ProGrad Brisbane

ProGrad recently held a Module 4 training course in Melbourne, focusing on Key Account Management. The graduates that were invited to attend had previously completed modules 1-3 of ProGrad training and were coming up to finsihing their first year of full time employment.

” This module was excellent. Kingsley is a good trainer with high number of intersting and relevant examples. The content was relevant and helped me understand the requirements of the role.” Jessica, ProGrad graduate

” This was a very good course, I learnt alot and thoroughly enjoyed both days. Kingsley delivery was as good as expected.” Joe, proGrad graduate.

” I enjoyed this module because it was very in-depth and a good sized group. Kingsley was great, he tailored the discussionsand asked great questions. Thanks for another great module ProGrad!” Tess, Prograd graduate.

If you are a recent graduate looking for some further training. Please call ProGrad directly on 02 8235 8300 or visit ProGrads website at www.prograd.com.au

Luke studied Business Commerce at Monash University and worked as a tennis coach and factory worker whilst he was at university. Luke has described his experince at the ProGrad assessment day as ” nerve racking and challenging but a huge sense of accomplishment when successful. Either way a fantastic learning experience!”

Luke was offered to attend an interview for a graduate role at Pitney Bowes. ” I am a Sales Executive within a large territory in mebourne.” Luke, ProGrad Graduate. Luke has attended 4 training modules within his first year of employment at Pitney Bowes.

” The training is a very open and appraochable forum where great content is covered and related to specific roles, also where honesty and openess is welcomed and respected. I would recommend ProGrad to any recent graduate because the training courses and very relevant and applicable to the real world.” Luke, ProGrad Graduate.

If you are interested in finding out more about ProGrads training courses, please call us directly 02 8235 8300 or visit ProGrads website at www.prograd.com.au

ProGrad is Australia’s largest graduate assessment, placement and training organisation.  We work with fast growing international companies across a variety of sectors such as FMCG, Media, Telecommunications and Information Technology. Successful ProGrad graduates are placed into graduate programs working in diverse roles within the business to business sales and marketing departments.

These varied roles enable graduates to gain a view of the entire organisation and industry they work in. Here at ProGrad we speak to many graduates that leave university with an ambition and motivation to work in an organisation which can lead to fast growth and progression into management.

70% of CEOs from Fortune 100 companies globally have started their career in business to business sales. B2B sales is a fast paced and dynamic place to start your career and give you exposure to every aspect of the business early in your career, which evidently will lead to progression into management.

ProGrad currently has a number of great B2B graduate opportunities, with positions as Territory Manager, Sales Representatives, Account Managers, Sales Executives, Marketing Coordinators and Administration style roles. For more information on ProGrad’s services, or to find out more about what business to business sales entails, please call the ProGrad Sydney office on 02 8235 8300 or visit ProGrad website on www.prograd.com.au

ProGrad are on Twitter and can be followed by visiting www.twitter.com/progradgraduate

We would love to hear from you – so feel free to add us!

ProGrad are a graduate assessment, placement and training company.  We specialise in placing graduates into fast paced and progressive organisations, across a variety of indsutries like FMCG, Media, IT, and Finance.

For more information, please contact the ProGrad Graduate Team on 02 8235 8300.  We look forward to hearing from you!

ProGrad is a graduate assessment, placement and training centre. Each week ProGrad will run assessment days in Sydney and Melbourne in order to select the top 4% of graduates to place into fast growing international organisations.

Unfortunately at each ProGrad assessment day, we have to turn away some great candidates, each for a completely different reason.  If you have been unsuccessful at a ProGrad assessment day, we urge you to call us for some detailed feedback.

Whether you have attended a Sydney or Melbourne assessment day, please call the ProGrad Sydney office on 02 8235 8300 to speak to someone in the graduate management team. Alternatively, if you are a recent university graduate looking to start full time work, please call ProGrad for more information on our services, or visit ProGrads website at www.prograd.com.au

ProGrad specializes in placing recent university graduates into business to busines sales departments of fast growing international organisations. ProGrad recognizes many recent graduates do not have any corporate experience and therefore provide them with 4 modules of sales training within their first year of employment to ensure their success.  

ProGrad’s fourth module of training is titled Key Account Management. The two day course is aimed at teach graduates about maximizing account penetration by analyzing your position and planning an effective strategy.

The topics covered in the course include:

·         Identifying the role of the Key Account Manager

·         Targeting and planning for success

·         Pipeline management and account development

·         Developing strategies

By the end of ProGrads training course participants will be able to:

·         outline the role and accountabilities of the key account manager

·         develop a strategic approach to managing your most important accounts

·         identify the key activities and added value that successful account managers must bring to a customer

For more information on ProGrads  future training courses please call the ProGrad office directly on 02 8235 8300 or visit ProGrads website at www.prograd.com.au for future training dates.

Sophie, is a great example of a recent university graduate who came through ProGrad less than 2 months ago.

After success at her assessment day, she was quickly snapped up and placed into a large organisation in Melbourne. Sophie has recently completed her first of 4 training modules through ProGrad. Module 1, an introduction to Professional Communications was held for 3 days last week. Over the 3 days the graduates were taken through a diverse range of topics covering the basics of business, time management, goal setting and how to communicate effectively.  

The 20 graduates that attended were asked to leave a ProGrad workshop feedback form after they had completed the 3 day course.

“I found the training awesome – it was an enlightening course which will inevitably prove paramount in growing as a sales person. The content was pitched at a great level and I found the real life examples used very helpful.” Sophie, ProGrad graduate. Sophie will return back to ProGrad in another few months time to take place in the Module 2 course, which focuses on educating the graduates on Spin Selling.

More information on our training courses can be found by visiting ProGrads webpage on www.prograd.com.au or by calling the ProGrad Sydney office on 02 8235 8300.

What were you doing before applying to ProGrad?

“I am originally from South Africa however completed by school and university degree in New Zealand. Before ProGrad I had 2 years corporate sales experience for an inline accommodation company in Queensland.”

What was your experience at the ProGrad assessment day?

“ It was pretty nerve racking but was a good introduction to performing under pressure in a business environment.”

What is the role ProGrad helped you to find?

“I prospect, cold call, set appointments, close and manage accounts that specialise in mobile advertising, billing and solutions.

What is your advice for other graduates thinking of applying to ProGrad?

“There is no better way to begin your career”

If you are a recent university graduate looking to begin a corporate career, please call us and ask for one of the ProGrad Account Managers at our ProGrad Sydney office on 02 8235 8300 or visit ProGrads website at www.prograd.com.au

ProGrad recently placed 20 university graduates into entry level roles within our client partner companies. The graduates spent their first month at work getting to know the companies products, services and key clients before coming back to the ProGrad offices for their Module 1 training course.

ProGrad Module 1: An introduction to professional sales and marketing, is designed to educate these graduates on a range of business basics including the different between profit and loss, how to manage your time effectively, how to set achievable objectives and the importance of building a strong pipeline.

“I really liked the course; I found it very applicable and relevant. I also enjoyed the interaction with other graduates. Kingsley was a great teacher as he listened as well as taught. He got the points across very well by using good examples.” Natasha, ProGrad graduate.

ProGrad values all of the feedback we receive from our graduates. If you have recently been involved in a ProGrad training course and would like to leave some feedback please call the Prograd office directly on 02 8235 8300 or visit the ProGrad website at www.prograd.com.au

Sophie

At ProGrad, we have a team of young, willing and able employees all willing to take part in any charity events.  Today, over our group lunch, we discussed the concept of working together to generate money for a good cause.

ProGrad is primarily made up of sales people..and enthusiastic ones at that.  Throw us a challenge, and we get on board.  We desperately want to make money, and this time we’d like to do it for a charity.

We’re still brainstorming ideas about how best to go about this…and would love your suggestions.  If you can recommend anything, please let us know.  We have just missed the opportunity to register for the Oxfam Trail Walk, however we have come up with a few other ideas to raise money.  If you would like to get involved with us in anyway, we’d love to hear from you.

Please contact the ProGrad Team on 02 8235 8300.  Alternatively, you can email us at info@prograd.com.au

We have always been small users of social media at ProGrad, but you may have noticed we’re taking a much more proactive stance of late.  We’re starting to track and monitor our “social media” and taking advantage of sites such as Facebook and Twitter in order to reach a wider demographic.

Our research has shown that Generation Y are heavy Blog users, and many of our graduates use Blogs as their primary news source.  Whilst it might not be the most accurate area to generate research, we can’t deny its popularity.

BuzzNews recently covered the McDonalds issues, surrounding some video footage posted on YouTube.  Even a global company like McDonalds were not monitoring their online presence, and didnt expect the damage that was to follow: http://www.buzznumbers.com.au/blog/2009/04/why-mcdonalds-should-be-tracking.html 

It goes to show that YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are becoming a force to be reckoned with for organisations.  This social media simply cannot be ignored any longer.  With this in mind, we are focused on listening to our graduates through these sites.  Gone are the days when candidates gave us feedback on the telephones….these are the days when they express their feedback in a more public forum, and we need to embrace that.

ProGrad will be making a large effort over the forthcoming months to maximise their online presence and embrace the online toold available.  We tried to ignore it, hoping it was simply a fad….it wasn’t.  It’s here to stay. 

For more information about ProGrad, please contact the ProGrad Graduate Management Team on 02 8235 8300.  To follow us on Twitter, please find ProGrad on; www.twitter.com/progradgraduate

There are a number of steps you need to make through in order to be classified as a ProGrad successful. Firstly there are a few basics:

-         A recent university or TAFE graduate

-         Looking for full time work with an immediate start date

-         Have strong verbal communication skills

-         Have an interest in business development or business to business sales.

The next step is to pass a telephone interview and then an assessment day. At the end of the day, ProGrad is looking for graduates who are confident, have great communication skills are well presented and who are driven and hungry to succeed.

If you are a recent university graduate who is looking to start your career, please apply online at the ProGrad website www.prograd.com.au or call out office directly to speak to one of the graduate managers 02 8235 8300.

Sophie 

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