Sales Associate Review

My role involves rotations around the company, learning about the different functions of Computacenter, and networking with Computacenter employees, vendors, partners, and customers, to best prepare me for my career in sales when I come off the programme. Alongside this I have an IT Technical Salesperson apprenticeship to assist me further with my learning.

I have learnt further communication and networking skills, but have also massively improved on my presentation skills as I have had to do around 7 so far on the programme. I have also improved on my active listening skills, ensuring I take in what the person is saying to me and be optimistic that I can help them with a solution.

I enjoy the programme thoroughly because it is showing me things about myself that I didn't even know I was capable of doing. I also like that every week is different, so there is always something different and exciting happening. Whether this be starting a new rotation or networking after work with partners/associates/stakeholders. I also improve the apprenticeship as it is keeping my brain alive and providing me with more knowledge!

I would say the rotations are fairly structured, but sometimes we don't find out where we are until a day before which can sometimes be challenging if we have to travel and make arrangements. Also, sometimes there is quite a wait for feedback from presentations. Besides this, i would say everything for the apprenticeships and rotation activities are well organised.

Whenever I reach out to my manager/HR Manager, I usually receive the support I'm after and they assist me with any problems that arise. I know that they're supportive and are there whenever we need to reach out to them for anything. However, as mentioned previously sometimes it takes quite a while to get feedback back which I think can be difficult for us associates to see which areas to improve on.

My training provider is supportive if ever I reach out to them, and i know they will guide me in the right direction or support me if i had any problems. I don't communicate with them too much however, but know they are there. I am enjoying working towards my IT Technical sales person qualification.

The qualification is helping me with my sales techniques, and verbal communication skills when meeting new people/customers. I believe this will definitely help me day-to-day, especially when I go into a full role in sales. I would say that my learning so far has supported me on presentations i have done to my mentor, but I haven't yet used the sales techniques i've learnt as i haven't been in that situation yet, as they will arise a lot more when I go into full role. The learning is also helping me learn more about Computacenter as a company and important stakeholders.

I also get involved in networking events such as SE1, which are events from vendors. There is also FreshMinds which is for recent grads/apprentices and young professionals in the company where there are quarterly/regular events to bring everyone together and network. Also, there is an empoWOMENt event where all the females in Computacenter meet at an external venue and collaborate to find ways to make the workforce more equal/diverse.

Yes

The company is so supportive and collaborative, everyone is always willing to support you, no matter where they are in the hierarchy and I think that is very important. There is also always something exciting happening, so every day is different and I'm always excited for work which I think is crucial in life and thus would recommend a company such as CC to my friends. There are also great rewards, and the company pushes you to learn and maximise your knowledge so there are lots of training opportunities to everyone.

To just be yourself and ask questions if you don't understand something/a question. Be confident in yourself and know that the best version you can be of yourself if just to be yourself, as the interviewers will know if you are not being genuine or authentic. Be open and honest with all communication because they will see straight through it if you're not. Mainly just be confident.