Business Development Agent Review

Enjoying the placement is very much dependant on how successful you are on a specific campaign. In my experience, when i was hitting target and achieving my bonus each month i found the job very enjoyable as time went quickly and more importantly, i didn't feel stressed!

The group of colleagues i worked with were all very supportive and eager to give advice on how best to achieve on a specific campaign. I did feel welcomed when i first arrived in the business.

Management do carry out initial training and help with any questions/queries, but you are expected to understand what you're doing after a couple of days calling on a particuar campaign.

My normal day involved getting into the office and logged on by 8:45am and finishing at 5:30pm. Employees are also entitled to two 15 minute breaks at 11am and 3:45pm (which are very much needed!!!) The day consists of aiming to make between 100-150 calls so you could say the job is busy in that respect.

I was always apart of a team of between 5-10+ people calling on a specific campaign. Your responsible for your own target each day/month and report writing at the end of the day.

Although i did find the job demanding and very stressful at times, i have had the experience of working in a fast paced, challenging office environment. The placement was definitely an all around good decision and should be taken up by anyone completing a business degree course. For me it has opened my eyes by taking me away from the comfort of the 'University bubble', providing me with a real insight into working life, and boosting my overall confidence in the workplace.

As you can imagine in a target driven environment, many of the employees are very focused on achieiving their next 'lead'. This did provide quite a stressful atmosphere in the office, but it's also very much dependant on the team you are working with and the campaign you are calling on.

When i first started there were a couple of days of intense training to give you the guidance/confidence to start calling. I found that i was essentially thrown in at the deep end at the start of my placement, but arguably it's necessary in that sort of environment as skills need to be picked up fast and turned into results. On another note, close to the end of my placement the company had actually assigned an employee the task of being Placement's Officer', so the overall placement set-up may be slightly different for future students.

As mentioned previously, there was alot of introductory training in the business which does provide you with the confidence and basic skills needed to start calling. We each had a Personal Development Plan that kept track of any major achievements or periods of under achieiving in the business. I found this quite unhelpful though as it was down to the agent to arrange meetings, and i got the impression it wasen't regarded as very important. On the other hand, the sheer amount of training on offer cannot be ignored. Any sort of IT/Telecomms related training is available and training sessions frequently take place where employees can sign themselves up and attend with the consent of their manager.

The Telemarketing industry is personally not for me so i won't be pursuing a career at the company post graduation. However, i have gained a great deal of experience which is easily transferable to another role elsewhere.

There are many opportunities to socialise with other colleagues in the company including work nights out in Bournemouth town, Football matches, and ofcourse after work drinking at Infernos on a friday! The christmas party was also a high point of the year!

I found Bournemouth prices quite reasonable! Rent is similar to what i paid before in Brighton (which is generally seen as more expensive) and socialising is definitely cheaper than London!

Bouremmouth has a wide variety of different clubs and pubs to suit any mood or preferance! :)

There were always opportunities to join in on the weekly football match or friday night out in Bournemouth. I found the social scene at work was available if you wanted to join in!