Apprentice Kitchen Sales Designer Review

I am an apprentice kitchen sales designer so general tasks consist of designing, quoting and then selling. I would typically go out to customers homes to conduct a survey and measure up. I would then take these measurements to create a design on the computer. Then quote and check the design before sending them to the customer. After fine tweaking the layout/products together I would then sell the kitchen and book in a delivery slot. When I am not busy with these tasks I am learning and working on my apprenticeship.

I have developed my product knowledge even further as I already had a lot of experience within the kitchen industry, particularly the fitting side of things and appliances. I have mainly learned new skills with sales and quoting because this was the area that I had no real previous experience in. I have also learned a lot of essential knowledge through my training and apprenticeship assignments.

I greatly enjoy both the work and the learning equally. I knew this was the area of work that I wanted to be involved with for many years and have only ever worked within the kitchen industry. I also like learning and continuing to increase my knowledge through my apprenticeship programme.

It started off very slow and not very clear as we didn't hear from anyone for a couple of months. However, once our teacher was assigned and then the work and support started to be much more present things became much more organised. The structure of the work and what was required and when it was needed by became much better.

There are many colleagues present to help if I am stuck or worried about what to do. I often ask for reassurance especially when the matter at hand involves customers money and I want to ensure correct procedures are taking place. They allow me time to do my off the job hours and to complete my assignments and training within the workplace.

My training provider is very supportive and always reminds me that they are in reach if I have any issues or need any help with anything. They make it very clear what qualifications are available to me and what is needed from me to reach the level that I want to achieve. They help me with one to one sessions where we review my work and establish what needs improving. I can email or ring my trainer or contact the via the website if need be.

It is very relevant to the role and will greatly assist me in my work going forward. There is plenty of topics that will help me such as dealing with customers, maintaining the showroom, building regulations etc. It will also be a great qualification for me to have on my name forever.

There are many social activities and events to be apart of at my work. These mainly consist of charity sponsored events and ways to make money for a valuable cause. We also have a trade day where we invite our customers to come down and take part in various activities. I have mainly only been participating in our local depot activities so far such as work dos and outings.

Yes

Before I joined, I had only ever heard positive words about the company and working for them. Now that I am here I understand why. They most certainly look after there staff and do care for you. It is also a company I would recommend simply for the work itself and the atmosphere of a being part of a team at your depot.

I would suggest looking into the company and what they strive for. I also would look at their products in the brochure just to get a quick glimpse of what you will be dealing with on a daily basis. I would recommend looking into kitchen and current design trends. Despite this, no knowledge is needed as Howdens looks at the individual themselves and what they are capable of and accepts that they will be learning on the job and develop from there.