Account Executive Review

As an account executive I have an account base that I manage. As a reseller, we work with vendors and distributors to sell IT equipment and solutions/services. i work with a variety of other contacts such as internal specialists. Daily tasks include: - cold calling - emails - account admin - producing quotes and processing orders - meetings - collaboration with specialists , partners, vendors + distributors - training

skills I have developed/learnt: - presentation skills - IT skills - use of CRM systems, Apps etc - technical knowledge - collaboration skills - independence - teamwork - communication skills with a broad range of people in different roles - confidence + resilience - sales skills through sales training - cold calling techniques - leadership skills - project management skills - time management - network expansion

i highly enjoy the apprentice program I am doing at Softcat. Softcat has a fun culture and good values, meaning from the beginning you feel welcomed into the company and have plenty to smile about. Softcat cares about every employee and shows this, even with a growing employee count. it has also been enjoyable as there is plenty of young employees in the same position as myself. I also have an amazing sales team, who is there for support when needed and do a lot of fun activities together.

My program is well structured. we had a 3 week induction at the beginning, and then moved gradually into our role, with the support of our learning and development team, apprentice managers, sales team etc. we also have a buddy scheme with past apprentices which is very helpful. we have a ratio of work-training hours that we stick by. we have training days pre-booked in our diaries so we can organise our work around these. i have weekly 1-1's with my apprentice manager (talk more often but this is a more formal meeting/catch up). our training providers are also available to contact if and when needed.

everyone is also happy to help! we have a HR portal for convinience but can also contact the team directly. my apprentice manager and team are extremely helpful and offer support whenever needed. they also monitor my progress to ensure i am on track. The learning and development team are helpful whenever needed. our helpdesk team help to solve any technical problems we have with our laptops etc which allows us to continue working quickly.

our training provider has offered lots of help and support. they are always willing to pencil in a call in their own time outside of the program set hours, to help go over any concerns and offer advice. communication has been frequent and consistent , and responses have been fast. they ensure everyone understands the task at hand and make sure we have plenty of notes and documents to help us succeed.

by learning sales skills and technical information it helps us perform better in our role as it gives us a better understanding of what we are selling, how to go about selling it and why it is important. we can apply this in daily conversations and in our work. it also allows us to reflect back on the work we have conducted and see how we can improve in the future.

It has been harder due to COVID, however Softcat have done a great job at keeping the culture alive in a remote fashion. i have joined an apprentice committee group where present and past apprentices can come together to help improve the program, help with event planning, recruitment, communications etc, to ensure we get heard and feel valued. Softcat have help many virtual social events which i have joined in with, and have even received hampers and gifts from Softcat and our partner vendors in the post which has been a nice touch. Softcat also tries to encourage employees to take part in some form of volunteering, so i have signed up to OnHand to complete some volunteering.

Yes

- Softcat stick to their values and culture: fun, passionate, intelligent and responsible. - Social and plenty of young employees - so a great place to be an apprentice - real life work experience - you feel valued and listened to, no matter what stage you are at in your career - good communication within the company - allow you to develop skills and always new learning opportunities - progression routes

- get to know as many people as possible to expand your network - the more people you know, the easier your job is. - stay organised - do not be afraid to ask for help - you do not have to be technical to work in an IT company - i wasn't when i joined as an account manager and i'm learning new things each day. - work hard from the beginning - you will see results eventually