• Give a description of a day in the life of a Graduate field sales representative.

On a normal day you would visit different outlets which consist of convenience stores, bars, restaurants, take aways etc. You would go to each call and take ‘measures’ which is seeing what drinks they offer and which are CCEP owned. You would see if there is any point of sale, any other support you can offer to that customer to help drive the sales of their soft drinks. You can build a great relationship with these customers, as well as bringing in more CCEP soft drinks to these outlets.

• After you qualified, did it take long to find a job?

 I started job hunting whilst in my final year at university. It was tough as I was juggling applying to jobs with my final modules, dissertation etc. I started looking around January, had a few online interviews and assessment centres booked in by April, then got offered this job whilst still being at university in May. Then I just had to wait for my results and that was it, I had a degree and job sorted by September. Overall, I’d say my job hunt process was around 4-5 months, but I’d advise to start looking very early on and not waiting till the end of your degree.

• What’s the best thing about your job?

Meeting new people and building these relationships with customers and flexibility on start times as no day will be the same due to opening hours.

• If you could give your 16-year-old self some career advice, what would it be?

To enjoy life and take each step as it comes, but also to be persistent when it comes to applying to jobs even if they’re part time, because any experience is experience. During interviews you will be asked questions that you would have to relate to in real life experiences, this is where you stand out from the crowd and can apply some skills learnt to answer these questions.

• Did you buy something special with your first pay cheque?

A holiday! Nice well needed break away. Then I started to save.