Tag Archive for recruitment

Recruiting for Sales Agents: All good so far…

Recently, we launched a recruitment drive to find talented and ambitious sales agents to sell our language services to international customers.

After finishing the first week of training, I’m really impressed with the response we’ve had so far – and with the results from our training programme.

In a nutshell, our Sales Agents operate on a commission only basis and have uncapped earnings as they build relationships with customers – earning commission for both new and repeat business.  The beauty of the role is that the agent can sell language services wherever they are based, in the UK or anywhere else in the world, to customers that may not be familiar with the company and its offer currently.

In terms of the support that ALS is providing, each agent is being giving marketing collateral to support their sales efforts, including fantastic case studies about well known customer projects that we have completed and managed pay per click campaigns to generate enquiries via Google.

Sales Agents Ad

Once the agents are up to speed, we give them access a sales and marketing toolkit, so they can start as soon as they wish, which if this week is anything to go by, is immediately!

Before we launched the programme, we expected there to be  interest from experienced, driven sales professionals. However, I’ve found that the programme is becoming increasingly popular with other professionals for the following three reasons:

1 – Applied Language Solutions sells itself

If you were to associate three things with Applied Language Solutions, they would be high quality, customer service and success (not just my words, but those of our customers).  The rate of success and the way we do things always seem to impress people, and for the right reasons. We’ve established a very positive internal culture which tends to rub off well on new recruits, we’re hell-bent on driving innovation in the industry and, if you read our tagline, we do it all with a smile.

All the above, plus the tools we’ve developed in-house all add to a well-oiled machine with hungry individuals. Who wouldn’t want to work for ALS?

2 – Our industry is always growing

On average the localization industry is worth $15 billion a year, which is a big pie to have any share of. Since the world is fast becoming a smaller, global community, more and more people have access to information and travel, which pushes up the demand for the services we provide.

Many of the potential candidates I have spoken to get really excited about this part and always want to know more – so being involved in this industry is somewhat of a “no-brainer”.

3 – Lucrative opportunity with unrivalled potential

Now, because sales agents have unlimited earnings, and we do mean unlimited (it’s not like one of those dodgy pyramid selling schemes you need to avoid like the plague), it’s caught the attention of many individuals who have done their maths and want to take the plunge.

Once they find out that ALS is founded on building relationships, the “hard sell” fear factor goes away completely.

I don’t know why I was surprised!

So, with our unique offering in the market and with our continued international growth, ALS is proving to be a sensible choice for individuals looking for a new business opoprtunity who want to earn well – even for something that, on the face of it (and let’s face it), could be judged to be a “risky” option to take.

Having just finished our first sales training event, our new agents are already bringing in leads, which goes to show how well we prepare our sales force, and how easy it is to sell our award winning services.

If you’re interested in finding out about our sales agent programme or if you know someone else who may be interested, please get in touch for an informal discussion on +44 (0) 844 888 7209 or email agents@appliedlanguage.com.

How hard is it to find the right candidate?

Despite the global recession and the high levels of unemployment I am finding it amazingly hard to find the right candidates for positions in Prague.

I am not asking for the world, just for a good project manager with customer facing experience, the ability to handle stakeholders, develop an account and deliver projects. We have been looking now for eight weeks – we know the right people are out there…somewhere!

Am I asking too much?  Yes, I would like someone with localization experience but are all the good candidates bunkered down, keeping their heads below the parapet until the recession is over.

For those of us who have been through more than one recession I can say, with confidence, that now is a good time to consider a move. You can be in a new role in a growing businesses as the recession lifts and make a real difference.

Those that take chances during this time of uncertainty are usually better positioned for the next stage in their career progression.

So, if there are any project managers with localization experience looking for a new opportunity in the Prague area, please do get in touch at john.dixon@appliedlanguage.com.

Talented developer? Got a passionate for technology and a hunger for learning?

We’re looking for varying levels of Open Source Developers to gel a new team with a real passion for Technology, working alongside our existing development teams spread across the UK, India and Bulgaria. Our focus on the latest technologies creates a buzz for pushing the boundaries in the Development of our customer-focused software. Some of the new technologies we are working with include iPhone, android, iPad, GWT and google app engine.

Quick role overview:

  • Development of new solutions using a mixture of technologies
  • Improving Open Source technologies utilised within existing solutions
  • Promoting Agile development throughout the team
  • Stretching the boundaries of existing solutions

Your drive to use exciting new technologies will help us stay at the forefront of the industry.

If you have any one of these skills, then we want to hear from you;

  • Android dev
  • iPhone dev
  • Ruby on Rails
  • Grails
  • Google Web Toolkit (GWT)
  • Google App Engine
  • PHP
  • Ajax (JS, HTML, CSS) with design flair

So if you have experience in any of those areas, then get in-touch so we can discuss how we can help you make your move to us a great one!