Hi All,

How are we? I am very excited about my first Blog in a series delving further into the RMP Team; what we do, what makes us tick and our plans for the future. Every 2 weeks I’ll be interviewing a member of the team, hopefully this should give you a good insight into the goings on at RMP Towers and will be essential reading for any student who will be applying for a Placement Scheme when they open in the next month.

Today I am interviewing Ollie, my mate from halls when we were fresh-faced freshers at Loughborough back in 2003, a fellow founder of RMP Enterprise and a bloke I have spent far too much time with in the past 8 years. Ollie is our main Salesman, our Sales Director, a penguin lover (not in that way), and someone who has come a long way from his days at uni (see photo below); but when you start that far behind it’s hard to fully catch up…

So Ollie, hi…

What were you doing when I disturbed you?

Speaking to a potential new client about becoming a sponsor for the upcoming Awards. We’re due to launch our annual event this week, therefore a big focus of my job at this time of year is to secure sponsors for the event. The call was with UCAS, and pleased to say they came onboard!

What’s been your best thing about RMP?

Starting and growing a business from scratch has taken us a while, as you well know pal… But now we’re established in our market, the focus of the strategy is continuing to grow the business at such a rate and that’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.

And the biggest challenge?

Constantly questioning what I am doing. Without ‘a boss’ I have to constantly ask myself the questions a boss would to ensure I am being as effective and productive as I can be, and that’s tough as you’re benchmarking yourself… against yourself. Wow, mature, boring answer. I’ll answer the rest with more fun involved

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A zookeeper or a cricketer. Loved animals and had loads of toy animals when I was a child, therefore I always thought I’d be a zookeeper if my cricketing abilities didn’t get me anywhere… which that haven’t! In fact, I was a knitting pattern model as a baby, so actually, I could have been a model but I was taken out of the limelight at a young age by my mother. Never forgiven her.

Ideal dinner party guests?

Ricky Gervias, Shane Warne, Peter Griffin, Jennifer Aniston and Lucy Pinder. You’ve got yourself a great party. The jokes, idiocy and civilised knowledgable chat with the lads, then Jennifer and Lucy to also enjoy their company too. Because they’re nice people.

Pet hate?

Dogs, snakes and knives. A lethal concoction if you put them all together, but they all scare/annoy me individually.

Favourite Sport / Music?

Trance

Ideal Holiday?

Thailand in 3 weeks with 4 of my best mates (sorry Al). Hitting a full moon party and travelling around beaches/bars… Cannot wait!

Top tip to any student looking for a career now?

Start looking earlier than you think you should. The best opportunities are snapped up earlier by companies looking to offer candidates on a first come, first served basis – therefore get applying sooner rather than later!

If you want to ask young Oliver a question write a little comment below, if you want to send him an email of praise (no abuse please, he’s a sensitive lad) get him on Oliver@RateMyPlacement.co.uk.

In a fortnight I will be interviewing the other co-founder, Chris.

I hope you enjoy the blog, I’d love to hear your comments and thoughts.

Ali ali@ratemyplacement.co.uk