Placement Year Review at Astute Ltd.

The Role

Role Description

Calling companies on behalf of astute clients

1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

The only reason i'm doing this review as i feel its is important that other placement students learn the truth about CALL CENTRES that claim to be an industrial placement. As they are exploting students for their own selfish - pofitable gain. There was no part of working for Astute that i enjoyed and was the worst working experience in the world.

2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

If your on target you get all the praise in the world cause your helping your Campaign Manager hit his/her team target(making them more bonus money). However, if your not on target you will receive training which if unsuccessful you will go through disciplinary procedure for poor performance. Where you will be told that if you do not hit your weekly target your contract with Astute will be terminated.

3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 5/10

Depending on the Manager you will be giving all the training available as Astute. However some can be very lazy in giving training because of other commitments. On my Campaign my manager was very supportive.

4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

A typical day of a Business Development Agent consist of given a call sheet by your Campaign Manager which has a list of companies ranging from small to large. It is required that you make 200-150 calls a day delivering a proposition (for example my name is Alex I am calling on behalf XX. The reason I am calling you today is that XX is trying to reduce the cost of companies XX therefore are offering special discount on a wide range of XX products and services. Can I ask, are you, thinking of upgrading your XX) if you are an IT Manager or Director, you will be familiar with these types of calls. Anyways you are continuously on the phone from the following times.
9.00am - 11.00am
11.00am - 1.00pm
2.00pm - 3.45pm
3.45 – 5.30pm

However, if you hit your target which is to book an appointment or sales between the client Astute represent and the decision marker. (Which is the IT Manager or Director of the companies that you are calling?) You have to do a lead write up stating the conversation you had over the phone in the report, which usually takes about hour depending on the length of the conversation. Please do bare in mind that most of the companies that you are calling will regard your call as a sales call and will not put you through to the decision maker majority of the time.

5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

The only responsibility that you can do at Astute is assisting your Campaign Manager in terms of lead check ups (correcting reports), training junior members of staff. I also forgot to mention record everyone states for the today on a board that usually referred to as KPI. Astute have recently introduce senior DBA agent and team leader positions.

6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

Each Campaign you work on it is usually mandatory that you receive training from your Campaign Manager however; this is not always the case. As some Campaigns do not require training or some Campaign Manager are not doing their jobs properly. Astute do claim that you will increase your technical knowledge this is not true as there are many books available and information online, which you can get the information. In no way will working for Astute help you towards your final year in terms of technical knowledge in business or computing. However, it will help to boost your confidents in terms of speaking professionally over the phone and in person.

The Organisation

7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

It is a boring environment as you are continuously on the phone, which is similar to a classroom situation, no talking to colleagues; your aim for the day is to hit your target by making 20-30 calls an hour.

8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

WELL WELL, to be honest i do not know what to say its not great.

9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

The training that an Agent usually receives is call coaching, so called technical knowledge such as VOIP, etc and Astute academy which you can only attend if your are on target and your Campaign Manager feels it is relevant to the Campaign you are working on.

10. What were the perks on your work placement?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

• Sports and Social Club

11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

Very poor to be honest they only started introducing senior BDA, team leader recently. Previously it was only Campaign Management from level 1 - 5.

Other Information

12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

Best part of the placement consideirng they employ around 130 - 120 staff and half of them are student(hmmmmm i say no more)

13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

It was reasonable

14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

Yea it was good

15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

Nope

In addition to these questions, is there any extra information you would like to leave about your experiences on your work placement that other students may be interested in?

Please please get your placement tutor to check how working for Astute is related to your degree as it will not benefit you towards future employment or your final year. Astute attracts students by enticing them with high salaries(£18,000 and £14,000 on basic) However the pressure and the risk of disciplinary procedure is high as it is a sales environment and i've seen placement students leave after 3 months or have their contracts terminated. During your interview please do make sure you understand fully what you will be doing on a daliy basis i'm not saying Astute is not a company to work just making you aware of what to expect.

Review 2/10 for Astute Ltd.

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