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Graduate Jobs
Business Development Executive
For those with business knowledge and an interest in marketing
With bonus-related pay, direct contact with clients and fantastic exposure, the role of the Business Development Executive (BDE) is one that can offer lucrative opportunities for any graduate in the world of sales. Interested in playing a vital role in driving business growth? Taking charge of pushing organisations to the next level in their market? Discover how you could launch your career as a Graduate Business Development Executive.
What does a Business Development Executive's Role Involve?
At the most basic level, the Business Development Executive is in the driving seat for sourcing, generating and building new business for their organisation. This means you are responsible for identifying sales leads, sourcing new opportunities and potential clients. You will build on excellent communication skills and product knowledge to pitch to new and prospective clients, meaning that the likes of PowerPoint will rapidly become your best friend.
You will need to be creative and able to think outside the box; proactive in pursing new opportunities and strategic in your thinking and approach. The role of a BDE often crosses paths with the likes of marketing and finance, so commercial awareness and good business sense are essential.
Producing pitches and presentations, identifying, qualifying and speaking with business opportunities and tracking your leads will be daily tasks. Building business relationships with clients will also be essential.
What do I need?
Its personal attributes that count over and above experience for graduates looking to launch a career as a Business Development Executive. Those considering the role will need:
- Excellent communication skills
- Drive and confidence
- Commercial awareness
- An interest in the world of business and marketing
- Presentation skills
- Initiative and a proactive attitude to driving new business
- Strong negotiation skills
- The ability to speak public and interact with a diverse range of individuals and organisations, at all levels of business
What’s in it for me?
BDEs are considered an extremely valuable and highly-prized asset, essential for the success and growth in businesses across all markets and industries. A successful BDE can look forward to
- Commission-based pay, with starting salaries of £20K+.
- Fantastic exposure to a range of different industry sectors
- Networking and travel to visit clients
- Lucrative progression opportunities, with chances to move into all areas of business
- Clear progression routes with opportunities to move up to Business Development Manager, Senior Development Manager or even Marketing Director
- The likes of a company car, company phone and travel opportunities, depending on the size of the organisation
Become a Business Development Executive
Our experience placing thousands of successful graduates into Account Management positions around the UK and abroad has shown that for those willing to work their way from the bottom up, the opportunities at the top of the ladder often fit an Account Management skillset.
The invaluable skills and experience in project management, negotiation, communication and networking you will gain as a BDE will also give you the tools you need to side-step into any area of business: for the right graduate, the opportunities are endless. Think a career as a Business Development Executive is for you? Submit your CV below.
Over 25 years of excellence
Our Assessment Process
What is an Assessment Centre?
An assessment centre is just a different approach to recruiting candidates to a job role. The end outcome is the same: match the right candidate to the right position. What makes assessment centres different, however, is that they offer a comprehensive and in-depth approach that goes much further than an interview alone. Combining a number of methods to seek out skills and competencies, they offer the potential employer a chance to see how you could fit into their company and role. It also offers YOU the opportunity to really show what you’re made of.
The Pareto Assessment Day
We welcome thousands of graduates every year to our unique assessment centres around the UK. Our assessment centres typically come under one of two different categories:
- Open assessment centres: held weekly at either our London assessment centre in Chiswick or our purpose-built assessment facility at the Pareto head office in Wilmslow, our open assessment centres welcome both candidates who have applied for specific positions and those simply looking to enter the world of sales.
- Bespoke/client assessment centres: held either at one of our assessment centres or on-site at the premises of the company, these assessment days are tailored to a specific organisation who are usually looking for a number of graduates to join a Graduate Programme or existing sales team.
Run by our team of experienced Graduate Managers and Recruitment Specialists, no two assessment days are ever quite the same. We set out to identify those core competencies and skills that will help you become a future leader in the world of sales, using a number of different methods. This includes assessing your presentation and problem solving skills. It's actually quite good fun!
Speak to our team.
Ready to go from Grad to Great?
Complete the form or alternatively, you can speak to our team by calling 03339208251