Tales of an Apprentice
Page 1 of 1
Maddie Hollis | 
29th Jun 2010 at 14:33 | 122 views | 
0 comments(s)
Chicken & Stuffing Sandwiches
Can you remember when you were a child and your Mum asked you to do something, or to stop doing something? She would start off all nice and sweetly, and then end up yelling her head off. When your Mum came to the ‘yelling the head off stage’, did you finally start to listen, then stop, before doing the exact same thing 5 minutes later? ...Yep? Me too...
For some Telemarketers and Telemarketing Companies, (but obviously NOT The Swan Company), this is the exact same state of affairs. For example, Mr Jones is sitting in his office, Its 12:20, his secretary has gone on her lunch break and he is tucking into his homemade chicken and stuffing sandwich. He receives a telephone call, it’s a cold caller.
Now Mr Jones is quite a friendly, happy sort of chap. So he thinks to himself, “I’ll give this guy a break and listen to what he says, but first I want to eat my sandwich”. So he picks up the phone...
T...
more
Category: Tales of an Apprentice
Maddie Hollis | 08th Jun 2010 at 14:31 | 99 views | 1 comments(s)
A little Present
You know you hear of people chewing their bottom lip; well I have never seen or thought of anybody doing that before… Until I started just a second ago. Honestly I have never thought about it, and then I find myself staring at a blank Word document trying to start my blog, and I’m actually doing it myself. It’s quite unusual.
Bit Random, but at least the screen is no longer blank….
I have now been with The Swan Company for approximately 12 weeks, and I do feel as though I have always worked here and fit in really well. For example, the other week we went to meet a prospective client in Yeovil. Margaret and I were sitting with her in this gorgeous little Italian Café (which also has free WiFi and yummy smoothies. It’s fantastic!), talking and have a general natter about what needs to be done …blah…blah….. Now normally what has happened before at tho...
more
Category: Tales of an Apprentice
Maddie Hollis | 02nd Jun 2010 at 13:35 | 87 views | 0 comments(s)
What Lies Beneath..
I had a brilliant time last week at Business Exchange!! I really appreciated all the loverlee, loverlee things everybody said about my blog….But obviously all good things must come to an end. If every day was like that then:
• I would be, (as Margaret puts it), the size of a small African country after eating all the breakfasts.
• I think that I would eventually bore you all to death with my constant nattering.
• I would get very, very cranky as I am not a great lover of early mornings…
Now I must say that since our mushroom pinging adventures last week, not a lot of the exciting stuff has been going on… Of course, I have still been very ‘Busy and Important’ doing general officey things, and I do understand that the life of a Business Administration and Sales Apprentice cannot be filled with glitz and excitement every minute of the day.
As Victoria is on holiday (and when the cat’s away&hel...
more
Category: Tales of an Apprentice
Maddie Hollis | 27th May 2010 at 13:49 | 161 views | 6 comments(s)
Bish, Bash, Bosh!
Now, as you may or may not remember, I wrote a Blog a couple of weeks ago about networking… Well, this very morning I went to my first ever networking event! It was the Dorset BusinessXchange breakfast in Kingston Maurwood, near Dorchester. Laura, the group leader, was keen to emphasise that it is a business support networking group and not a lead generating one. However, I swear that Margaret could find a lead in the Gobi desert… So I’m now going to tell you all about it…
I don’t think that I’ve ever had so much fun… In a business, boring-to-your-average-17-year-old kind of way. If you know what I mean. (Chuckles…).
Everybody who went to this event was just so lovely and kind…I swear it has nothing to do with the free full English breakfast that they receive beforehand.… Well maybe a little. But can I just add when eating this breakfast you are sitting next to potential clients, so I ...
more
Category: Tales of an Apprentice
Maddie Hollis | 20th May 2010 at 09:43 | 100 views | 1 comments(s)
Just because the sun is out, it doesn’t mean it’s hot..
You know when you look out of the window on a nice sunny day and instantly decide to wear shorts or a summer dress …but when you get outside you are freezing! That slight swaying in the trees that you mistook for a gentle breeze is in fact an icy northern wind that whips right through you. Well I think today is one of those days…..
So I’m sitting here freezing, trying to sound intelligent, interesting, professional, business-like and altogether gorgeous. BUT.. every time I come to write this blog, my mind goes into lock down mode… I can’t work it out. All week I’ll be doing stuff and thinking to myself: ‘Oh yeah, I’ll put that in my blog…’ The day of the of the blog arrives and I’m twiddling my thumbs, having no idea whatsoever what to write!
So…..as this is a recurring problem I’ve decided to do something about it…...
more
Category: Tales of an Apprentice
Maddie Hollis | 12th May 2010 at 14:59 | 75 views | 0 comments(s)
This blog is all about the Dos and the Don’ts of Networking….
Now some of you may be wondering what exactly is Networking, well the dictionary definition is:
A supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest: e.g. Working mothers in the community use networking to help them manage successfully.
However in business terms, (well, especially with The Swan Company), the definition seems to be:
Meeting up with all your business associates for breakfast in a big hall somewhere and having a good old chin wag about what everyone has been up to.
Having the opportunity to meet new business people, get to know and to build relationships with them.
I personally think that this is a big difference…
Networking cannot really be defined as it is completely different for every single person and company, depending on what they are hoping to achieve. It is not a platform to sell, sell, sell. People ...
more
Category: Tales of an Apprentice
Maddie Hollis | 04th May 2010 at 11:15 | 330 views | 0 comments(s)
Don’t you just love nature? We have a bank holiday weekend and ……it rains. Isn’t that what we all love? The one day we can go out and enjoy ourselves….We can’t.
Gutted. :-(
Still you can always do what we did over the cold…wet…weekend. Have a BBQ in the rain!! Though to be completely honest it’s not quite the same. You still have the BBQ routine. The whole waking up early in the morning filled with excitement, (and maybe dread at the amount of food that will be consumed on your premises – as well as the cost of this food ….), standing in front of the kitchen window making a massive potato salad, slight grin on your face…then suddenly…..Rain!! Pitter-pattering on the window……If you’re a duck, you love it…Sadly you’re not.
When everyone arrives you realise just how small your kitchen is and just how noisy small people are….. Although can I just add ...
more
Category: Tales of an Apprentice
Maddie Hollis | 27th Apr 2010 at 16:11 | 81 views | 0 comments(s)
If I could have one wish right now, it would be to be sat on the beach with a laptop, rather than being at this desk......
The likelihood of this ever happening is …... Zero......
Though to be honest I think a laptop and sand would not be the best combination in the world. You would get all kinds of gritty bits underneath your nails and in your hair. As well as the fact that if you tried sunbathing at the end of the day you would have a big white patch on you thighs! Who wants that?..............(If you do...you know what to do!)
Still I could have an extremely boring job when all I do is sit around and do completely nothing all day. ..rather than being very very 'busy and important' writing this blog :).
I don't know how people can just sit at a desk for 8 hours and pretend to be busy!..Surely that uses up far more energy than just getting on and doing something?!! ….And YES guys I know that I've already spoken about this..........Don'...
more
Category: Tales of an Apprentice
Victoria Moffatt | 19th Apr 2010 at 11:12 | 117 views | 0 comments(s)
Tales of an Apprentice - Part 2
Mmmmmm…don’t you just love Monday mornings?… The whole dead and droopy feeling when you shuffle into work?………
Yeah me too…….
I am currently sat here with a cup of green tea (yummy) thinking about what it is I should actually be writing about, I suppose I should really try to be intelligent and interesting....
so here goes..
You may or may not be aware of the fact that people who do an Apprentice scheme also get to a do an NVQ. Now this can be a good or a bad thing…Good if you like doing extra sort of project work, and bad if you don’t. I’m doing a level 2 NVQ in business and a level 3 in sales, the funny thing is though I have never seen anything so easy in my whole entire life!
To be honest the majority of it is complete common sense…sort of like..
Q – ‘why did Anna burn her hand when she touched the hot kettle’… …..M...
more
Category: Tales of an Apprentice
Victoria Moffatt | 13th Apr 2010 at 14:22 | 79 views | 0 comments(s)
Tales of an Apprentice - Part 1
On the 29th March 2010 I started my Business Administration and Sales Apprenticeship with a telesales and appointment setting company, 2 weeks later and I have been ordered to write a blog…. Apparently this will help me reflect upon my training, raise the profile of the company, and be something good for when I go for Apprentice of the Year!....Right..
Today’s date is Monday 12th April at 9.15 in the morning and I currently have as much imagination as a fat toad eating flies…. This, in case you have not realised, is not very much….
The Swan Company Ltd is not what you would describe as your average, ordinary, boring employer. For example the office is in a field, in the middle of nowhere! We even have an office cat that is white and moulting…I wear black trousers…Mmmmmm. Boss 1’s dog (Boss 1a) comes to work wanting to play…we have a surprising amount in common. Not 100% sure if that is ...
more
Category: Tales of an Apprentice