Starting out in a career in sales

When Kevin* first came to IAF, he joined our Team programme looking to build confidence and employer connections as part of his local job search. He wanted to show he was being productive in his personal development and whilst he was a little unsure at first, he soon settled into the group. Kevin later secured a work experience placement with one of our corporate sponsors, ROMO, and can safely say those 2 weeks were definitely worth it;

"I never really had much confidence before this course and at first I was intimidated by the size of the building and the formal work atmosphere. I was placed with the marketing team who gave me tasks that suited my skillset and my work experience placement was a chance for me to gain that confidence in myself. It also gave me a better insight into what different jobs entailed as everyday I was shown somewhere new, given new tasks and saw the daily lives of a variety of different people."

After his work experience placement came to an end, Kevin returned to the classroom for our careers week and updated his CV with all the skills he had learnt and put into practice with ROMO. He also returned to ROMO for a mock interview experience where he had the advantage of a) being somewhere familiar and b) recognised friendly faces on the day. Kevin's work ethic and development journey impressed the ROMO team so much that he was able to secure a paid role within their sales department once his programme came to an end;

"I would like to thank ROMO for the opportunity for work experience as well as offering me a job here. Before this course I felt like a mess, unable to do things that seemed much easier for other people. But now, I know I can do things. It's ok to know my limits and I now know the sorts of jobs I can do and the jobs in which I would not have been able to cope."