Sales and Onboarding Assistant Review

I loved my placement. Whether talking about the job I was doing, the people I was working with or the people that I lived with, the whole experience was brilliant. My placement has given me a much clearer idea of where I want to take my career once I finish university. Not only this but I now have a much better idea of the sort of work that will provide me with satisfaction and enjoyment.

There wasn’t once a moment when I didn’t feel valued by my colleagues. That goes for people on the same level as I was, all the way up to senior management, the culture of the workplace and the nature of the people was great.

Our sales team made up of three placements, one sales consultant, the sales manager and sales director, all sat on the same desk. This made communication between the team very easy and made getting the needed support a simple task. The willingness of senior staff to provide this support was second to none.

I was never stuck for work. The nature of the role meant that there wasn’t ever a moment when I couldn’t be cracking on with something. Whether I was gathering data, making preliminary calls, prepping a demonstration for a customer or delivering a demonstration, there was always something to do.

The amount of responsibility I was given during the placement increased as time went on. This is of course understandable as before delivering demonstrations to customers I needed to have a more in depth understanding of our product and how best to approach each potential customer. Having said this, I think that as soon as I was ready to take on more responsibility, senior management didn’t hold back in giving it to me.

The skills I learnt during my placement are probably more transferable to a situation that I hope to encounter after I finish my studies; Sales techniques, communication methods, these sorts of skills. In terms of how valuable these skills will be when I reach that point, they will be hugely valuable. I feel that having this placement experience will help me hit the ground running when going into the real world of work. Looking at what I can take into my studies, although basic my time management and organisational skills were never a strong point for me and have massively improved during my placement.

The office atmosphere was amazing. We were always having a good time which, in my opinion, made the job a lot easier. The relaxed and social atmosphere relieved any feeling of pressure and made a much more enjoyable environment. Going to work never seemed a chore.

I think the placement was well structured. We started with 3-4 weeks of training which equipped us well for the duration of our placement. We then gradually progressed month by month, taking on more responsibility as time went on. The sales process that we went through enabled this transition to be very structured and smooth.

The initial 3-4 weeks of the placement was dedicated to training and getting us up to speed on what the company does, how they operate and other company specific details. This provided a solid foundation to build on as the placement progressed. As part of the sales team, most training from then on was on the job. Whenever I had a question I never had to wait long for an answer, and when it came it was always delivered in a constructive and beneficial way. It seemed the senior staff were very invested in us as a sales team.

In terms of the direction that the company is heading, the work that I would undertake and the people that I would be surrounded by, future employment prospects are very appealing. The only downside for someone like myself is the location of the office. I have aspirations to work in a city and that is the only thing that would be lacking.

Yes. I was living in Oxford along with four other placement students and it was great fun. We all got on amazingly well and became good friends during the placement period. At work, a large amount of the workforce was made up of placement students which certainly made the workplace a sociable environment.

The cost of living was higher than what I was used to, having gone to university in Nottingham. However, I was living in oxford so that is to be expected. The main cost that was noticeably different was the cost of rent, but again that is to be expected living somewhere like Oxford, so I don’t think there can be any complaints. In terms of socialising, I don’t think the costs differ that much at all from university.

Although it doesn’t quite match up to say a Nottingham or a Manchester night out, being a university city, Oxford was a great place to live and had a good nightlife. Everything is very assessable, and I never had a bad night out during my placement.

Personally, I played a lot of golf during my placement and Oxford had some very nice courses. I never did too much else, however that isn’t to say that there isn’t anything else to do. Oxford has a wide range of activities to get involved with, I can’t imagine anyone would be stuck for choice.