ProGrad Brisbane

I’m currently reading an interesting book by Erich Fromm (which took over an hour to find in Dymocks, I might add) called the “Art of Loving”.

What does this have to do with graduates and the recruitment world?  Well, there is an interesting observation made by Fromm, based on the three keys to success:

1) Concentration

2) Discipline

3) Willingness

And whilst Fromm applies this principle to making a relationship work, one could argue that the principle still applies to business.  For someone who is aspiring to be “successful”, these three things are absolutely necessary.  Without the concentration, the discipline or the will to be successful, one simply won’t achieve.

Tomorrow morning, I am delivering a training session to a group of sales professionals and it is a great message to leave them with. 

As the start of my sales career, I do remember having the will to be successful, and certainly the concentration on learning.  I did however, lack discipline which ultimately led to difficulty in achieving sales targets in the early days.  I was lucky enough to have a great mentor who helped to teach great habits around discipline and I consequently found “success”.

It is a principle that does apply to any career, not just sales.  And as Fromm points out, it definitely applies to relationships too.

Davinia

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.

The “Hobbies and Interests” section of a resume is one which puzzles many.  What are employers looking for in this section?  Is it entirely relevant to the employer whether you like to play tennis?

Well, actually yes.  It is important to many companies as they use this section to establish a cultural fit.  If you like sports, then this might be a great fit.  People who enjoy sports and regularly exercise will come across as an active employee.  This is important for employers, as they’re not looking for lazy people.

Reading is a great hobby to have and something we see regularly on resumes.  If you genuinely enjoy reading then please do list it, but beware.  Don’t use it unless you mean it.  So many employers use this as a tool for questionning you and they’re aiming to identify if you truly are well read.  If you’re putting it down simply to look more intelligent, it probably is going to trip you up in the interview.

One of my least favourite hobbies to see is “travelling around the world”.  Like many employers, I have been on the receiving end of employees leaving roles simply to “find themselves” in Europe for 6 months.  A move like that doesn’t seem too costly for the employer, yet it can affect an employer dramatically based on the training and development that will have been invested in that person.  A hobby that describes an interest for travelling will send shivers down the spine of most employers.  Better to be safe than sorry, just lose it from the resume.

Technology and computing is likely to be a hobby of most graduates these days and a key reason why organisations like to recruit graduates.  That said, be careful about how this passion is described.  Hanging out on Google is not necessarily going to inspire employers that you have great social skills and are looking to build internal and external relationships.

The key message however, is simply to be honest.  Never lie on your resume as it only disappoints you and the business you enter.  Be honest, be proud and be yourself.  The rest will fall into place if it is meant to be.

Interviewers are looking for a few key things during the face to face time.  In our business, we are responsible for recruiting graduates at a junior level and progressing them through the business. Our roles are primarily in the Business to Business Sales space and therefore we are looking for the following qualities:

1) Presentation.  In short, how well groomed is this person?  Do they care about their appearance?  Someone who cares about the way they look, will care about they way they represent your business.

2) Firm Handshake.  Yes, I know it sounds lame and basic, but it counts for a lot.  In our business we are looking for people with the natural confidence to shake hands and greet everyone they meet.  If they can’t get this simple piece right, it’s too late to train them.

3) Strong preparation.  The candidates must be able to articulate exactly why they are there in the interview.  They need to articulate what we offer as a business, and how it adds value.  I am looking for a full understanding about the role also, and be able to speak openly about what it involves.

4) Natural Confidence.  For me, this comes through basic eye contact and natural gesticulation during the interview. 

5) Finally, and most importantly I want to see that this person can listen.  They must truly listen to what is being said take time before jumping in with a response. 

These are the keys things that we’re looking for in graduates that interview with this business.  That said, they are pretty generic and highly transferable to other companies and other roles. 

Ensure that any interview you attend, you think of sitting in the hiring seat yourself.  What would YOU want to see from this person?  This is a good place to start and will help you build a picture about how to represent yourself in the best light.

For years we have been quite literally telling graduates how they should dress for interviews, there are certain basic principles to adhere to.  Wear a suit to an interview (of course), ensure it is well cut, clean and teamed with a clean shirt and tie.  Polish your shoes, cut your hair, shave any facial hair and look clean-cut and well polished.  For the ladies, wear a suit, iron a shirt, tie your hair back and ensure you are free from distractions. In short, the ladies should “dress for business, not for fashion”.

And yet, time and time again – despite this message we see candidates will still march to the beat of their own drum and wear what they feel comfortable in.  Which in essence, makes me think the advice we have given needs a new approach.

So I have been thinking about how in interviews, you are selling yourself.  It is as though you are a product, or a brand if you like.  You are representing this brand in a face to face environment.  How you dress that brand demonstates how that brand would be positioned.  If you are a “premium brand”, dress yourself in a premium manner.  If your brand is casual and laid back, then your dress is likely to be the same.

Once you’re clear about the brand you’re representing, it is easy to establish what to wear for an interview.  Typically, the safe option is to wear a business suit.  The Managing Director doesn’t wear a suit?  Well, he doesn’t have to.  He has probably done his “hard yards” and has proven himself enough to run a business.  The approach of visiting this individual without wearing a suit could be read as disrespectful…so be careful. 

To play it safe I would strongly recommend that all graduate job seekers should wear a suit.  You’ll quickly be told if it is too formal for their office environment.  If that is the case, then at least you have the opportunity to turn it around for the second stage interview.

ProGrad regularly provide advice to job seekers at the graduate level and try to assist where possible with organsing interviews.  On a weekly basis, we also provide a training session for graduates highlighting the importance of first impressions and how to be successful in graduate interviews.  For more information, please contact ProGrad on 02 8235 8300.

Our client is looking for an energetic graduate who is motivated by a bonus package, backed with a detailed training and development program to ensure your success.

This technology organisation is a recognized market leader and is used by many leading architectural and construction companies both locally and internationally.

Key responsibilities of the role include:

- Acquiring a detailed knowledge of the Company.
- Possessing the ability to professionally demonstrate these offerings at all levels.
- Working with the sales team to promote and develop new business opportunities.
- Maintaining client satisfaction, ensuring growth within our current installed base.
- Consulting with clients on new projects and the subsequent set-up of these within the company.
- Customer training on all facets.
- Attend and participate in sales meetings, technical seminars and trade shows.
- Occasional local and international travel may be required.

The successful candidate will:

 -Be highly motivated, well organised, disciplined and self managed.
-Be an excellent communicator and strong listener, possessing outstanding relationship building skills.

The successful candidate is assured of a strong career path in our fast growing international business team.

In order to be considered for this opportunity (or any of Prograd’s roles) you must apply immediately. Once your application has been received you will be contacted by a member of the Prograd team to discuss your application further. If you are successful you will be invited to attend an assessment day.

To apply for this role, please click here

A key part of our offering is training.  Initially, it was simply training provided to graduates once they had been placed with our clients.  These days, we offer training to graduates who are looking for employment that need help with the application process. 

As someone that offers the training myself, I am keen to understand what makes a good trainer.  What is the best training style to ensure that an audience is engaged? 

I have seen some great trainers over the years, and my favourite style has always been a thought provoking, challenging style where the trainer gently coaxes the audience to think outside the square.  This works in a formal training environment which might take place over 1-2 days, but what about training around interview techniques and job hunting?

During our assessment days, we offer a “training session” which is titled, The Importance of First Impressions.  This training session lasts approximately 1.5 hours and covers the basics of:

1) How to write your resume

2) Covering Letters

3) Preparing for face to face interviews

4) Interview techniques to use

5) how to follow up from an interview

This session does not cost the graduates anything to view and is aimed to give something back to those graduates investing their time in attending.  It is the least we can do!

Whilst the feedback is generally good in this area, we could always do better.  So if you can recommend any ways to increase the engagement of our audience when training, we’re ready to listen!

ProGrad currently have a few openings available for Trainers to join the ProGrad service delivery team.

Each month as our placements increase, so does the demand for our training. ProGrad are an organisation that also offers full training to existing sales teams making the role incredibly challenging. 

We’re looking to grow our in-house capability and are currently looking for candidates interested in either continuing or starting a role in training.  Ideally, the candidate would have relevant experience in either developing or driving a sales team and have had some exposure to training in the past.  This role will involve delivering some in-house training for the ProGrad graduate modules, yet will also have the opportunity to work on bespoke/ tailor made training programs for our clients.

Package will be negotiated with the individual applicants and the start date is immediate.  For more information, please email kingsley@prograd.com.au or davinia@prograd.com.au

If you would like more information about ProGrad and our tailored offering, please see us online www.prograd.com.au

ProGrad run weekly assssment days in Sydney to ensure a steady stream of graduate talent can be matched with our pool of graduate employers.  We aim to make these matches all year round, regardless of the graduate seasons.  This is because ProGrad are the primary conduit between graduates and getting a job in corporations.  There is no other graduate recruitment company has the same scope as we do, working on the level of opportunities that we are.

The assessment process is rigorous and only the top performers will make it through.  From over 500 applications received each week, we only invite the top 40 to attend an assessment day.  From that day, there is no set number of candidates that will make it through.  On average 30-40% of graduates that attend the session will make it through the assessment day.

After the assessment day, ProGrad starts to make introductions with our client partners for interviews.  We aim to align you to the roles you have specified you’re looking at, during your one to one interview at the ProGrad assessment day.

On average, graduates will attend 2-3 interviews to ensure they are able to find the right cultural fit for their career goals and aspirations.  Once a graduate is offered a role, they then consider whether it is the right opportunity for them.  We would recommend speaking to your family and friends about the position and ensure that it is with total confidence that you accept a role.  If for any reason it doesn’t feel 100% – it is probably not the role for you.

Once job offers have been made and accepted, ProGrad will then see you for training during your first year of employment.  Most employers have a very comprehensive training program internally, however the ProGrad training ensures that you have the basic business skill sets which will ensure a quick progression within an organisation.

If graduates are not successful at the end of the ProGrad assessment day then we urge them to contact us for feedback.  During the ProGrad assessment day, we will have made an assessment based on our competency based assessment framework and provide recommendations for future interviews or assessment days.  Typically, if a candidate doesn’t make it through the day, it could simply mean that they are not right for our roles.  We understand that every candidate has a different desire and drive for certain roles and we’re aslo fully aware that not everyone wants a career in B2B sales.

If you’ve attended an assessment day and didn’t make it through the process, please do not get disheartened.  We are simply one mechanism of many to help find a role.  Take the positives from the experience and aim to increase your skill set by taking on board feedback.

ProGrad can be contacted on 02 8235 8300.  Alternatively, more information about our graduate assessment model can be found on our website www.prograd.com.au

• 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

Every placement includes four programmes designed to give candidates the basic skills right the way up to more advanced account Management. For more information about the ProGrad concept, please contact us on 02 8235 8300.  Or visit our website on www.prograd.com.au

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

ProGrad specialise in assessing recent graduates for sales competencies, selecting the top 4% through our rigorous assessment process and then placing these graduates with our client partners.

Once placed, we also provide each candidate with a structured sales training program to guarantee their success in the role.  For organisations, we offer an outsourced HR department allowing them the ability to run an internal graduate program without the difficulties faced with assessments and training.  For graduates, we offer introductions into the corporate arena to kick start their careers from an entry level. 

Our roles are primarily in the B2B sales departments of many global organisations.  Business to business sales does offer graduates a strong fit into an organisation.  It allows them to work on the front line of the business, carrying high levels of responsibility for driving new business opportunities. 

Working in B2B sales can offer a graduate a number of other things to include:

1) A Strong Earning potential

2) Exposure to high level business conversations

3) Structured training both internally and externally with companies like ProGrad

4) High rewards/ recognition from senior management in the business

5) Access to senior management

Overall, B2B sales does offer an enormous amount of possibilities to recently qualified graduates yet does require the individual to be focused on getting involved in this area.  Whilst occessionally, these roles can lead into marketing – it is essential that this is not relied upon.  Companies will have a larger sales team than marketing, and opportunities will always be greater in the B2B sales division. 

If you’re looking at getting into marketing, this is certainly one method but doesn’t carry any guarantees of moving you into that space.  My recommendation is that you truly look into the marketing roles available and identify which roles you are looking for, and more importantly why.

ProGrad are running weekly assessment days in Sydney and are currently dealing with over 1,000 applications each week from recently qualified graduates looking to kick start their careers.  For more information about applying, please contact the ProGrad team on 02 8235 8300.

ProGrad themselves are a sales engine and we require sales activity in order to generate new business.  Our core activity is assessing, placing and training graduates into B2B sales careers, and naturally we recruit using our own methods for these roles.

ProGrad have over 20 recent graduates working hard in our office to drive sales activity and cold calling is a fundamental part of that process.  As a result, we aim to run a structured cold calling session each week (normally on a Tuesday) during which time the entire ProGrad team stay in the office and hit the phones. 

Their primary objective is to book business meetings and having everyone in the office can make this process so much easier.  Employees don’t suffer any feelings of anxiety speaking on the telephone in an environment where they are the only ones doing so.  Over time, as their confidence increases in this area, it becomes less important to have that comfort blanket of people around them cold calling. 

ProGrad have found this method to be very successful and have even seen employees drive themed cold calling days which incorporate more fun themes such as dress-ups and prizes.

ProGrad are also a full sales training organisation and train many companies in this area, coaching sales managers to drive more activity from their teams.  If you would like more information about how this is done, please contact the ProGrad team on 02 8235 8300.  Alternatively, you could email us info@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 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.

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.