January 14, 2026 • 13 mins
What’s it really like working in sales? This week I chat to Hollie, an account manager for Prospects who shares her career journey so far - from the shop floor at Argos, to taking on cruise ship contracts and working at sea, and now to her current role in the education sector.
Explore an overview of the UK's sales industry: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/sales/overview-of-the-uks-sales-industry/
Discover job profiles: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/browse-sector/sales
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello and welcome back to Future You.
(00:01):
The podcast brought to youby graduate careers experts, prospects.
I'm your host, Emily Slade,and in this episode, I speak to Holly,
who works as an accountmanager for prospects.
We discuss her career in sales, includingher time working on a cruise ship.
Yeah. So I, my name is Hollie
I am an account managerwith and prospects and just.
(00:21):
I started about two months ago.
Now, some two months in.
It's been great so far.
I've been working with managersand players, network and building
my connections.
But yeah, it's been great meetingnew people and nice.
I work across the board of many differentcompanies, many different,
industries and sectors.
(00:43):
So what is an account manager?What does that mean?
So account manager is someone who managesa person's an account.
That could be from a campaign.
That could be from a product or servicethat they're running.
It's your the,the in between for them and the company.
So you're there.
You are the go to person for themwho looks after that account, looks after
(01:05):
the inventory, looks after
the different products and servicesthat they want to promote with a brand.
So you're all about the communication,building that relationship
from the get go, really.
So they have the trusted person to go tofor the same as the user.
Yeah.
So skills you need forthat is like primarily communication.
Yeah, I'd say communication, relationshipbuilding, negotiation.
(01:28):
Being able to be like a trusted, loyal,
loyal person to them,the brand customer you're working with.
I'd say having that like, like teamworkand and networking as well.
And also a skill like it could also boostconfidence,
presentation skills alongside workand also through digital era.
You're working a lot on teamsat the moment, a lot.
(01:50):
One different sales platform.
So yeah, it's having that confidenceto just be out there and speak to people.
I think every day because a lot of salesis talking, building relationships,
getting to know the companyyou're working with.
So was this always the plan?
Did you go to university to do salesand not not well, I think I want to invest
because I, I enjoyed business, I enjoyedseeing the functions of the business and
(02:13):
from education I started,
I started in business
and univer and university,but I also started early careers as work.
I'm a customer customer service businessesfor six of them.
So I wanted to just gainthat knowledge in university
and see how well that developed.
And then when I was interested,I developed into different segments
(02:34):
of sales, marketing, hate HR.
And I looked at all functions and I thinkI start with in sales and marketing
because I'm more creative.
I enjoyed out of tech phone skills,so I has enjoyed the creative side market
and then being on thatpeople side as well.
So it was nice to speak to everybody
and different segments then feltit was Vesti and just fun focused.
(02:56):
And then in universityI focused on international markets and I'm
a final year, and that what led me downto let's say the travel and re and sales.
Yeah. So tell me more about that.The traveling route. Yeah.
So the travel route was I workedas a professional on the cruise ships.
I was they call it a shop.
But I say it's aa sales number or a promotion.
(03:18):
Sell the productsand services of the within the shops
and the retail set the we sell products.
I also then went and worked way upthrough the ranks
to work as a luxurycruise ship jewelry specialist.
So then I worked for the fine,
the fine jewelry storeselling jewelry part of my own day.
(03:40):
I was more left to my own own structure.
I wasn't on the sales floor,I was on my own shop.
So I had my own
product to sell.
I had my own brand, like Bronze Bellbecause I says fine jewelry is, yeah,
it's like a brand on a cruise shipyou sell selling those
higher end pieces to higher end clients.
(04:02):
So you need to make sureyou structured you.
You've got your you've got your clients,you've got your relationships.
You build them from the getgo and think it's a lot.
It's a lot differentthan just being in an office every day.
Selling it was kind of broadenedyour skills and those transferable skills.
I think that allows you to developacross the sales industry.
(04:23):
And what about living on a cruise ship.
Like what's that like Living on a cruiseship is is a crazy time.
It's,
I think, living on a cruise ship.
It it's an experience.
It allows you to adapt to any situationat large.
Jump in mind that you have to be preparedfor anything that comes your way.
Beverage of say,whatever your sickness is, say
(04:44):
whether there's an illness on board.You need to be prepared.
Whether you're going into an emergency,you need to know from the get go
what to do.
So I think living on board, you are facingdifferent challenges every day.
It's a different experience than thethe fun side of it is you got to travel.
You got to see every day, wake upin a different country every morning
and weather and sails as well, you know,always on, you know, always working.
(05:06):
So you have that time off,you have your new cell on, you say,
let's sayso, you've got time to meet them,
meet with the passengers, buildthose relationships on board and off board
living and work, and it becomes your home.
It's you literally wake up and you geta lift to work, literally in an elevator.
So it's like you'veto wake at five minutes
(05:27):
and not be at work and within a minute.
So it's not
it's it's not a road environment.
You don't have to catch a train, a bus,everything you have is on board.
So I think that's the joy of it.
You're not having to fork outall your bills and everything.
Everything is supplied for you.
So I think it's justyou get that thrill of the adventure of
and of meeting people, and you meet peoplefrom all across the world.
(05:50):
You're not just dealingwith the same people everyday.
You're meeting different staff
on every turn around, different passengersand every turn around.
It's just it's just a great environment.
I think, to work in and just buildthat confidence in yourself.
Well, I think especially when within Juliaas well,
working as a dealeras every day I got to do presentation
that's gone to theaterpresents the jewelry do live
(06:14):
live shows people
so they can come and see the jewelry.
And as I say, when do competitions
and yeah, it's it's a great place I think.
And then it does build that confidencethroughout your sales
career to know, okay,that every sale is going to be there.
But having that background of knowingthere will be a
(06:34):
sale, it's gonna there's somethingin the pipeline that will come through.
So things think that resilience as well.
Yeah.And how long we were on the ships for.
so I was on the shipsfor about three, four years until.
Well I think once you add all, seasons it, it it worked.
It worked about three years, four years.
Say I worked on smaller shipsto bigger ships.
(06:57):
And contract to contract differs.
So say eight months at a time.
Used to come backtwo months. Do work from home, right.
Work as a temporary joband then go back and the cruise ships
and just have a break in betweentheir first travel work.
Amazing Yeah.
So you came back to shore? Yeah.
(07:17):
And how did you land this role?
So this role.
So I had a lot in research.
So I always thought I want to go backand sales wants to market.
And so I don't previous to offer thiswith an account management
build my skills and experienceand account management and.
All right okay.
Let's see what else I can havea look around, see what's available
and where else are gonna adaptand bring it into an environment.
(07:40):
I'm used to education, just prospects.
It kind of resonateswith me from the get go as I
look through what the prospects
when I was in university,not as an employee but as a student.
So being on the oppositeside is and working with prospects,
as I said,based on product to the students,
(08:02):
it was just a great, great opportunityfor things.
And then looking onlineand do my research into the company,
making sure I knew all about itand prepared for the interviews.
I managed to learn the rolethrough the different interviews
and good telephone interview,and then face to face interview,
then a presentationand presented to my manager.
(08:23):
And yeah, of all kind of worked out,it was great.
It was just great to presentand have that experience, throughout
the interview process and the interviewand just and prospects as well.
Most companies say they work with youthroughout the interview process.
Make sure you're calm and, allow you to bring your skills out.
And it feels like somethingthat there's a lot of transferable skills
(08:45):
for this role.
So it feels like the kindof role that you can come to,
whoever you
are, wherever you've come from,whatever your background is.
What advice would you give for peoplelooking to enter into this industry?
Yeah, I would say just be open minded and
be ready to speak to people, communicatewell and just be out
there, network with peopleas I build your confidence every day.
(09:07):
Know the know the company speaking to
do a bit of background researchbefore you get jobs.
What the company is about.Just find the company. A lot of it.
You know, I'll say there's a lotand a lot of manager roles out there,
but when you find that onethat fits your confidence
and your experience or control,I think when you're in university,
it's more about the so much opportunityto develop your skills.
(09:31):
Just take everything as it comes.
There's only one chanceyou got in university,
and you want to make sure it's the bestand you can bring that across and transfer
those skills. And to.
So there's been an account managerbeing a sales lead.
There's many different termsthat you could say is an account manager.
But as I say, it all comes downto have no negotiation, communication
(09:51):
or resilience, relationship buildingand just thinking outside the box.
As I say, digital era is upon usand we don't know what's
with AI and everything,what's around the corner.
So I'd say just be open minded to
different sales techniques.
Speaking to many people.
Yeah, definitely.
So you talked briefly there
about the different typesof account management roles is that,
(10:14):
you know, do you do a lot of drivingaround the country for your role?
Is that an option as likewhat are the different types of roles.
Yeah.
So you can be like home based, be itas a common guy, you can be on the road,
you can be like a sales lead.
You can be,
business development.
A lot of these roleskind of all blend into one can do, can do
businessdevelopment, sales, card management,
(10:38):
as I say, customer focus leads,you can be a lot.
It's more about the people you deal with
and the customersyou're dealing with every day.
You're managing their account.
At the end of the day,
you want to build the businessfor your company, so it's just more about,
getting out there and being networkingpeople
on as as I, as you mentioned,is not just being home based.
(11:01):
It's also traveling and, being adaptable.
So you can then travel to different partsof the country, being flexible with work,
which is great.
Isn't that what's greatwith the company in welcoming because
you it's flexible.
The allows troubles fitssome people you out on the road
many different like weeksgoing down to London and Birmingham
(11:22):
and Manchesteryou see different cities are able.
We want to say just stop you, I need us.
So I'd say look into different options.
What, what suits you best. Yeah, perfect.
And what's your favorite thingabout working in sales?
I'd say it's the people you meet.
I think everyone is different.
Every opportunity is different.
I think with sales,not every day is the same.
(11:44):
It's as bringing it back to the cruiseship and every day was the same.
And I think I like that
that difference
about, it's it's the motivation you have.
You want to drive,
you want to get to your target,you want to keep pushing yourself further.
And I think with sales, it's always beenabout communicating with people.
From an early age.
(12:05):
I was work in customer servicebecause I worked in Argus.
I worked and retail storesand works on hospitality, and it's always
been the same speaking to people, buildingrelationships,
having that face to face communicationor the
the initial contact with thewith the person selling a product
or service to say it's you can do a lotbehind the desk, but it's different
(12:28):
when you actually can seehow the emotional side behind the product.
Yeah. So the customer.
Yeah, fantastic.
That's brilliant.Thank you so much for your time today.
Henry.
Thank you for having us.
Doing great to chat about my life story.
Thanks again to Holly for their time.
For more information
on becoming an account manager,you can head to Prospects Ochazuke,
(12:51):
where you can sign up for joband course alerts for free.
You can also head to our YouTube channelat Peachy Pod to watch the full interview.
If you enjoyed the episode,we'd love to hear from you!
You can contact us at podcast app ProspectStacy UK.
Or you can leave us a reviewon Apple or Spotify.
Thank you, as always for listening andgood luck on your journey to future. You.
Hello and welcome back to Future You.
(00:01):
The podcast brought to youby graduate careers experts, prospects.
I'm your host, Emily Slade,and in this episode, I speak to Holly,
who works as an accountmanager for prospects.
We discuss her career in sales, includingher time working on a cruise ship.
Yeah. So I, my name is Hollie
I am an account managerwith and prospects and just.
(00:21):
I started about two months ago.
Now, some two months in.
It's been great so far.
I've been working with managersand players, network and building
my connections.
But yeah, it's been great meetingnew people and nice.
I work across the board of many differentcompanies, many different,
industries and sectors.
(00:43):
So what is an account manager?What does that mean?
So account manager is someone who managesa person's an account.
That could be from a campaign.
That could be from a product or servicethat they're running.
It's your the,the in between for them and the company.
So you're there.
You are the go to person for themwho looks after that account, looks after
(01:05):
the inventory, looks after
the different products and servicesthat they want to promote with a brand.
So you're all about the communication,building that relationship
from the get go, really.
So they have the trusted person to go tofor the same as the user.
Yeah.
So skills you need forthat is like primarily communication.
Yeah, I'd say communication, relationshipbuilding, negotiation.
(01:28):
Being able to be like a trusted, loyal,
loyal person to them,the brand customer you're working with.
I'd say having that like, like teamworkand and networking as well.
And also a skill like it could also boostconfidence,
presentation skills alongside workand also through digital era.
You're working a lot on teamsat the moment, a lot.
(01:50):
One different sales platform.
So yeah, it's having that confidenceto just be out there and speak to people.
I think every day because a lot of salesis talking, building relationships,
getting to know the companyyou're working with.
So was this always the plan?
Did you go to university to do salesand not not well, I think I want to invest
because I, I enjoyed business, I enjoyedseeing the functions of the business and
(02:13):
from education I started,
I started in business
and univer and university,but I also started early careers as work.
I'm a customer customer service businessesfor six of them.
So I wanted to just gainthat knowledge in university
and see how well that developed.
And then when I was interested,I developed into different segments
(02:34):
of sales, marketing, hate HR.
And I looked at all functions and I thinkI start with in sales and marketing
because I'm more creative.
I enjoyed out of tech phone skills,so I has enjoyed the creative side market
and then being on thatpeople side as well.
So it was nice to speak to everybody
and different segments then feltit was Vesti and just fun focused.
(02:56):
And then in universityI focused on international markets and I'm
a final year, and that what led me downto let's say the travel and re and sales.
Yeah. So tell me more about that.The traveling route. Yeah.
So the travel route was I workedas a professional on the cruise ships.
I was they call it a shop.
But I say it's aa sales number or a promotion.
(03:18):
Sell the productsand services of the within the shops
and the retail set the we sell products.
I also then went and worked way upthrough the ranks
to work as a luxurycruise ship jewelry specialist.
So then I worked for the fine,
the fine jewelry storeselling jewelry part of my own day.
(03:40):
I was more left to my own own structure.
I wasn't on the sales floor,I was on my own shop.
So I had my own
product to sell.
I had my own brand, like Bronze Bellbecause I says fine jewelry is, yeah,
it's like a brand on a cruise shipyou sell selling those
higher end pieces to higher end clients.
(04:02):
So you need to make sureyou structured you.
You've got your you've got your clients,you've got your relationships.
You build them from the getgo and think it's a lot.
It's a lot differentthan just being in an office every day.
Selling it was kind of broadenedyour skills and those transferable skills.
I think that allows you to developacross the sales industry.
(04:23):
And what about living on a cruise ship.
Like what's that like Living on a cruiseship is is a crazy time.
It's,
I think, living on a cruise ship.
It it's an experience.
It allows you to adapt to any situationat large.
Jump in mind that you have to be preparedfor anything that comes your way.
Beverage of say,whatever your sickness is, say
(04:44):
whether there's an illness on board.You need to be prepared.
Whether you're going into an emergency,you need to know from the get go
what to do.
So I think living on board, you are facingdifferent challenges every day.
It's a different experience than thethe fun side of it is you got to travel.
You got to see every day, wake upin a different country every morning
and weather and sails as well, you know,always on, you know, always working.
(05:06):
So you have that time off,you have your new cell on, you say,
let's sayso, you've got time to meet them,
meet with the passengers, buildthose relationships on board and off board
living and work, and it becomes your home.
It's you literally wake up and you geta lift to work, literally in an elevator.
So it's like you'veto wake at five minutes
(05:27):
and not be at work and within a minute.
So it's not
it's it's not a road environment.
You don't have to catch a train, a bus,everything you have is on board.
So I think that's the joy of it.
You're not having to fork outall your bills and everything.
Everything is supplied for you.
So I think it's justyou get that thrill of the adventure of
and of meeting people, and you meet peoplefrom all across the world.
(05:50):
You're not just dealingwith the same people everyday.
You're meeting different staff
on every turn around, different passengersand every turn around.
It's just it's just a great environment.
I think, to work in and just buildthat confidence in yourself.
Well, I think especially when within Juliaas well,
working as a dealeras every day I got to do presentation
that's gone to theaterpresents the jewelry do live
(06:14):
live shows people
so they can come and see the jewelry.
And as I say, when do competitions
and yeah, it's it's a great place I think.
And then it does build that confidencethroughout your sales
career to know, okay,that every sale is going to be there.
But having that background of knowingthere will be a
(06:34):
sale, it's gonna there's somethingin the pipeline that will come through.
So things think that resilience as well.
Yeah.And how long we were on the ships for.
so I was on the shipsfor about three, four years until.
Well I think once you add all, seasons it, it it worked.
It worked about three years, four years.
Say I worked on smaller shipsto bigger ships.
(06:57):
And contract to contract differs.
So say eight months at a time.
Used to come backtwo months. Do work from home, right.
Work as a temporary joband then go back and the cruise ships
and just have a break in betweentheir first travel work.
Amazing Yeah.
So you came back to shore? Yeah.
(07:17):
And how did you land this role?
So this role.
So I had a lot in research.
So I always thought I want to go backand sales wants to market.
And so I don't previous to offer thiswith an account management
build my skills and experienceand account management and.
All right okay.
Let's see what else I can havea look around, see what's available
and where else are gonna adaptand bring it into an environment.
(07:40):
I'm used to education, just prospects.
It kind of resonateswith me from the get go as I
look through what the prospects
when I was in university,not as an employee but as a student.
So being on the oppositeside is and working with prospects,
as I said,based on product to the students,
(08:02):
it was just a great, great opportunityfor things.
And then looking onlineand do my research into the company,
making sure I knew all about itand prepared for the interviews.
I managed to learn the rolethrough the different interviews
and good telephone interview,and then face to face interview,
then a presentationand presented to my manager.
(08:23):
And yeah, of all kind of worked out,it was great.
It was just great to presentand have that experience, throughout
the interview process and the interviewand just and prospects as well.
Most companies say they work with youthroughout the interview process.
Make sure you're calm and, allow you to bring your skills out.
And it feels like somethingthat there's a lot of transferable skills
(08:45):
for this role.
So it feels like the kindof role that you can come to,
whoever you
are, wherever you've come from,whatever your background is.
What advice would you give for peoplelooking to enter into this industry?
Yeah, I would say just be open minded and
be ready to speak to people, communicatewell and just be out
there, network with peopleas I build your confidence every day.
(09:07):
Know the know the company speaking to
do a bit of background researchbefore you get jobs.
What the company is about.Just find the company. A lot of it.
You know, I'll say there's a lotand a lot of manager roles out there,
but when you find that onethat fits your confidence
and your experience or control,I think when you're in university,
it's more about the so much opportunityto develop your skills.
(09:31):
Just take everything as it comes.
There's only one chanceyou got in university,
and you want to make sure it's the bestand you can bring that across and transfer
those skills. And to.
So there's been an account managerbeing a sales lead.
There's many different termsthat you could say is an account manager.
But as I say, it all comes downto have no negotiation, communication
(09:51):
or resilience, relationship buildingand just thinking outside the box.
As I say, digital era is upon usand we don't know what's
with AI and everything,what's around the corner.
So I'd say just be open minded to
different sales techniques.
Speaking to many people.
Yeah, definitely.
So you talked briefly there
about the different typesof account management roles is that,
(10:14):
you know, do you do a lot of drivingaround the country for your role?
Is that an option as likewhat are the different types of roles.
Yeah.
So you can be like home based, be itas a common guy, you can be on the road,
you can be like a sales lead.
You can be,
business development.
A lot of these roleskind of all blend into one can do, can do
businessdevelopment, sales, card management,
(10:38):
as I say, customer focus leads,you can be a lot.
It's more about the people you deal with
and the customersyou're dealing with every day.
You're managing their account.
At the end of the day,
you want to build the businessfor your company, so it's just more about,
getting out there and being networkingpeople
on as as I, as you mentioned,is not just being home based.
(11:01):
It's also traveling and, being adaptable.
So you can then travel to different partsof the country, being flexible with work,
which is great.
Isn't that what's greatwith the company in welcoming because
you it's flexible.
The allows troubles fitssome people you out on the road
many different like weeksgoing down to London and Birmingham
(11:22):
and Manchesteryou see different cities are able.
We want to say just stop you, I need us.
So I'd say look into different options.
What, what suits you best. Yeah, perfect.
And what's your favorite thingabout working in sales?
I'd say it's the people you meet.
I think everyone is different.
Every opportunity is different.
I think with sales,not every day is the same.
(11:44):
It's as bringing it back to the cruiseship and every day was the same.
And I think I like that
that difference
about, it's it's the motivation you have.
You want to drive,
you want to get to your target,you want to keep pushing yourself further.
And I think with sales, it's always beenabout communicating with people.
From an early age.
(12:05):
I was work in customer servicebecause I worked in Argus.
I worked and retail storesand works on hospitality, and it's always
been the same speaking to people, buildingrelationships,
having that face to face communicationor the
the initial contact with thewith the person selling a product
or service to say it's you can do a lotbehind the desk, but it's different
(12:28):
when you actually can seehow the emotional side behind the product.
Yeah. So the customer.
Yeah, fantastic.
That's brilliant.Thank you so much for your time today.
Henry.
Thank you for having us.
Doing great to chat about my life story.
Thanks again to Holly for their time.
For more information
on becoming an account manager,you can head to Prospects Ochazuke,
(12:51):
where you can sign up for joband course alerts for free.
You can also head to our YouTube channelat Peachy Pod to watch the full interview.
If you enjoyed the episode,we'd love to hear from you!
You can contact us at podcast app ProspectStacy UK.
Or you can leave us a reviewon Apple or Spotify.
Thank you, as always for listening andgood luck on your journey to future. You.
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