would like any assistance in submitting your application, please contact ProGrad directly on the mainline number 02 8235 8300.  Please ask for one of the Graduate Management Team at ProGrad who will take you through the process of applying.

Assessment Day – Hints and Tips for success!

What is the Assessment Day?

ProGrad assessment days are by invitation only and competition is high between graduates wishing to secure their place on the day. At ProGrad, we assess your competencies to help you find a suitable graduate position that can offer you the support and development you will need to be a success. You will be at our assessment day for approximately 6 hours, during which time we will be evaluating your skills and attitude.

The assessment day also offers you the opportunity to gain access to our top graduate recruiters, careers advice and tips for successful interviews. We also provide you with feedback on your performance.

Becoming a ProGrad candidate will give you a head start over other graduates in the market place. We only represent candidates that have been selected at our assessment days, who have demonstrated a real focus to launch their graduate career with a leading company.

In attending the ProGrad assessment day, you will:

• Experience a graduate selection process

• Have access to top graduate employers

• Gain information regarding careers from our graduate recruitment team

• Feedback regarding your performance

If you’re successful through the process

• You will be represented by ProGrad for interviews with our Client partners

• Gain unlimited access to your graduate recruiter who will provide you with

assistance,training and feedback during the interview process

• You will be eligible to take part in certain personal development programs

• You will stand out from other less prepared graduates in the job hunting market

What to expect at the assessment day

• Psychometric testing

• Self introductions

• Group dynamic exercises

• Feedback sessions

• Business Case Study

• Feedback sessions

• Group Presentation

• One to one interviews

• Verbal and numerical reasoning tests

• Individual presentations

The exercises are designed to enable us to assess you against a competency based framework.

We are not concerned with whether you got the answers right, we’re more interested in how you deal with the challenges in front of you. We want to understand your drive, your motivation, how you respond to pressure and how you deal with people around you.

We also invite some of our Client partners to the assessment day who are looking for ProGrad candidates to start in their teams. This is often where many of our graduates are “scouted” by graduate employers.

What to wear at a ProGrad assessment day?

This is a formal interview process, and so you will be asked to attend our Assessment Day in “formal business dress”.

Remember: First impressions count.

General rules for “formal business dress”:

For men: wear a dark suit, with a plain shirt and tie

For women: try to keep your suit as conservative as possible. Dress for business, not for fashion.

Shoes must be polished and plain black or dark brown.

What are we looking for?

We will be measuring you against a competency based framework at the assessment day. We are looking for:

• Confidence

• Verbal Communication skills

• Drive/ Dynamism

• Ability to Influence and Persuade

• Structure and Logic

How to prepare for the assessment day:

“Fail to prepare and you prepare to fail!”

You must prepare a 3 minute presentation prior to the assessment day, titled “Why should we select you for a career in business to business sales?”

We are not only testing your presentation skills – we are testing your ability to prepare. Do not underestimate the importance of preparing for this!

General Guidelines for your presentation:

i. Keep to the 3 minute time-frame (you will be timed on the day).

ii. Answer the question posed in the title

iii. If you require notes, ensure they are tidy

iv. You are welcome to use visual aids or props to enhance your presentation

v. Practice makes perfect!

What is business-to-business sales?

Business to business sales, is the transaction from one business to another. Business to business sales involves building and maintaining high level business relationships with key decision makers. Your role may be a combination of dealing with existing Client relationships and forging new business contacts. High-level business to business sales can involve a number of activities to include:

• Managing key Client relationships

• Generating new business opportunities in new and existing accounts

• Booking business meetings

• Attending business meetings, generating requirements

• Assisting with pitches, marketing campaigns, exhibitions etc

• Assisting with proposals/ tender responses

• Forging strategic relationships with key decision makers

• Dealing with Clients both on the telephone and face to face

Why start my career in business to business sales?

There are 4 key things that all graduates want from their career:

• Training

• Autonomy

• Progression into Management

• A good salary

A business to business sales career is the only career where your hard work will be instantly rewarded with quick progress, increased earning ability and unrivalled training. ProGrad graduates are put into the most important part of any organisation, the business to business sales team. They are immediately part of the success and growth of the company and this forms a key part in their importance to the business.

Salary expectations are progressive with most candidates earning $40-60k in year one and moving that to the $50-90k mark in year two.

It has been reported that over 70% of Chief Executive Officers began their careers in business to business sales. The two most important facets of any organisation, are the strengths of its financial departments, and its ability to generate revenue through the business to business sales teams.

Graduates entering into either of these divisions, are exposed rapidly into the business world, and are able to add tangible value to a company’s growth and development. It is due to this, that Graduates statistically speaking, enter senior management quicker than their peers – because they understand the mechanics of the organisation.

What kind of company could I work in?

ProGrad has become the partner of choice for not only the best graduates in the country but also the best companies. We work across a variety of sectors to include:

• Information Technology

• Telecommunication

• Media

• Publishing

• Advertising

• Finance

• Industrial

• Events

All of our roles are in the business to business sales teams of our Client partners.  For more information about ProGrad and our positions, please contact one of the ProGrad Graduate Management Team on 02 8235 8300.  Alternatively, you can view our website for more informaton.

ProGrad do allow candidates to attend an assessment session more than once.  That said, we do have a waiting period of 12 weeks prior to re-attendance. 

If you have attended an assessment centre with ProGrad already and would like to attend another session, please contact our Graduate Management Team.  Our internal team can discuss your feedback and options moving forward.  Our core activity is placing graduates into Business to Business Sales roles across a variety of industries (such as technology, media, FMCG, finance and events).  From time to time we do work on other opportunities such as Consulting, Admin, HR, and finance.  If ever we find another role that might be more suited to you, we will definitely be in touch.

ProGrad run a number of other graduate related websites which are worth looking into for other opportunities, and even more interview recommendations:

www.graduatejobs.com.au 

www.progradsydney.com.au

www.progradmelbourne.com.au

www.progradbrisbane.com.au

www.progradsalesrecruitment.com.au

www.progradgraduate.com.au

We can also be found on various other websites including Twitter, Linkedin, Flickr and Facebook.

For any questions you have about ProGrad, please contact the ProGrad team on 02 8235 8300.

At ProGrad we’re always listening to our candidates for information about what graduates are really looking for.  We rely on this information to put together proposals for graduate programs within leading organisations in Australia.  We consult to many companies around graduate programs, and what candidates are looking for.

Historically, we have always seen the best success for graduates within technology companies.  This is due to the growth within these businesses, which offer graduates strong exposure, along with quick career progression. 

Our graduates have also been doing well within FMCG companies, typically within territory management roles and also in online media companies.  Companies which experience good growth opprtunities will always offer graduates a strong career progression.

That said, we need to hear from our candidates directly.  If you have any information to share about graduate opportunities and what you’re currently looking for, please get in touch be emailing info@prograd.com.au 

ProGrad is Australia’s leading assessment, placement and training company.  We specialise in assisting graduates to launch their business career with a variety of leading organisations.

For more information, please visit our ProGrad website or contact our ProGrad Graduate Management Team on 02 8235 8300.  ProGrad currently service Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

Almost 20,000 employees, in more than 120 countries around the world, this large organisation enthuse their customers and build a better future across the globe.

The corporate culture is founded on integrity, courage, teamwork and commitment.

Our client excels through outstanding innovation, top quality, direct customer relations and effective marketing.

Two-thirds of the employees work directly for the customer in sales organizations and in engineering, which means a total of more than 200,000 customer contacts every day.

Our client is looking to bring a graduate on board who is a fast learner, has strong verbal and written communication skills, and has the desire to progress through the business into a management role, within the Cairns location, QLD.

What we are looking for:

• Recent University Graduates who are ambitious and passionate about sales and management
• Graduate candidates from Business, Marketing and Engineering Disciplines are desired
• Construction Industry knowledge desirable
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure
• Strong verbal and written skills

If you are interested in this opportunity please apply now by sending your CV to jenna.daly@prograd.com.au

When I’m looking to fill senior roles, we naturally look to recruit experienced people who can bring an established skill set, with a proven track record. 

And so we do the same as many companies, and we advertise online, receive lots of resumes, conduct telephone screening and invite people in for interviews.  With experienced people there is an expectation particularly in interviews that they will perform in a more superior manner to graduates.  The good news for graduate job seekers, is that this isn’t always the case.  With experience, comes confidence and sometimes laziness around preparation and performance in interviews. 

The common mistakes that experienced people make are as follows:

1) A lack of preparation which they are quite often honest about.  They might be “experienced professionals” but they miss the basics of preparation and research.  It comes across as lazy.  If this is how they approach an interview, how will they approach the role?

2) A lack of questionning ability.  This is one of the saddest things to see from an experienced person as it is a fundamental part of any interview, regardless of your experience.

3) Talking too much.  Perhaps this one is more prevalent with experienced people as they have so much more to say.  Talking too much is a crucial error for anyone in interviews. 

The bottom line is that no one is perfect in interviews…but there are some fundamental principles to be aware of when you’re meeting someone in this environment.  Regardless of your experience levels, always research the company and be sure to articulate this knowledge.  Such a basic thing to remember, and yet so rarely so we see it in a face to face interview.

If you’re a recent graduate who is new to job hunting and interviews, take some comfort in what is being revealed here.  Experience doesn’t necessarily lead to a great interview, trust me.  Even with a lack of experience, just stick to the basics and you’re likely to outperform even those with 15-20 years in the industry! 

Davinia

Davinia is the Sales Director of ProGrad Pty Ltd, and is responsible for the sales division within the organisation.  ProGrad is a graduate assessment, placement and training company and specialises in the placement of graduates into B2B sales careers across a number of industry sectors.  For more information about our unique model, please call 02 8235 8300 or visit www.prograd.com.au

I have seen some pretty interesting things written about ProGrad over the years.  Some posts have been valuable feedback to hear and whilst no organisation will take pleasure in reading negative comments – we can all benefit from hearing what your customer base has to say.

That said – there are many incorrect statements made about ProGrad and the infamous assessment day.  One blogger stated that ProGrad “claim to be friends with NASA”, which I think we all know is ridiculous. Anyway, that to one side there are a few myths that definitely do need to be put to rest.

1) Firstly, ProGrad do provide water and toilet breaks.  Sounds bizarre to even have to make the point but hey, there it is.

2) Men don’t have to wear red ties to make it through the assessment day, clearly the colour of your tie is irrelevant.  Mind you, a tie is considered appropriate business wear and so we do recommend you wear one.

3) ProGrad is a scam. Not entirely sure where this one originated but ProGrad are simply a business.  We place graduates and charge a fee to our clients for doing so.  We make money in order to operate, it’s pretty simple.  Our roles are primarily in the business to business sales teams of organisations (this is made clear on all of our marketing collateral) and we offer sales training to placed graduates to support them.  Again, this is at the cost of the company, not the graduate.

4) ProGrad salaries are all $35k.  Our salaries range from $35k to $50k depending on the role and organisation.  Naturally, some industries such as advertising and media are likely to offer less money on the base salary, whilst companies in technology and financial services will typically offer $40k – $50k.  The salary packages are also likely to be dependent on the experience and skill set of the graduate. 

I hope this clears up a few of the latest myths about the ProGrad assessment day.  Ultimately, our assessment day is an interview process and like any interview process – not everyone makes it through.  We pride ourselves on only working with strong graduates who see a business career with a leading corporation.  We have partnerships with leading brands such as Microsoft, Nestle, Simplot, Experian, and Dell.  We are proud to have placed over 2,000 graduates in the last 5 years in Australia and are experiencing excellent growth.

If in doubt about the ProGrad assessment process, please feel free to contact the office and speak to any of the graduate management team on 02 8235 8300 who will be pleased to help answer your questions.

You can read more abour ProGrad and view our testimonials here www.prograd.com.au

ProGrad are putting together some research to find out exactly which industries are most appealing to recent graduates.

We’d really appreciate any of your feedback in this area.  We’re currently working in the following areas, but would like to know where to focus our energies:

1) IT and Telecommunications

2) Media, Publishing and Advertising

3) Finance

4) Events and Entertainment

5) FMCG

6) Pharmaceutical and Medical

We have a proactive team that actively hunt for opportunities in areas which are in demand by our graduates.  Our team have the ability to target these organisations with the goal of building a business relationship, to ultimately introduce graduates to them.

Some of our most successful case studies have been from the technology space and this is primarily because of the opportunities that exist within fast growing technology companies.  That said, we need to know from graduates where we should target.

If you have any suggestions, then please let us know.

ProGrad is a graduate recruitment organisation that specialises in assessing, placing and training graduates into organisations within the field of B2B sales and marketing.  For more information, please contact us on 02 8235 8300.

When companies are looking to grow, they have a couple of options.  On one side, they can go to market and recruit an experienced person with industry experience.  They may find someone who can theoretically hit the ground running, and may fit the profile of what an organisation is looking for.  The alternative is that an organisation can recruit a recently qualified University graduate.  Essentially, that is someone with very little commercial experience, in some cases they have none at all.  So why would companies recruit University graduates?

Well, over the years we have conducted a lot of research to identify exactly why companies would recruit graduates.  There are a few key reasons about why that is:

1) A graduate has no bad habits or preconceptions

2) This means they’re mouldable to the culture of an organisation

3) Graduates are technically savvy, making it easy for them to pick up the internal technology utilised

4) Graduates are quite flexible, making it easy to relocate them for particular opportunities

5) Graduates are also intelligent having studied at a serious level for several years.

These factors make a recent graduate a very attractive recruit for organisations.  With these factors in mind, graduates have a few benefits they can bring to a business.  But, this is just the start.  Graduates also need to add some value to a company, and need to think about how they can contribute.  Organisations are thinking about the bottom line and assessing the value-add of each employee.  If you’re a graduate job seeker, ensure you’re not approaching organisations simply to become an overhead.

ProGrad asked for the Young Achiever submissions to demonstrate certain examples of their successes in different business.  As ProGrad start to review some of these submissions, I thought it was worthwhile sharing some of the content with you. 

Over the last 4 years, we have placed over 2,000 graduates into their corporate career and we hope to acknowledge the enormous success of these graduates overforthcoming weeks and months.  At the ProGrad event, we will celebrate their success with an awards ceremony.  Watch this space!

One of our recent submissions, comes from a graduate placed in a large publishing company in Melbourne.  Without revealing too many sensitive pieces of information about the candidate and the organisation, I wanted to share some of the submission which I found particularly impressive:

“In having three quite different publications to sell, time management has been a key to pursuing the most appropriate and profitable prospects. I have had to continually analyse which publications are providing the most profitable results for the time I am able to put into them.

Within each publication I have also had to establish which clients require more of my time relative to their profitability. Often, the smaller clients take up the most time so exploring ways to reduce the time spent on these clients and funneling that time into more profitable areas is important.

Having a limited knowledge of sales and advertising at the start of my role I have now developed an extensive array of skills and knowledge in the industry. Much of this has come through personal experience, in dealing with clients both over the phone and in meetings. Colleagues have also assisted my development in mentoring me on industry “best practice.”

Maintaining integrity is extremely important to me personally and is proving to be extremely advantageous in my professional life. Without holding the trust and respect of your clients, dealing with them would be very difficult. People are far more likely to want to deal with someone they know they can trust than someone they can’t.”

We look forward to receiving many more nominations from our graduates over the next couple of weeks.  We are holding the deadline open until the end of Feb 2010.  If you would like to enter please click here

ProGrad represent some of the largest, most well known technology brands in the world.  We are massive supporters of the IT industry and feel passionate about introducing more graduates to work in that space.  The reason we do this, is because we can see some really compelling reasons why graduates should consider working in IT sales.

Whislt for many graduates, the IT industry provides a concern of working alongside technical “geeks” and the worry of not fully understanding the technology landscape – the reality is often very different.

An intelligent, articulate individual can learn technology.  It’s not about understanding programming languages (that is for the in-house geeks), but you do need to understand the business benefits of technology.  After all, you’ll be having business conversations with people on the telephone or face to face if you are involved in IT sales.

Technology companies are fast moving, and evolve at a much higher rate than any other organisations.  Because of this, there are more opportunities created as companies grow so much quicker.  As the technology evolves, so does the skill set of the employees.  More importantly, so does the investment in training from an employer. 

Due to the profitability of companies in this space, there is also the added advantage of more lucrative roles available, stronger earning potential and quite often there is international travel opportunities to boot.  Imagine working for a US technology company; it will come as no surprise that it is highly likely they will need to send you to the States for training.

IT Sales in my humble opinion offers some of the most attractive opporunities for graduate job seekers, and certainly shouldnt be written off by graduates.  If you are thinking about your “street value” in years to come – then there is nowhere better to start your career.  You will always be in high demand and will naturally command greater salary offerings in years to come.

So, keep an open mind as you really never know when the IT sector might start calling your name.

For more information about ProGrad and our graduate opportunities, please contact the ProGrad team on 02 8235 8300 or visit www.prograd.com.au

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

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

Michael worked at various creative media agencies and freelanced as a 3D animator and film-maker prior to graduating from Bachelor Digital Media at UNSW, minoring in Personal Financial Planning.

My first run-in with ProGrad was on one of the larger online job sites. I saw an ad, shrugged, and said to myself “yeah why not, might as well give this a go”.

After submitting a CV and taking part in a phone interview (while walking to a face-to-face interview, coincidentally enough), I was invited to attend one of ProGrad’s regular Assessment Days.

Being one of a handful of non-Business/Economics/Commerce graduates present, in a room of about thirty candidates, it’s a severe understatement to say I was “nervous”.  The assessment Day was an interesting experience, made more so by being told we passed.  There are a few pointers that are worth sharing to those at the early stages of the ProGrad process:

• Plenty of sleep the night prior to Assessment Day definitely helps keep you on the ball.
• Being able to think about the situation from someone else’s perspective (eg, a client) is helpful too.
• Be professional, amiable, and friendly. Migrating from a uni lifestyle to a business environment can be a large transition, we just have to try and persevere.
• For those whose degrees are don’t quite fall under the business umbrella, you’ll be happy to know a degree is also about being able to finish something you started 3 or more years ago. Learning the ropes of a new industry is easier than learning perseverance.

The second company I attended an interview for, was Rainmaker Group. After securing employment, ProGrad provided training sessions every few months, which is always helpful in developing one’s repertoire, from solution selling to negotiation skills. I am definitely looking forward to the next training session with ProGrad.

If you’re looking for career that recognises your professional abilities, getting involved with ProGrad is a very easy first step. Chances are they’ll slide a springboard after that step and you’ll start taking leaps onwards, with ProGrad pointing you in the direction you want to go. 

If you would like to apply for a ProGrad opportunity, please call our Graduate Management Team on 02 8235 8300, or apply online using the ProGrad application form.  To open the ProGrad Application Form please click on this link.