Customer Success Assistant Review

My placement year at ProspectSoft has honestly been one of the best experiences ever. The opportunities that I have been given, all the different projects I’ve got involved in, the different skills I’ve learnt and the friends I’ve made have made working at the company such an amazing time - one that I’ll never forget.

One of the best things about working at ProspectSoft is the fact that you aren’t viewed as ‘a placement’, like many of my friends working at larger companies have been made to feel. My opinions and contributions were highly valued, and I was made to feel part of the team from day one. I was given just as much responsibility as other colleagues who have been there for many more years.

Not only was my manager there for guidance on a day-to-day basis whenever I had any questions about my regular tasks, but his manager (the head of our department) was also always there for us when we needed help. Not only that, but the director of our department, and if I’m honest all other managers and directors in the company, were always willing to help if you ever felt like you needed some support at work.

I was completely surprised with how busy I was at ProspectSoft. I’d always heard of people who had done summer internships or year-long placements who had been given set tasks to do and once finished, were just left with nothing to do. I have never felt like that at ProspectSoft. Not only was I given a lot of responsibility doing the recruitment for our technical placement students for next year, which is a really busy time of the year, but myself and two other colleagues would manage the phones for our team and would constantly have something to do for our customers. If I ever did find myself in a position with not as much to do, I could quite easily occupy myself with something or help others who had a lot more on their plates.

Responsibility is definitely a word that I say to people a lot when talking about my time at ProspectSoft. I have been trusted with some really important jobs, like doing the recruitment for next year’s technical placements, speaking to some of our biggest customers, helping with the company’s biggest target at the moment, and getting all our customers to move over to our new cloud-based platform. These are things that have a direct impact on the company, and being involved in such high responsibility projects has been a great challenge.

Although I’ve not gone back to University yet, I’m certain that as well as transferrable skills that the working life routine has given me, my confidence has grown massively. This will definitely help me to feel more relaxed in group exercises and presentations. Additionally, I’ve developed my communication skills, largely because I’ve been speaking to our customers on a daily basis! Building rapport with this large customer base is a skill I know I can definitely take forward, not only to University, but into my future career.

The atmosphere at ProspectSoft is really fun, quite relaxed, yet still very ambitious and professional. One thing I really liked about the working environment is that everyone is always willing to help, even if they’re not in the same department as you. We did change around the departments a couple of times whilst on placement, with the aim of trying to make sure the company was working as efficiently as possible. However, for me, this made the environment more exciting, as I was able to experience working with lots of different people and learn new skills from these members of the team.

The placement scheme at ProspectSoft is something of a well-oiled machine. The company relies completely on placements, with around a fifth of the workforce made up of placements (with a total of 60% of people who have done or are doing a placement), making the placement scheme feel at the core of the company’s culture. Additionally, ProspectSoft’s placement scheme is 13 months rather than 12, which I truly believe is something that contributes to the success of the placement scheme, as the month-long dedicated training programme allows placements to get to grips with the solutions ProspectSoft offer.

The first month of your placement at ProspectSoft is taken up with training delivered by our training consultant and other members of the team. The first two weeks are general training sessions for all placements, and then the second two weeks are made up of role-specific training as well as shadowing the outgoing placements. I found this training so helpful, as I learnt so much about the software that we offer as well as internal processes, so that when the old placements leave, you aren’t in a position where you have no idea what’s going on! Throughout the year, there were always opportunities to learn on a daily basis, through working with colleagues in my department as well as with colleagues in different departments. The Service Desk were always willing to show you how to resolve more technical-based issues, which really helped contribute to my development at the company.

ProspectSoft usually offer around 50% of their placement intake to come back to work after they graduate, and I’m very hopeful that I’m going to get a job offer. We had regular meetings with our managers, including an appraisal half-way through the year and at every one of these, we discussed my intentions about coming back to the company so it was great to discuss this from quite an early stage. ProspectSoft don’t offer a specific graduate scheme, rather coming back to work full-time, which is definitely something that appeals to me.

There are loads of social activities that you can get involved in at ProspectSoft. The company has a social committee, who organise some really good activities like the annual summer BBQ and the amazing Christmas party – we got to go to the indoor sledging slope in Milton Keynes this year! Also, the placements themselves often organise nights out in Oxford, which are really fun and often involve some of the other people at work too!

I was one of the lucky ones who got to live at home during their time at ProspectSoft, as I only live around half an hour away, so for me it was good. For the placements who lived in Oxford (where most employees live) it seems like quite an expensive place but I think that you can find yourself somewhere that is not only close to the route to work, but not too far from Oxford City Centre, for a reasonable amount.

Stokenchurch itself has some pubs where we’ve been for drinks after work, but as it’s a village there isn’t anywhere you can go out. As most people live in Oxford, that’s where we tend to go out. I’ve really enjoyed myself on every night out we’ve been on with work and it’s definitely a place that I’d recommend to others when trying to find somewhere new to go. There are lots of smaller cocktail bars, which I really enjoy going to, as well as the bigger clubs.

There are lots of activities that you can get yourself involved in with people at ProspectSoft. As well as lots of nights out, there are different activities such as monthly trampolining, weekly badminton, football, rock climbing, games nights at the office and so much more. People are always up for something new too, so if you find a new activity, people will definitely be up for giving it a go!