ProGrad Brisbane

An Accountant, an Admin Clerk, and their Manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.

They rub it and a Genie comes out.

The Genie says, “I’ll give each of you just one wish.”
“Me first! Me first!” says the Admin Clerk.

“I want to be in Hawaii, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world” Poof! She’s gone.

“Me next! Me next!” says the Accountant. “I want to be in Bali, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of cocktails and the love of my life.” Poof! He’s gone.

“OK, you’re up,” the Genie says to the Manager.

The Manager says, “I want those two back in the office in an hour.”

Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say!

With January kicking off to a rapid start, 2012 is looking to be a very busy year!

This brings GOOD news and BAD news

The good news is that there are many organisations that have great Graduate positions available through ProGrad.

The bad news is however that it is an extremely competitive time of year for graduates as many students graduated at the end of the previous year and are actively looking for full time corporate positions.

As I said before, the news is good and bad!

At ProGrad we understand the frustrations of looking for a job. This competitive time of year can bring an abundance of rejections and many broken spirits. However it’s important to remember that thousands are in the same boat as you and every ‘NO’ received can only bring you closer to the perfect ‘YES’ position. If a job is worth fighting for, then of course it’s going to be competitive!

To help you ‘Get your head in the game’ ProGrad has the following game plan to help you win:

-          Create a perfect Resume that’s tailored to every position applied for

-          Get a professional Voicemail

-          Invest in a suit

-          Ensure your looking well groomed

-          Research the company

These are some of the strategies to ensure you score the perfect position!

ProGrad specialises in Corporate Business Development Graduate roles. With many years of experience and reputable corporate clients behind us, the opportunities we can offer are huge. If you would like to be a part of the ProGrad network to see how we can offer you a foot in the door, then contact ProGrad at: info@prograd.com.au or call: (02) 8235 8300.

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

1)      You spent 3 or 4 years getting this degree, you may as well put to use:

Unless you got an amazing scholarship, a university degree is not cheap to come by, and if you have a HECS debt, then the sooner you jump into a job the sooner you can start paying that bad boy off. It makes sense then that you go out into the world and begin to use the qualification you have worked so hard for!

2)      You can put to bed the ebb and flow of casual/part time work and get some stability:

One undeniably reliable aspect of full time work is that it is, full time. Having fixed days, regular working hours and a regular schedule not only means you can better plan your time but you know you won’t have those hectic over the top weeks followed by crazy dry spells that wreak havoc with your social life. Working full time means your weekends are your own and best of all, your pay cheque is regular too, which leads me to my next point…

3)      A decent income:

The thing with having a degree is that it usually entitles you to a higher potential income. When you start your career in the corporate sector you can bet you will be doing better than you were your retail salary or that unpaid internship. Whether it’s travel, a car or even a house, you’ll get there quicker with a grown up pay packet!

4)      New friends:

When you start a graduate job you not only begin the invaluable process of networking, making the all important connections to aid your career and progression but you also get to make new friends. If you are lucky enough to work in a team or group setting you will inevitably befriend and end up enjoying the time spent with a new group people.

5)      Greater exposure to YouTube classics:

Anyone who works in an office has at some stage received an email or link with some entertaining subject matter that helps break up the day. The best YouTube referrals inevitably come from co-workers so you can either spend your time alone on the couch laughing at your laptop or in the office laughing alongside the rest of the team (during a lunch break of course..)

Here are some of our favourites, conveniently edited into a 4 minute package:

 If you are a graduate after a career, contact ProGrad’s Graduate Management Team on 02 8235 8300 or alternatively email info@prograd.com.au and let us help you take the first steps to your new career.

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 are currently looking for a Business Development Manager in NSW.  We are accepting applications until Friday 27th March 2010 for this role.  We are also advertising this position on SEEK.

ProGrad is a services organization specializing in sales development across Australia.  Our unique offering is currently used by many global leaders such as Dell, Nestle, Fujitsu, Lion Nathan and Cisco.  On behalf of over 600 clients, ProGrad’s core activity is to develop talent acquisition, training and development programs.

Due to expansion, we require an experienced Business Development Manager to join our growing team with a core responsibility of developing our key accounts, whilst assisting to win new larger opportunities also. 

The Business Development role is wholly focused on developing new business opportunities for ProGrad.  Our existing account base has been developed well over the last 5 years, and now lists some of Australia’s leading organizations.  There is a lot of scope to develop some of our key accounts in this role, and therefore we would be looking for a high level individual with the ability to sell strategically across Enterprise organizations.

The ideal candidate would have the following:

• Experience of solution selling, ideally to Tier 1 Clients
• A passion for training and development
• Excellent presentation skills and experience in conducting board room presentations
• At least 4 years of business to business sales experience
• Suitable tertiary qualifications
• Experience in both new business sales and strategic account management
• Proven sales track record
• The ability to work with a range of internal and external stakeholders
• Advanced negotiation and influencing skills
• Good analytical, problem solving and decision making skills required to meet the short and long term needs of the customers.
• Strong leadership skills to support the relationship building and sales culture

ProGrad has a dedication to offering innovative, value-add services.  Our culture is energetic and dynamic with a natural flair for wining large projects and new, impressive clients at an astonishing pace. 

Please send through your details to davinia@prograd.com.au to express your interest and visit our website at www.prograd.com.au.

ProGrad is a graduate recruitment specialist focusing on assessing, placing and training graduates across a variety of industries.  Our roles are primarily in the business to business sales and marketing teams of some of Australia’s largest organisations. 

Due to the success of this model, we have designed and developed a number of options for other offerings to assist our Clients.  We have recognised that Managing Graduates is often an area which companies require assistance with, and we have therefore put together a course which is available to our Client partners.  The one day workshop is aimed at managers of our graduates, and offers practical, outcome focused sessions to ensure delegates attending are skilled at managing levels of expectation, providing structure, setting goals and KPIs and managing a motivated environment.

OBJECTIVES

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

• Manage graduate expectations around the content of the role, KPIs and role progression

• Align graduate expectations from both parties

• Set clearly defined goals and objectives with your graduate

• Promote high activity levels in a successful, rewarding way

• Provide structure to the graduate, both short term and long term

• Offer a work environment which promotes and supports high activity levels

CONTENT

• Graduate Expectation

Managing expectations around progression levels, incentives, rewards and offering clarity around

your expectation as the manager

• Structure and Time

Providing Structure to your junior employee

Setting the balance for access and time

• Managing Consequences

Dealing with issues internally such as timekeeping, attitude levels, activity

“What’s wrong here” syndrome

• Managing Expectations

Aligning expectations from both parties and ensuring consistent levels of communication

How is this done, and how best to communicate this from day 1 of employment?

• Moving from Altitude to Activity

Setting clear roles and expectations

SMART KPI’s (Structured, measurable, attainable, realistic targets)

Breaking it down into activity levels

Conversion ratios

Setting KPI’ s new business development quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily

• Environment

Managing the environment at work

The value and limitation of Rewards and Incentives

Managing levels of motivation

Weekly Planner

Daily call sheets

Daily goal setting

Tracking KPI’s

For more information about this training course, or any other courses offered by ProGrad, please contact our ProGrad Training Team on 02 8235 8300.

Training, development and coaching is essential for a graduate at the start of their career.  This is perhaps something that experienced people take for granted, forgetting that they too started their career somewhere and have at some point been trained and developed.

One of the key attributes that we have seen in successful managers, has been their ability to “coach”.  Recruiting junior people to be organically grown into a business can be a time-consuming activity and at times there is a sense of risk in allowing the graduate recruit to complete tasks that are out of their abilities.

In managing these junior recruits, it is important to think of the word “coach”.  Young people don’t necessarily want to be told what to do, and how to do it.  They have been hearing this from Mum and Dad for the last 20 odd years.  They are receptive however, to being coached. 

Young people are hungry and driven, and willing to take direction.  In coaching a new recruit you will have more success than simply “managing” them.  A successful coach is able to train a person to “do the basics.  Perfectly.”

Repetition is the easiest way to coach a person to become perfect at a given task.  When we induct new graduates into the business (which we do on a regularl basis), we limit the number of new tasks they can complete, and increase the frequency they need to complete them. This naturally encourages forced repetition which in turn provides them with the ability to do the basics, perfectly.

A strong coach will watch them, tweaking their performance every step of the way until they are truly perfectionists at certain tasks.

Their success then becomes the success of the coach.  Or manager. 

ProGrad is a graduate recruitment organisation and regularly provides recommendations to companies inducting graduates into their teams.  For more information about graduate recruitment, please contact the ProGrad graduate management team on 02 8235 8300.

Time management is something that most people struggle with.  It becomes too easy to become absorbed by our day to day distractions that carry little or no relevance on our key objectives.

Every now and again, you need to step away.  Take a step away from the situation to distance yourself from the work load.  Identify what you are spending time doing.  What are they key distractions or interruptions that you’re facing each day?  Make a list of these, and then identify what will happen if things don’t change.  If distractions are having an impact on your completing your work, what is the end result?  Longer hours, less time at home, a lack of work-life balance.  Perhaps you will end up leaving your role as it all becomes too much to bear.

The results can be damaging. 

Take a step back and list the distrations.  Then list your priorities each week.  What MUST you achieve each week?

By identifying the key tasks that need completing each week, you now have a base framework to create a timetable.  Nothing too restrictive, but just something that provides a basis for concentrated and focused sessions to complete key activities.  If there are distractions such as emails/ phone calls/ Facebook and MSN distracting you, then allocate a time each day to deal with these.  Be disciplined with yourself. 

The average person apparently checks their emails 200 times per day at work.  This is insane!  By limiting the time accessing your inbox, you will immediately buy more hours in your working week.  Aim to open your inbox 6-8 times each day.  A huge relief will be felt.

ProGrad are a training provider and regularly deliver Time Management Training sessions to companies.  If you would like any information on this topic, please call our team on 02 8235 8300.

ProGrad have been servicing companies in Australia since 2005 and have established an impressive client base over the years.  As a graduat recruitment specialist, our core activity is assessing graduates for key competencies, placing them into business to business sales and marketing roles, then providing them with training in their first year to guarantee their success.

It is a unique concept and one that is suitable for candidates looking for a business career within the sales or marketing teams.  Whether it be withing FMCG, Media, IT, Pharmaceuticals or even Events, we will have roles available for keen, driven graduates looking to start their corporate career.

We are currently receiving in excess of 1,000 applications each week nationwide and therefore would strongly urge any candidates to contact the office directly in order to have their application processed.

Our contact number for the ProGrad head office is 02 8235 8300.

If you’re coming to a ProGrad assessment day any time soon, you will be asked to prepare a three minute presentation in advance of the day.

Firstly, be aware that you will only present this presentation in front of a panel of assessors (not the entire room of graduates!).  You will be given three minutes to present on the topic “why should we select you for a career in business to business sales?”

Naturally, the aim of the presentation is to sell yourself!  Most importantly, you must answer the question posed, “why should we select you for a career in business to business sales?”

The easiest way to prepare this presentation is to break it into three parts, as you would usually. 

1) An introduction, setting an agenda

2) The content, providing evidence of your argument

3) Summary and conclusion

In organising the preparation so that each piece lasts approximately 1 minute you will find it easy to complete the presentation in the allocated time with a strong structure to boot.

Think about the competencies you have, and provide exmaples of where you have demonstrated these competencies.  Ensure your skill set is transferable and meets the criteria of a business to business sales person.  ProGrad are not looking for experience in this area, however we would anticipate that suitable candidates are confident, strong communicators, driven, dynamic, motivated, tenacious, persistent, methodical and persuasive.

It is all about having a raw aptitude and a lot of personal drive and ambition.  We can provide the training and development, all we ask for is that the indvidual is focused on achieving a career in this space.

We’re on hand to help with your preparation and so please don’t feel alone.  You should have been allocated a Graduate Manager who is on-hand to assist you and your preparation in this space.

If you would like any further assistance, please call the office on 02 8235 8300 and I’m sure there will be someone on hand to help.

All the best!

We’re on a mission at the moment to identify some of the top sales incentives which would be well received from graduates in a business-to-business sales role.  Our core activity is placing graduates at the start of their career into B2B sales roles across a variety of industries.  These roles could take the form of Territory Management, Campaign Coordination, Account Executives, Sales Representatives, Business Developers – quite literally everything. 

Most organisations will have some form of incentive or bonus plan in place which will drive new business sales activity.  For some organisations, a cash incentive is put in place to excite employees, whereas other organisations will offer prizes, vouchers, cinema tickets – the list goes on.

We’re often asked by employers to suggest ideas which will inspire the candidates we’re placing in sales roles.  And so we would like to hear from you; what types of sales incentives are appealing as graduates?  Are you always going to be attracted by prizes?  Or, is extra money the incentive for you?

ProGrad is a graduate recruitment company and our core activity is placing graduates at the start of their career.  Experience is not relevant for our roles as full training will be provided.  We would like to hear from you if you have any ideas in this area, and we can be contacted on 02 8235 8300 or emailed info@prograd.com.au

Are you wondering where all the Brisbane vacancies for graduates are?

ProGrad are based in Sydney and service Sydney and Melbourne primarily.  We do also offer placements in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth however there is simply a limited presence for us in those areas which naturally means we don’t generate as much demand for our ProGrad service.

ProGrad are a business model which sells.  We sell our graduate concept to organisations and build relationships with companies who are looking for a new talent source.  We currently work with over 600 companies across Australia, however less than 10% of the roles available are based in QLD.

If you’re looking to move inter-state for graduate roles, then please contact our ProGrad office who can offer advice about the next steps.  We still urge you to apply, however there will be a different method if you’re looking to relocate.

ProGrad are Australia’s largest assessment, placement and training company and place over 500 graduates each year.  If you’d like to be considered for any of our roles, please contact the graduate management 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.

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

Today was a difficult day.  I had to explain to a candidate why they were not getting job offers from employers.  The reason this was difficult is that I didn’t want to say anything that would cause offence, or later upset.  The reason it had to be done however, was that it is hard to improve if this feedback isn’t given to job seekers.

To give you a bit of a background, I have a fantastic candidate who we will call John.  John has all of the raw aptitude to truly be successful in any organisation. He is confident, a great communicator, well presented, he is driven and comes across as motivated to do well.  The only issue is that despite seeing 8 companies for interview, John simply isn’t being offered any jobs.  The jobs he really wants, aren’t inviting him back to a second stage interview.  The jobs he isn’t keen on, still aren’t inviting him back for another interview.

And so this begs the question “why?”

The feedback from the employers had been that John comes across as too confident, too cocky and not keen enough on the roles available.  I know from my dealings with John that he is incredibly keen on the positions, yet this doesn’t seem to be coming across.  So where is he going wrong?

Well, firstly John isn’t preparing in the same manner as the other candidates.  We spend a lot of time briefing candidates to prepare for roles in a certain way and yet he isn’t taking in the same level of preparation to interviews as other candidates.  He is definitely researching the company prior to an interview, but is not able to articulate enough of this knowledge when quizzed in the interview. 

As someone who interviews candidates myself (both senior and junior) it is frustrating and sometimes offensive when meeting a candidate that has not researched the business.  This screams out that this person doesn’t care about the interview.  If they don’t care about the interview, perhaps they don’t care about the company, the role, the interviewer, the management…the time spent investing in the interview itself.  Overall, it can come across as disrespectful.  It’s funny, isn’t it?  How something so small can have such large repercussions?

And yet, the confidence is there in all of us.  We all assume we will be able to “wing it” in an interview and impress the interviewer with our natural charm.  In fact, on many occassions, this probably is enough.  Unless you’re up against an individual that has gone the extra mile to demonstrate their research and understanding of the business they’re being interviewed for.  Then…well, you’re quite literally screwed.

You see, as a potential employer you want to hire the dilligent, hard worker with a genuine passion for your business. In fact, you would probably hire that dilligent, hard worker over the better qualified, more experienced candidate that appeared badly prepared and disinterested.  It seems so obvious what employers are looking for, so how can you ensure that you’re preparing effectively before an interview.

Always make sure that you understand WHAT the company does.  And ensure you can explain it in your own words.  How do they add value, and who do they do this for?  Ensure you can familiarise yourself with their competitors and have a rough understanding of what makes each company different.  Why do clients choose to engage with them and who are some examples you can refer to?  This type of research should be documented and prepared in a structured manner which can be referred to during the interview.  Many of our candidates put together business documents to demonstrate their understanding of the business and the marketplace in which they operate.  When employers see a well presented document, it immediately sends out the right message.

More than anything, its essential to get feedback and learn why interviews might not be going well.  John was keen to hear feedback and took everything on board.  He was in fact pleased to hear what had been happening and even provided feedback to us (as recruiters) which would further help him in interviews. 

Next step from here is to keep proividing John with interviews that are in line with his career objectives and providing some coaching around preparing for interviews and conducting them face to face.  I feel pretty sure that John will find a good role very soon which fits his needs and desires. 

Once he is in there, I have every confidence that he will be a phenomenal success!

Davinia Noble

ProGrad is a graduate recruitment company working on behalf of some of Australia’s leading organisations to assess, place and train graduates into B2B sales and marketing roles.  For more information, please call our ProGrad office on 02 8235 8300.

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

Setting SMART goals is key for ProGrad graduates

Many training workshops talk about setting SMART goals and we are certainly one of them.  Regardless of whether you’re applying goal setting to a sales career, or simply job hunting – the rules still apply.

So what are SMART goals?

When we’re training our graduates about setting their own professional goals, we recommend they are made:

S: SPECIFIC

M: MEASURABLE

A: ATTAINABLE

R: REALISTIC

T: TIMELY

It’s a simple method and something which is referred to a great deal by managers, coaches and trainers alike.  When applying for jobs, the same rules should apply. 

Job seekers need to set specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely goals.  An example of this, is as follows; “This week, I am going to highlight 8 companies that reflect the values I want to be aligned to.  I am going to send at least 8 applications to these organisations on Monday and follow them all up by the end of the week.  My end goal is to secure at least 2 interviews by Friday.”

This is a good example of SMART goal setting for graduate job seekers and something which we recommend to any candidates we’re working with. 

ProGrad is a graduate recruitment organisation and we specialise in working with recent University graduates to secure them full-time employment following University.  Whilst our core activity is in placing graduates into B2B sales and marketing roles, we do work on a number of other projects also with our key clients.  If you’d like to know more about our organsiation, please email us info@prograd.com.au or contact us directly on 02 8235 8300 and ask to speak to one of the graduate management team.

ProGrad are recruiting, this time within our Training Division in NSW.  To cope with growing demand for our graduate model, we now require the assistance of more trainers in Sydney. 

The Job Decription

ProGrad offer a number of open training courses and tailor-made solutions depending on the needs of our clients.  Due to Client demand we now have a role available to work alongside our Training Director in this established business. 

Ideally, we’re looking for an experienced sales professional who has had exposure to the training, development and coaching of a sales team. 

This role would primarily involve delivering training sessions to our graduates at the start of their business to business sales career. ProGrad offer a modular training program to these candidates across their first year of employment with each course lasting 2-3 days.  Our courses cover areas such as Professional Communication, Solution Selling, Negotiation Skills and Account Management. 

Outside of this core responsibility, there is also an opportunity to get involved with the Business Development Team at ProGrad, further assisting business growth through our bespoke training offering.  Our Business Development Team are proactive and driven, opening many doors for our training solution. 

Applicants must have

• Ability to present publicly and teach to groups of up to 20 people
• Experience in the area of training/ coaching sales professionals
• Outstanding interpersonal skills
• Strong relationship building experience

• Ability to present in front of our Client partners in meetings as required

• A passion for Training and Coaching

• Previous experience in the area of professional selling and coaching of sales people

ProGrad are hoping to on-board this person in the forthcoming weeks and have an attractive salary package to offer.  We’re a growing organisation with an impressive client list, a passion for what we do and a strong team of people who have been “home-grown” through this method.

If you’d like to learn more, please apply to Davinia Noble directly davinia@prograd.com.au