I hadn’t considered procurement as a career but as I was hearing more about procurement and consulting I was becoming more and more interested in Proxima and its value proposition.
I graduated with a degree in finance and took a short term role working with a recruitment firm. Proxima were actually one of our clients, so I guess you could say it was an unconventional way of meeting each other.
The application process was really very straightforward. I went online and applied for the graduate programme. There was a short form to fill in online, I think it was only three or four questions. I submitted along with a CV and that was that.
Within a week I had a call back from the HR team. We talked about me and my aspirations and then about the company, the role and what to expect. I’ll be honest I had my reservations about the consulting lifestyle, or at least how I perceived it. We agreed that I’d do some research and thinking and call back within a couple of days. What struck me at the time was that I felt that Proxima really wanted me to get to know the firm and make the right decision for me, and I appreciated the time they gave me to do that.
I called back in a couple of days and this time we took about fifteen minutes to talk about the graduate growth path and international opportunities, and then I was invited to attend one of the graduate assessment days in London, with three other candidates.
The day was brilliant. The four of us were each interviewed for an hour and also had to do a 45 minute presentation which we had each prepared in advance. We then had a panel Q+A with four of the Proxima team, people who had done the grad programme or were early in careers. It was really useful to quiz them, and understand more about what might happen to me. Finally we wrapped up with an hour with Gareth, the CEO. Gareth explained his vision for the firm and for graduates and then led a discussion and answered our questions. I was very impressed by Gareth’s talk and his honesty, and the fact that he took time out of his day to spend with us was a factor in setting Proxima apart.
I left that Friday afternoon feeling enthused and on the following Monday I’d had a call from the HR team with feedback and an offer to start three weeks later. A couple of days before I started I had a call from HR to take me through the onboarding process, this helped, and made me much more confident about walking in on the Monday for day one. But that’s all history now.
If I had some advice for anyone thinking about applying for the graduate programme I say go for it, and throw yourself in to it. And once you are here….
- Be prepared to jump straight in
- Take advantage of all the experience and support in the office and get to know as many people as possible
- Don’t look back
