CONNOR PARKINSON
SALES EXECUTIVE
GEOSYNTHETICS – A PERSONAL TOUCH
THE POINT OF VIEW OF AN APPRENTICE
In our first blog in the series themed ‘Geosynthetics – A Personal Touch’ Joanne Murray mentioned the apprenticeship scheme that TCS participate in. I thought that a blog covering this in a bit more details might be useful to anyone considering this route.
I started on the TCS apprenticeship scheme after my first year at college and I am pleased to say that it has given me an excellent foundation on which to build my growing understanding of the geotechnical products we stock and sell. I have learned about our varied and extensive merchant network customer base and have developed my knowledge of the geosynthetic market.
I started college in 2013 and studied Physical Education, Sociology, Psychology & Business Studies without fully knowing what I wanted to do as a career. I passed all my exams in the first year but felt I wanted to do something within a working environment and to learn on the job whilst practicing the skills I had picked up in my first year in business studies.
So I started the second year looking out for potential apprenticeship opportunities. I didn’t want to rush into anything so I took my time and waited for the right opportunity. After some time came across an advertisement for an apprentice sales advisor at TCS Geotechnics. At the time I had no geotechnical background so the products and services TCS offer was completely new to me but that made the opportunity all the more interesting. I applied for the position, was given an interview and not long after, received an offer. I quickly accepted and started in April 2015.
The scheme at TCS offered me on the job training relating to the products, services and sales techniques utilised by TCS. I also received training on the accounting and CRM software packages and became proficient in all the various transport and logistics portals. TCS also gave me time within the working day to study a level 2 Business Administration NVQ qualification. I completed this course and progressed to Level 3 Business Administration NVQ qualification which I completed in May 2018.
I think there have been many benefits to learning on the job. Not only does it help to focus on the specific products and processes that TCS have in place but it allowed me to start to build up key relationships with my customers and the associated confidence. Responding to enquiries quickly and offering a rapid and informative level of service is one of the key qualities TCS pride themselves on.
The training I have received has allowed me to develop the skills needed to do this and it is clearly very much appreciated based on the positive responses I receive from customers. Converting a quotation into an order always gives me that sense of achievement and motivates me to continue to develop in my role. I have recently started to visit my customers at their branches to further extend and build on those relationships. By representing TCS and meeting the customers face to face, it gives an extra dimension to our growing relationships.
FUTURE PLANS/DEVELOPMENT HOPES
For the future, I want to gain as much experience as I can in the geotechnical industry, as I feel I am yet to even scratch the surface of this dynamic and growing market. This would involve learning more about the specialist geotechnical products that we can offer and also gaining further knowledge of the markets TCS operate in. The natural progression on from this would be for me to take on more of a leadership role at some point in the future.
I am actively involved in mentoring our current apprentice and I enjoy passing on my knowledge, knowing that I was that new starter a couple of years ago and feeling proud of how far I have progressed since.
