The process of applying for a placement was tough and lonely to be quite frank. Me personally, I felt my university didn’t push students hard enough to attain a placement, so it was completely on us to motivate ourselves day-in-day out to deal with a number of rejections and successes through various stages of the placement process. Funnily enough, as I went through various stages, interviews at various companies in particular, I too was learning what route I wanted to go down… That route being the rollercoaster world of sales! I would consider myself fairly extraverted and I loved the thought of constant human contact, both virtually and personally. I was offered a Marketing role at a different employer, but as I came to this realisation I continued my placement hunt and once I came across the Sales and On-boarding opportunity at ProspectSoft, I was prepared to do everything I could to secure the role.

For me, ProspectSoft stood out during the placement application process due to their unrivalled record in the category of small-medium sized employer at the National Undergraduate Employability awards – at the time winning 6 out of the previous 7 years! Prior to this I had also decided that if I had the option, I would opt to work for a small-medium size business, oppose to a global enterprise. Reason being, a placement for the majority of business students is going to be their first full time exposure to the business world, so for me it was important to feel valued and hopefully become a real asset to the company. Being a part of a small to medium size company has also given me the opportunity to have day-to-day conversation and interaction with the companies CEO and Directors alike, who treat you no different to any other full time employee. Completing a placement year is more so about learning and getting the most out of it as you can, so being able to pick the brains and thoughts of Stuart McLaren our Sales Director, Andrew Ardon our CEO and all other senior members of the company, is a fantastic opportunity that I doubt many placements get the chance to seize.

Once progressing through to the assessment centre, already having an offer from another slightly smaller firm in the bag, my thoughts and intentions to spend my next academic year at ProspectSoft were all but confirmed. Meeting the people I would be working with and chatting to the current placements about their time at the company, really cemented my desire to work for the business. The day went really well and although by the end I was tired, I was delighted to hear that I had been offered a job in Sales and On-Boarding. Months went by before we begun in the late Summer of 2019; August to be precise. Safe to say, I was itching to get started.

Alongside 8 other placements, our time at the company began with a month of training. Learning all about the business and how it operates, our training sessions were all run by the senior members of the company which gave us instant opportunities to learn from people with real experience in the industry. We were soon thrusted into the role and given real responsibility.

Months have gone by and I have loved my time at the company so far. The sales world really satisfies my competitive side, derived from my love of sport and more specifically football. I’ve made sales pretty consistently, since building my pipeline in the opening couple of months. The buzz you get from closing a deal is similar to the buzz you get from winning a game and/or scoring a goal.

Throughout the duration of various sales cycles (lasting on average 6/7 weeks) I’ve always been given advice on how to tackle the various situations you are faced with in closing deals. I now feel I have attained so much experience in such a short space of time, which will stand me in terrific stead in a role I look to master throughout the early stages of my career. This is one I feel I’ll prosper in thanks greatly to the opportunity to learn and grow I’ve been given here, at ProspectSoft.