So Many Nice Cars

[Sonicriot13 0]

Yeah Tartan I hope it goes well for you. Sounds like a really good opportunity.

 

Well, had my assessment day yesterday. Hardest thing I've ever done! :shock: Had a group task in the morning, followed by everyone having to prepare a five minute talk (I talked about my Rados! :D ), and then two incredibly difficult role plays, the second of which I had to negotiate a deal for selling some screws (of all things) giving the lowest discount possible. Really tough. but guess what....

 

I PASSED!!!! :D :D :D

 

Out of the 21 people at the start of the day I'm in the last 6 that are being invited to the dealership for a final interview. I'm so pleased with myself because it was such hard work. Started at half eight in the morning and didn't leave until half six in the evening. Grueling.

 

I just need to get through this last interview and the referee stage....

[Alexander 0]

Good luck mate! Sounds like you were in your element!

[Sonicriot13 0]

Good luck mate! Sounds like you were in your element!

 

Cheers mate! it was fun even if it was really hard and nerve shredding. And the guys from the dealership that were there seemed really nice. They went to a hell of a lot of trouble to pick the right people, it must have cost a lot to hire the venue and the guy running the event. It seems like they are really keen to invest in the right people so I think a career with them would be excellent.

[Alexander 0]

Yeah let's face it after that much fannying about to employ someone, they're going to be pretty committed to training you and keeping you happy!

[Andy665 0]

Sonicriot - the selling screws role play - the Company running the assessment day must have been Steer Development and probably Kevin Charlton running the event - I had an interview with them earlier in the year - I managed to negotiate the deal at a price increase.

[Sonicriot13 0]

Sonicriot - the selling screws role play - the Company running the assessment day must have been Steer Development and probably Kevin Charlton running the event - I had an interview with them earlier in the year - I managed to negotiate the deal at a price increase.

 

Yeah, it was steer development but it was Howard Gudge running the event. I wasn't quite as good as you but I did manage to negotiate a five year contract without going over the maximum discount allowed. He managed to get me to the maximum but there was just no way I was going to budge from there! :lol: That was the thing I found the hardest and when I passed it I started to relax a lot more.

 

In the phone call role play we weren't expected to know any real product knowledge and we were just supposed to make it up, but when he phoned me to arrange a test drive in a coupe I rattled off all the actual engine variants they do. That went down really well! :D

 

Anyway, just waiting to hear when my next interview is now but I'm still on a high after thursday. It was mad!

[Andy665 0]

Motor industry sure is a small world :lol:

 

Looks like I'm going into Christmas with two firm job offers and haven't got a clue which one (if either) I'll take - both appeal to me but for very different reasons.

[Sonicriot13 0]

Motor industry sure is a small world :lol:

 

Looks like I'm going into Christmas with two firm job offers and haven't got a clue which one (if either) I'll take - both appeal to me but for very different reasons.

 

That's a good place to be buddy. Thought any more about the VW one?

 

I just can't wait to see what my current employers are gonna offer to try and keep me here if I do get the job. There's nothing they could give me that would make me stay though so it doesn't really matter. I know what I want to do.

[Andy665 0]

The more I think about the General Sales Manager job the more it appeals, it will mean working every other weekend but I know the business really well and its one of the biggest VW sites in the country so theres lots of opportunity to make a name for myself and move on to Brand Manager within a couple of years - plus the money is potentially extremely good.

 

Other job is used with a used car supermarket chain who want me to go and set-up and run a Training Academy for them, right from initial recruitment through to exit interview - the job appeals but far from convinced about the used car supermarket element.

[Sonicriot13 0]

The more I think about the General Sales Manager job the more it appeals, it will mean working every other weekend but I know the business really well and its one of the biggest VW sites in the country so theres lots of opportunity to make a name for myself and move on to Brand Manager within a couple of years - plus the money is potentially extremely good.

 

Other job is used with a used car supermarket chain who want me to go and set-up and run a Training Academy for them, right from initial recruitment through to exit interview - the job appeals but far from convinced about the used car supermarket element.

 

Both seem like good opportunities but you're right about them being very different. This is one of the main things that attracts me to the motor industry. Apart from my love of cars the possibilities/opportunities are only limited by how much work you want to put into it. You really are the maker of your own destiny. Much more so than in anything I've ever done before. If I get the job I'm going for it will be really hard work and long hours but the rewards sound excellent.

[Andy665 0]

You're dead right. The motor industry is one of a handful of industries where you can really progress through your ability to do the job rather than your qualifications.

 

There are a lot of poor quality people in the job, from the people I work with I'd probably employ less than 50% of them but I also know people who earn £100k a year and left school with no qualifications.

[Sonicriot13 0]

The more I think about it the more I want to do it. And the way I'm looking at it at the moment, if I have to go to an interview with every garage in Suffolk then so be it. If I get the job with the last place I go to then I've succeeded in what I set out to do. But lets hope it doesn't come to that.... :D

[Andy665 0]

If you don't get anywhere with whats in the pipeline feel free to drop me a line, I know the MD of Robinsons and have contacts at a few other VW sites in Suffolk - in the motor industry there is at least a 40% annual turnover of sales staff so there are always opportunities becoming available. I have been working on some research to demonstrate just how bad things are (and how easy it is to sell cars and make money if you do the basics right) - some of the figures are frightening.

 

78% of the people who go out and look at a car buy one

20% is the average closing ratio.

89% of the people want to drive the car before they buy it.

85% decided to buy a car before they even walked on the site.

62% of the people told their salesperson they were

[Sonicriot13 0]

Thanks for that, that's really interesting to know. And you're right, a bit scary!

 

That one about establishing a rapport with the customer. After working in customer service roles for over five years (it's all I've done since leaving college) that is my number one rule. Always establish a rapport with them. This became most apparent in working in complaints teams. The amount of times I've turned a raging, livid customer into a laughing, joking one just by engaging them in a bit of banter, could be about anything just treat them like a human being, it's unreal. That one should defo be 100%.

 

Looking at those I can see why the guys went to so much trouble on Thursday.

 

Cheers for the offer Andy. I did try to send you my CV before but it didn't work for whatever reason. The next interview will be in the next week or so and they said I will know if I've got the job before the end of the year. But if I don't get it I will be in touch. Hell, if the email doesn't work again I'll just post my CV to you or something! :D

[Sonicriot13 0]

Well, found out this morning that I got the job!!! And I couldn't be happier. The money will be better, it should prove to be a lot more enjoyable and rewarding than my current job and I get a company car! When I hand my notice in on 2nd Jan only one more month to go at the insurance factory! :D

[Andy665 0]

Congratulations, just make sure you're one of th 18% who are still in the industry after 12 months :lol:

[Toad 0]

Congrats Mr Riot!. I'd not looked at this thread before now.... Done the maths on how long you will need to work before you can buy a rado again then??? :)

 

Just to add, I worked as a temp in HR for a coupe of months and was taught a lot about job applications and interview skills. The main thing is to read the person spec, or role profile carefully, pick out the essential and desirable criteria for the role and reference them in your application, then think of situations where you have used or learnt these skills and refer to these in your interview. It really is that simple to pass the selection process. You will need to show more aptitude than your opponents and need to get on with the managers, but you'll not get anywhere if you don't score well beforehand.

[Sonicriot13 0]

Cheers guys. I'm sure it is going to be really hard work but I'm well up for it. Mind you, if I thought I'd be sat around twiddling my thumbs I wouldn't have applied for it. And for the record there will be a VR6 parked outside my house with my name on the V5 as soon as possible. Black, lowered, 17s, recent rebuild, you know the drill. 8)

 

It's mad to think that six months ago I really thought it would be great to get a job in the motor industry, and now I've got one!

[Frosty Phantom 0]

Congrats on the new job mate. I too just found new work so I know the constipated scale of mass relief that is :)

 

To be fair I think a lot of the time it's just some shmuck who's decided to abandon his wife and kids and buy it on finance. For more negative but sometimes true views on life read my new book! :)

 

Just kidding lol. In my old job I had to do a callout to an ex CO of barclays who had the original martin from the bond films. Restored and looking mint. I was scared to go within 5 foot of it to be fecking honest lol

 

I too struggle to find money for my car, but that's because I'm crap with it. Not on a bad wage for my age at all. I live away from home, just no family to support as of yet. This year should hopefully put a bit of money away to go towards doing up the raddo though. (easier said than done)

[Sonicriot13 0]

I've not been all that great with money in the past. This si the line I get from my girlfriend all the time:

 

"Well, if you'd saved your money over the last two years instead of spending it all on 4 Golfs and 2 Corrados, just think what you could afford now."

 

There's no come back to that really. She does have a point. But I did really enjoy all of those cars so I don't consider it a waste as such. I probably could have just done more with it if I'd thought about it a bit more.

 

Oh well, when I've settled into my new role I will be doing substantially better finacially than I am now, but I'm going to have to be a bit more sensible I think. I want an R32 at some point. If I start saving a bit now maybe I can catch up with the price as it starts coming down in a couple of years or so. Assuming I don't blow it all on another Rado. God, there's just too many things I want.