Professional Educational Consultant! Review

Loved it! It was the most challenging experience of my life and not something I ever thought I'd do but so glad I did.

There is a great support network from your team members and managers and even the company directors and senior managers go out of their way to help you where they can.

I spoke to a manager every day and sometimes twice a day for help, and advice.

Everyday was busy but as the summer progressed it became much easier to manage your time effectively.

I was effectively running my own business so I had a lot of responsibility in terms of how many people I saw each day and how well I managed my time, my finances and my business records.

I became a lot more driven after spending a summer with Southwestern and much more confident generally. My experience really taught me how to set goals, how to problem solve and the importance of persisting and staying positive during tough times which are all useful skills to have throughout university and in life.

We didn't really spend time in an office as such, apart from during the training at the start of the summer and the checkout process at the end. The general atmosphere was great though and everyone I worked with were really positive and helpful including the other team members, the managers and the support staff in the office.

The company has been running the student summer work programme for over 100 years so they know what works. Almost everyone in the company including the President started out on the summer work programme so they know how to help students to do well.

There were various contests during the summer and also an incentive trip to The Gambia which was great for motivation. The main thing that the company invests though is time, they really make a point of having someone speak to the students and student managers (who are also students) each day, writing letters, holding conference calls and they come along to weekly meetings.

If students do well their first summer, not necessarily in terms of sales but show they are dedicated, hardworking and have a problem solving attitude then they are invited back onto the student manager programme the following year. This is where students really get to learn skills to help them in their future careers as they learn to recruit, train and lead a team while they are still at university which is something that many people don't learn until they are in their 30's. In subsequent years there is also the option to move onto the graduate programme to learn to be a sales manager.

Southwestern people in my experience are amongst some of the most fun people to be around and many have become lifelong friends. Although there isn't much opportunity to party during the summer becasue people are pretty focused on doing well, there is certainly plenty of time for social occasions at the end of the summer and back on campus. There are also some great events during the year including awards banquets and training seminars in various places in the UK and Europe.

Students live with host families which is generally about $30-$50 per week and other living costs are fairly low because students work hard during the week. The costs apart from the actual travel and visa to the US are generally rent, meals, travel to and from your work area and fun activites on Sundays.

There's not much opportunity to experience the nightlife during the summer but the amount you can save because of this is great as you get a lump sum at the end before you go back to university.

Everyone's pretty sociable so there are always invites to join up and play sports, go to the pub etc. Working with Southwestern puts students into contact with lots of other students and alumni from the UK and Europe too so many people meet up after the summer for weekends in various cities.