Will's First Week at Evolve

After his first week here at Evolve Assess, Will and I sat down to discuss how he was settling into his new role as SDR, covering what about the role caught his interest when applying, what he’s gotten up to during his first week and what he’s most looking forward to in his role. Here's what he said:

What about the role caught your interest?

Originally through a recruitment agency, I started looking for roles in Sales after recently graduating Newcastle University with a Finance and Accounting degree. I enjoy talking to people, so a customer facing role in Sales seemed like the right move for me. After discussing the role at Evolve with the recruitment agency and researching the company my interested was piqued – learning Evolve is a relatively young company, the element of development and growth opportunities, for myself and the company, was very attractive. To be honest, the way things are going, I thought that software was the right industry to get into as opposed to some more traditional, tangible sales roles.

Applying for a few different jobs, I saw a lot of those types – where you’ve got a set script to pick up, but I was never really looking for something like that. The tech side and being a smaller company was a big bonus to me, I’d applied for some bigger companies when I was looking for a sandwich-year placement. Upon closer inspection I didn’t think that’d be my cup of tea and after talking to some friends in roles like that, they didn’t look anywhere near as interested in what they did or who they worked with as I would have wanted. I didn’t want to end up in a place that was just like a graduate churn-out factory, leaving after a few years and never relating to those I worked with after.

Once I’d met Rich and had an informal chat, I immediately understood the culture and atmosphere of the company, and he ran through the flexible working approach Evolve employs – something that was also very appealing to me.

What have you been getting up to in this first week, and how have you found it?

A lot of this week has been spent getting brought up to speed because, in all honesty, I didn’t know a great deal about this industry – software and HR. I did some work around HR at Uni, but not to this extent and especially not going down the route of recruitment and L&D. I’ve done a fair amount of work around building ideal customer profiles, looking into what we can do for people and how we can help them solve any problems they may have, like how we fit into their solutions. I’ve spent a lot of my time outside of training and meetings just consolidating what we’ve gone over so I’m thoroughly informed in what I’m talking about. Obviously, I’ve been getting to meet the team too in spurts – I met everyone in the office on day one, of course, but I’ve had some Teams calls to meet those who don’t work in the office too. So, meeting the team, finding out about all our ICP’s and having Sales coaching sessions, mostly internal but I’ve had, so far, a really insightful session externally with Mark Ackers. I’ve been reading a lot of his book anyway, that’s what I’ve been mainly trying to occupy myself with this past week in the remainder of the time that I’m not in meetings or training sessions.

I’ve really liked it because it’s been really quite autonomous, but I’ve always been offered plenty of support should I need it, which has been helpful. I always worked my best in that way throughout Uni too, never really getting too involved with tutors and attending lectures online, learning in my own way and at my own pace sort of thing. I’ve always been very results orientated, and that’s always been what drives my motivation – and although I’m only a week in, I definitely see it continuing in this sort of way.

What are you most looking forward to in your role?

I’m looking forward to actually starting with some calls, although I’m a bit nervous for it – I’m not sure if I’ve got all my scripts sorted but I don’t think I’ll have them perfected until I really start doing it, seeing how I actually sound and how it’s all perceived. Rich and I are going to work closely on my first few calls, which I know he’s also looking forward to so it should all be quite fun. I can imagine those first few calls will be the most difficult, but I’m really looking forward to just getting stuck in. I’m definitely looking forward to booking my first meeting and getting my first sale. I know our sales cycle is quite long, just due to the nature of the development of our product and the time that goes into each project, but I’m hoping to book a fair few meetings each week. Being successful at prospecting and sales requires a lot of skill, and I know in those first few weeks it may be frustrating when I’m still learning but I know I’ll get there – the satisfaction from getting it all right will be great. I’ve never really done anything like this before, I did a mock call for my interview which of course I was convinced afterwards I could’ve done far better on, but for my first call I was pleased with it. So mostly, I’m really looking forward to getting to call people.

There’s also the In-House Recruitment Exhibition next week, that’s going to be quite interesting – just one of those different opportunities I wouldn’t have found in other roles. With the company being smaller, I can get involved beyond the remit of my role. I wouldn’t have thought I’d already be going to Exhibitions, just coming into the company. Ben Williams will be doing a talk whilst we’re there, and that should go well. I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to watch his talk, as I’ll be manning the stand – it’ll mostly be Rich going to the talks and what not, and Ash and I will be talking to people at the stand. I think getting to speak to recruiters and HR Leaders will be really helpful for me going forward, seeing as they make up a fair chunk of our customer base that we can help with our platform. There’s a networking event at the end, which should be a good laugh too. Overall, the Exhibition should be great.

I’m looking forward to the social aspect of the team too - planning a Christmas do with the team too – maybe a Christmas market, or maybe even something for Halloween. Getting to know the team both at work and outside of work seems like it’ll be good fun.

Will has been a welcome addition to the team, and we’re looking forward to seeing what the future holds for him and Evolve.