Success Stories

Success Story: Emma Grimes

Personal summary

Emma Grimes (25) graduated from the University of Salford in 2005 with a degree in Business Information Systems.

Current Employer

I work for Select Property – the UK’s leading specialist in off-plan overseas investment property, working in countries including Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Turkey. My current role here is as UK Sales Manager, with responsibility for the sales performance of the teams based in our head office. Working at Select gives me a good salary, the potential to travel around the world, and a range of incentives. But more importantly, the company takes the progression and development of all employees seriously - all of our sales managers have been promoted internally after starting as Sales Executives.

Why did you choose sales as a career?

My degree was computer focused, but I have always been quite extrovert and enjoyed working with people. A friend was working at Select Property and whenever we met she’d drive up in her sports car and order champagne, while I was on lager! She told me all about Select and her sales role and it sounded fantastic, so really it was a combination of my personality and seeing her success that attracted me to sales.

When did you start your career?

Once I had completed my degree I worked at a regional newspaper for about a year as an Information Co-ordinator in an IT department, but it was a large company and I didn’t enjoy the work or the environment. The friend who worked for Select told me about Pareto, which recruits for Select, so I contacted them. I passed a Pareto assessment day and was successful at interview with Select, joining in February 2006.

What was the biggest challenge in the sales environment?

It’s probably one of the biggest challenges in any job, but it’s keeping myself and others motivated. Anyone can have a bad day, but you need to pick yourself up and get back to focusing on your role. The other thing for me is that I tend to take things personally and if I’m not doing well I want to know why I’m not performing and will challenge myself to do better next time.

What have you found to be the best part of your role?

The best part of this role is that every day is so different. The variety means that the days fly by – which isn’t always a good thing! - and I’m constantly using different skills while developing new ones. I get involved in everything from marketing and advertising, to testing new IT systems, management meetings and individual appraisals – no two days are the same and I love the buzz and excitement that that brings. Last week I worked at the launch event for our new development, which was attended by celebrities such as Orlando Bloom and Kelly Rowland! It also offers the potential to travel widely – I’ve been everywhere from Dubai and Morocco to France, Turkey and Italy, and there’s also the potential to go to Mumbai in future as we are opening an office there.