Business Plan My developed idea for this collection is that I will introduce a new range of loungewear with Sam and her sister Billie Faiers for Autumn/Winter 2018, targeting at the new, young mum. This customer is already been introduced more to Matalan by Sam previous collection of Active wear ‘&Me Samantha Faiers’ SS/18, and so by brining in another collection that focuses on this audience, Matalan are keeping their broadened consumer market.
Alongside this new range, ‘Minnies cosmetics’ will be sold in mini pamper kits. This is because, when doing research on the celebrity endorsements, I found that they have recently released there own cosmetics range, that has only been launched in their boutique in Essex. These cosmetics will be exclusive to Matalan so that the consumers have more of a reason to visit the stores, they are able to buy a mini pamper kit and loungewear for a ‘Girls night in’. In the first few weeks of this range launching, a mini samples pamper kit will be free every £30+ you spend on the range, this allows the customers too want to spend more in order to get a sample kit.
Over the time period of this range Matalan will be brining in new customers who focus more on trend driven shops and therefore keep Matalan as part of their usual shopping place. This will allow Matalan to develop new competitors and continue to be successful as a business.
LOUNGE’IN LOUNGE IN AND PAMPER ME!
Business Aims Short Term: To create a quality affordable loungewear range AW18, that targets the broadened consumer Matalan audience. Mid Term: To release the collection in all Matalan stores and online to widen the customer market and to higher sales of the collection. Long Term: Extend Matalan to international stores and online international shipping, so that it develops to a worldwide known brand.
Concept The concept of this collection is very relaxed but chic and glamourous. I decided to bring in Sam and Billie Faires for the new range of loungewear as they relate to the target market of the new young mum, and so are able to relate and communicate with the target audience, which allows more people to want to come and shop in Matalan if they know it is more trend driven. As you can see by the concept it is based around the fresh faced, young mum, who would rather sit in with her friends and family then go out to clubs, especially in the Autumn/Winter season. Pamper nights are becoming more popular around this season also, it allows women to prepare their skin and allow it to relax and repair itself when it gets colder. The weekend is usually a time for going out and wearing makeup, but instead your weekend is better spent on a comfortable couch, wearing a facemask and gossiping with your friends. This is especially for young mums who don’t want to leave their baby at home but also don’t want to feel like they are loosing their youth. During this season as well, many consumers start to buy Christmas presents and save up for the holidays and therefore don’t have much disposable income to but expensive clothes and chill out around the house in. So Matalan producing this collection allows the consumers to look and feel chic and on trend but for affordable prices, which is the Matalan way.
Competitive Shop Analysis When researching the competitors of Matalan, I decided to research both existing competitors and new competitors that they will be compared with when this range launches. The reason for this is because, the target audience for this collection is the new, young mum. The usual Matalan customer is a middle aged mum, not a younger one between the ages of 20-30, and by targeting to this group of consumers Matalan are widening the consumer market, gaining them more customers, recognition and sales. So in this competitive shop I have looked at Next, Forever 21 and New look to compare the style, fabrics and prices. Overall, I found that next were the most expensive in their products, however the materials they use have a higher quality and longer lasting effect. For example, Next jersey nightdress was made with 100% cotton and sold for £14, whereas Matalan's was made from polyester and viscose but is priced at £6. Looking into this depth of detail made me realise that in order for Matalan to keep affordable products sold in their brand, they have to use less quality fabrics that may not last as long as their competitors. Although, I feel as though the customer I am targeting with this collection is more of a Forever 21 consumer rather than a Next consumer and looking at the quality of fabric compared to the price in Forever 21, it seems to be around the same sort of fabrics but Forever 21 charge around 15% more. An example of this is the nightgowns, Matalan's satin kimono is 100% polyester (with added lace detail) and Forever 21 sell a very similar night gown made from 100% polyester and charge £16. Through this it is visible that Matalan are fair with their customers and try to keep their prices to a minimum to accommodate their customer satisfaction and keep their brand name to what it stands for. I did find that even though the styles were more trend driven in the current consumers preferred shops at this moment, of Newlook and Forever 21, with this new collection being introduced the brand can be seen as a ‘go to’ for on trend items in future consumer minds.
Job Opportunities
Progression Chart – Job Opportunities UAL Fashion Buying and Range Planning course (1 year)
Summer Internships and experience in the fashion buying industry (2-6months)
Assistant Buyer role (1-2years)
Summer internships and experience in the Visual Merchandising industry (2-6 months)
Assistant Visual Merchandiser (12years)
Buyer (3 years)
Senior buyer
Visual Merchandiser (3 years)
Senior Visual Merchandiser
Teamwork Task For the teamwork task, we decided to do a styling board on denim. We came up with different individual tasks each one of us would carry out and then share our research with each other to create the final styling board.
Savannah – Daytime denim mood board Amelia – Night-time denim mood board
Isabel – photo-shoot Sofie – Hair style mood board Olivia – Beauty mood board
Throughout this task I felt like our communication between the final styling board could have been a lot better in terms of organisation. We didn’t fully understand each others points and views and therefore made it difficult to complete the task at hand. However, I do feel as though we all worked at our own individual task well and was therefore able to create a styling board that reflected the denim modern look. Working as part of a team is an important skill to have and although I feel like I have that skill, it is difficult to force others in the team to work effectively. Overall, I feel like the ethic of work and motivation for this particular task lacked, but we were finally able to put our ideas together and complete the task as best as possible in the time we had. Through this, I did gain skills with compromise and critical thinking in order to try new ways of getting the task to a high standard.
MOODBOARDS
Photoshoot
Trend Forecasting - Analysis I used WGSN as my main resource for trend forecasting of this collection. I found that ‘The thinker’ colour pallet and key items were very connected to the customer. As you can see the colours are quite neutral and pastel, with a few bright blues and yellows to add the autumn fresh feel to the key garments. In this you can also see how its been pulled together in a way that sets a calm and relaxed tone for the products that it features on, which is what the ‘loungewear attire’ suits. The colours I found in trend forecasting also gave off a 1950’s kind of style but on modern day clothing. They are associated with thick, hardback books, 50s style cars and old CD and cassette's.
The trend forecasting for the key items and were luxury mixed with skimpy bralettes and wide leg trousers. The satin frills are a cute and chic garment that allow the customer to feel worthy and fresh. The bralettes and high waited leggings show of the body figure through the material and give the customer a sense of confidence within their body form. The loungewear for AW18 is both pyjama and everyday joggers, depending on the materials and colours used on that garment. The look of this particular style, displays a younger woman look rather than the average Matalan customer of a middle aged mum. This is good, as it suits my target audience and allows Matalan to be more ‘out there’ with some of their garments.
Overall, my loungewear range for AW18 is going to be everyday sweatpants and bralettes for maximum comfort both inside and outside and also a few strictly night time attire pieces like satin frill pyjamas and comfy slippers. This will still fit in with the concept of my collection of being a loungewear, pamper, girly night in.
Range Analysis This range has to be able to fit the target audience exactly. Therefore by carrying out trend forecasting of colours and top picks for women in loungewear AW18, allows me to predict the trend that this consumer will be looking for when it is launched. As you can see by the range I have kept the colours to suit the colour pallet that will be trending in AW18 for loungewear, predicted by WGSN. This resource took me through the pastel, neutral colours that will be suited to the products that you get comfy and relaxed in. By keeping the colours simple, I was able to chose some ‘out there’ garments that don’t make them seem so quirky. For example, the wide leg trousers with the stripes down each side, these are not seen as something your average Matalan customer would wear, however because a new younger market is being brought, the trousers will be able to sell and Matalan can be seen as a ‘go to ’for affordable on trend key items. The more Matalan become more popular and known for their trend initiative, the more the consumer market will expand, creating afresh look for the brand and a variety of customers. The range is being supplied from China, this is because I have chosen a country that does quality, affordable products and a fast paced, employee friendly location. Matalan have also previously bought some of their collections from China and so it gives even more of a reason to trust this supplier to meet the deadline and meet the standard of which the collection needs to be.
Marketing Strategy – Minnie's Cosmetics As one of the marketing strategies for this collection, The Minnie’s cosmetics will be sold alongside it. Mini pamper night in kits and individual products will be sold as part of promoting the new collection and keeping it exclusive to the Matalan customers and keeping in mind the celebrity endorsements of Sam and Billie Faiers. An offer in the first few weeks will be available to the first 200 customers who buy £30+ items from the collection ‘LOUNGE’IN’, getting a free mini sample pamper night in kit. By doing this, the customers are willing to spend more in order to get a free sample kit, it creates more of a want for customers as they feel they are able to get something for free at the end. This also gets the customers intrigued by friendly competition with each other, they will be excited to see the range and want to be in the top 200.
The purpose of this collection is to make the target audience feel like they relate to somebody, so in this range the consumer relates to Sam and Billie Faiers of being a young mum. On winter nights they would rather stay in with friends and family, watching films and pampering themselves, then go out to clubs and drink. Being a new mum is tiring and can put stress of financial situations, therefore Matalan providing this affordable ‘Girls night in’ benefits the target audience and lets them feel like they are still young and youthful and even the ‘celebs’ prefer a cosy night in.
Use of social media will also be a big part of this marketing strategy. Using the ‘#LOUNGEIN&PAMPERME’ will allow people to post pictures of there pamper nights in with both the loungewear collection and the cosmetics collection, to show people what there preferred outfit of choice is and how there night is going. Sam and Billie will also use there large group of Instagram viewers the collection and release sneak peaks of what's to come to keep their followed interested. By this they are promoting the Matalan brand and allowing more people to be willing to follow Matalan's page for updates.
Marketing Strategy – Top Picks
Marketing Strategies – Analysis The chosen marketing strategies were used due to the consumer wants of this particular target audience. I chose use social media as a main promotion of the collection. This is because in the modern society, social media is a big part of peoples everyday life, they use it for everything, check emails, online shopping, connect with friends, share pictures and posts. Celebrities also carry a huge audience on the social media sites, both Sam and Billie Faiers have over 1.9M followers meaning thy can connect with them everyday. This is why Matalan have chosen to collaborate with them, they can post on their pages about the collection and promote the brand as well, relating it to their customers and their followers. Using social media is also free, therefore it is the most effective and cost effective type of marketing strategy and can be connected to all different audiences through these types of sites.
Selling ‘Minnie's Cosmetics’ alongside the range allows Matalan to bring in something from the outside instead of just their individual brand. Doing this has been proven very effective with bringing in different customers who wouldn’t normally shop in Matalan stores, therefore expanding the consumer market and bringing in more profit and more notice of the brand Matalan. Billie and Sam Faiers both relate to the customer of a ‘new, young mum’ and so by them expressing that they enjoy staying in and wearing this collection many of their individual audiences will know that they can do this as well and not feel alone in it, in fact it starts to become a trend in which everyone wants. Making it exclusive to Matalan is very tactical, because you are unable to get the product anywhere else it starts to bring in the audience even more and get them to visit the store. This is were visual merchandising and store layout come in, if the store is layed out in a way which draws people away from the cosmetic brand and towards the clothes then profit will be higher and customers will become a usual Matalan shopper. The pamper kit giveaways are also very effective use of promotion and up rise in sales, the more people feel like they have something to look forward to and become in competition for, the more customers Matalan will receive when the collection launches.
TOP PICKS pages are used for the more trend driven, fashion lover customer which this particular one mostly is. Seeing what the celebrities are wearing and comparing it with yourself gives the customer a chance too try new outfit ideas and make up their own little favourites in order to try and be a trend setter also. Even if you are clueless about style, these little guides can help to really be able to make it seem like you have style, which is what a lot of consumers are after these days. The TOP PICK pages will be availible in Matalan's own catalogue which will target the regular Matalan shopper, and also in fashion magazines like REVEAL and LOOK, which targets the customer who is looking for the affordable but on trend products.
Financial Spreadsheet
Financial Spreadsheet
Financial Spreadsheet Evaluation When doing the merchandising spreadsheet I found that figures are important when it comes to a new collection. You can only really predict what will need replenishing and how much you will make from this, however in doing the spreadsheet you have an estimate in which the buyer can work towards. The spreadsheet shows the replenishment and how much overall the collection will make being in main stores, smaller stores and online. As a buyer the figures are crucial, you work from these figures when ordering more stock and it helps to understand the impact it has on the retail industry and profitability. Factors such as cost price and RRP then to how much it made is a big important factor for the buyer and merchandiser to get right. Throughout the process of the financial spreadsheet I found that having an OTB (open to buy) fund for fast purchases of fast selling stock to keep to the demand of customers. Buyers will find themselves buying fast fashion in cases like this to keep the demand of customers. When I researched Matalan I found that the stores in the North West are based around the store grades: A,B,B,C,D. This is how you find out how much of each product will be sold in each week of the collection’s time period. When doing my financial spreadsheet I found that the jersey dress would be replenished ‘1980’ every 8 weeks. I figured this out by using the store grades and the spreadsheet of ‘replenished items by week’ to calculate the amount of the weeks that this would be sold. I used my excel skills to sum up the remaining figures and then transferred this onto the overall spreadsheet for the whole collections replenishment and gross profit.
Merchandisers will prepare for an expansion of this collection by creating an action plan that they will keep up with in order to keep on track with what they need to be predicting done before the deadline of the range going into all Matalan's stores and their online shop. Because, the expansion of the collection will mean that more quantity will need to supplied and therefore their will be higher number of replen (replenishment) for all the stores and the online shop, the merchandisers will therefore have to produce another merchandising spreadsheet with the current numbers of what people are buying more of what sizes are selling more so that the financial spreadsheet is up to date and focuses on more of the specific items and not just the collection as a whole. This saves money and creates more for the budget to be used in other places like the promotional campaigns.
Fit for use testing of products Clear information about new stock Quality fabric, therefore lasts long
Comfortable for home wear
FIT FOR PURPOSE Fit the customer lifestyle
ORGANISATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Replenishment needs to be carried out correctly in order to sell more stock and get higher profits
Material need to be stain resistant
FABRIC TESTING Elastic waistband needs to be tested to ensure it does not snap when being worn
Satin fabric will need to be tested for quality
Fit for use testing of products Clear information about new stock Quality fabric, therefore lasts long
Comfortable for lounge wear
FIT FOR PURPOSE Fit the customer lifestyle
ORGANISATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Replenishment needs to be carried out correctly in order to sell more stock and get higher profits
Material need to be stain resistant Can be worn both indoors and outdoors as an everyday garment
FABRIC TESTING Elastic waistband needs to be tested to ensure it does not snap when being worn
Fabric will need to be tested for quality
Merchandising for retail success - Evaluation Broadening the market of Matalan's customers is important for the explosion of online development, it is the point of making the collection available online in order to bring in more customers overall. Going into some of Matalan’s stores doesn’t give Matalan the best look, this is because they have not updates all of there stores to the modern new and improved look that they have. However, going online to this business displays Matalan in a fresh image of trend driven, bright and covering a bigger market of consumers. In terms of marketing strategies linking to online success, social media is a huge method of marketing or most brands, therefore if there is a link to the range from the marketing strategies, it is more likely to be visited online by customers, especially if celebrity endorsements are promoting the brand on there social media pages like Instagram. In terms of the merchandiser preparing for this expansion, they would have to plan ahead using action plans and finical spreadsheet to predict what the buyer will have to prepare for as well when supplying the fabrics and products needed for the collection. The merchandiser will need to figure out the budget in which the buyer will have to stick to and also what money there is left for the marketing campaigns and strategies so that the collection can be sold in a organised manner giving it more opportunity for success. To allocate the collection to certain stores there needs to be ongoing research by statistics going on. For example, the merchandiser will need to keep an eye on what the most popular sizes and products are being sold in which particular stores, this will help to keep the replenishment to a high turnover without wasting stock in stores that don’t use it. By this the and buyer and merchandiser can work together to hit the highest target possible and be able to plan for online success.
The way in which I chose to plan for my forecast, allocation and replenishment of the collection was in a way beneficial to the overall gross profit of the range. This I because, I kept in mind that not all stores would have the collection first, it would start of in the main stores only were they are surrounded by either shops that Matalan are in new competition with, so that when the customer sees an advertisement for the new collection or remembers the promotion on social media, they create more of a want to look in Matalan store whilst already shopping at there regular stores. By doing this, it would also help to see if the collection was actually selling or if it needed more of a boost in marketing to get it going. This saves a lot of money and helps keep within the budget. However, when this collection eventually starts to hit high targets it can be moved into all stores across the North West of other parts of the U.K and expand to online to target more consumers. If I was to do anything differently, I would plan to forecast how the cosmetics would sell also as because that is an outside brand coming in not all profit made goes to Matalan, therefore knowing how much the store would loose if people were buying mainly the outside brand would be beneficial when expanding online. I would also look into how much my marketing strategies would take in terms of forecasting predicted sales, taking this into account would allow me to see how much each form of promotion would boost sales by location and form of marketing strategy.
Merchandising for retail success - Evaluation Managing stock flow has both long term and short term impacts. Short term impacts include: key/calendar events, for example ‘The first 200 customers to spend £30+ on the ‘LOUNGE’IN’ collection, gets a free sample pamper kit’, this creates a excitement amongst customers and a kind of friendly competition also, manging stock flow for this would be a little tricky if not organised properly, due to the main Matalan stores having the collection means that at least 20 would have to be sent to them all to be able to cover it. As soon as that 20 is sold out in that store then the competition is over, however London Oxford street may become more popular with customers there then Liverpool City Centre, therefore more would have to be sent to London to cope with the customers expectations of being one of the 200. Communication is key in this, the stores have to communicate and as soon as one has been given away they are able to use a system to allow Matalan head office to know. In future I would defiantly send 200 out to each store and once 200 between the stores have been given away then the rest will be sold for a figured out price of what they should cost and displayed with the collection in order for a higher selling point. For merchandisers as well this could have a impact on their predicted sales figures. They would need to keep in mind the budget they have for the celebrity endorsement and any loss of products that will have to be replaced due to damaged or theft. Weather changes can also have an impact of Managing stock flow, this collection is coming from China and therefore is done by plane. If the weather is to dangerous to fly then it leaves the stock arriving late, ending in the collection being launched later the anticipated, this can have an effect of the overall gross profit and the image of liability for Matalan. For the merchandisers, weather changes can have an impact on the replenishment they have predicted, a mass amount of product could be coming from China but while the weather is bad the buyer may have to compromise and supply from somewhere lese depending in how long the stock will take to come. In this the merchandiser will have to spend even more money, and could end up with two lots of stock and not be able to sell it. Fort my collection, if this is the case I will be able to keep the stock in Matalan's warehouses for future use instead of OTB. Poor quality issues is a really bad short term impact for my collection, my short term aim is to provide Matalan with a quality, affordable range. To ensure that this follows through, I will personally have to visit the supplier and test the fabric for myself to see if it is up to worthy standards, this should enable me to be sure that the collection will flow through in terms of quality. Thus loosing no profit, time and not meeting the deadline.
Managing stock flow also has long term impacts. Decreased sales due to economic climate, if the economy is suffering then that means customers don’t have as much disposable income and therefore budget themselves on goods. The way in which merchandisers deal with this, is to predict the customer need, not the customer want. In order to do this extensive research needs to be done and research on how much the average Matalan customer has to spend in store needs to be met with what is about to be launched in stores so that the collection actually gets a profit. Decline in brand identity and image means that the store isn’t getting as much recognition as it need to produce sales. For me this is were my celebrity endorsements come in, Matalan brand is a bit faint in the eyes of the customer I am targeting, however using public eye figures and getting them to individually promote the brand on their social media pages helps Matalan target the exact audience they want. In this they are broadening their consumer market and getting their name out there to a more updated, fresh version of themselves. As a merchandiser, they would have to create a budget that allows the marketing strategies to be successful by bringing in more of an audience without breaking into the budget and going over, however some merchandisers create plans and predicted sales figures in order to be able to go over budget and make even more profit back by doing so. Increase in competition in market sector can be another long term impact on the business. Manging stock flow in terms of this will mean that OTB (open to buy) is most likely the best money saving strategy there is. Working fast paced in the retail industry allows the company to thrive and meet their customer needs. This means that for the merchandiser they will have to keep up with the changing sales figures and work closely with the buyer in order to keep a steady flow of the correct stock going into each store. Overall, the consequences that merchandiser's have to face if anything were to go wrong in the process of the collection will always have an action plan in order to be able to cope with it in a organised manner and still be able to meet deadlines and produce a profit that hits targets.
Overall Evaluation Throughout the FMP, I learned a number of new skills and developed my knowledge of the fashion industry even more. I learned interview techniques by preparing a pitch and range for their stores and verbally, face to face pitching to Matalan’s head office team. In this experience, I found that I became more confident the more I prepared and practiced in front of my classmates and tutor, and even though when I got to the pitch day I was nervous, I overcame them the minute I started talking and therefore my communication between me and the employers of Matalan's head office was very formal and I was able to display my ideas clearly. I have developed my ability to stick to action plans and meet deadlines, despite any difficulties I faced when doing this project. I started off my FMP with the idea of doing swimwear for Autumn/Winter 2018, however when trying to do research of previous collections, I felt that high-street stores that cater for the more working class/middle class consumer, that swimwear was not a big seller and therefore little if any swimwear was sold around this time. This is because, going on hot holidays around this time is seen as a luxury rather then a cheap getaway and therefore the average Matalan consumer would not have enough disposable income for holidays abroad and so keeping the customer in mind, I decided to go with affordable, trend driven loungewear for nights in. I developed on my previous SS/18 range of ‘&Me’ by Samantha Faiers for active wear, taking the target market of the new, young mum into consideration and seeing what their typical clothing would be day in, day out and seeing what activities they do over the AW period. I have realised throughout this particular unit, that I need more experience in the fashion industry like a shop floor assistant or volunteer at fashion event etc. This will help me build up my CV and really show my passion for the fashion world. It will also enhance my knowledge and skills needed for the role of a buyer, visual merchandiser and styling as I enjoy the more arty side of the fashion industry rather than the write up and supplying side of it all. I completed a cover letter and with this and my CV I have been able to apply for jobs as assistant buyer, and other work experience opportunities. In this I started of with a SS/18 Active wear collection and then developed that further for a ‘carry on’ range of AW/18 loungewear. I did this by keeping the new customer targeted in mind and using Sam Faiers firstly, as she relates to the new, young mum and then introducing Billie for a collaboration of the two sisters for an even more relatable celebrity endorsement that the consumers will look up to and recognise for the Matalan brand. I found that marketing the two collections was quite simple due to social media being such a big part of modern day society. People keep in contact and communication of their role model celebrities using social media sites and so Sam and Billie carry over 2.9million followers to who they can promote the brand to. Knowing that these celebrities have a collection out with an affordable brand, shows that Matalan are becoming more popular and growing as a business to keep up with modern day consumer needs. To conclude, this unit has enabled me to develop my skills on both verbal and written basis. Photoshop, research methods and websites and then pitching and working as part of a team. All in all, the unit has been educational in the role of buying and merchandising and taught me about time management and how important it is to keep to deadlines when working in the industry.
Interview practice questions
- What are the qualities of a good leader? A good leader should have excellent communication skills and time management, be fir and friendly, but also not be afraid to delegate instructions and discipline if necessary. As a leader, I would make sure I was aware of everyone else’s roles, whether they understand what they are to do or whether they need assistance. I would offer my help were needed abut also be willing to let employees use their initiative and work independently if appropriate. - How well did your college experience prepare you for this job? My time in college has helped me improve and develop new skills. The course has taught me transferrable skill, such as time management, written and oral communication and also programmes like photoshop, displaying my thoughts and idea not just through written work but through images and really drawing a picture for your audience. I have also been introduced to many new ways of gaining information, for topics such as trend forecasting. For instance, using sites like WGSN, VOUGE, PINTREST and other fashion blog sites to really get an idea and were the trend is going to in the future. The knowledge I have gained about the industry is also vast and has covered many areas, including industry practices, PESTLE analyses, range building and financial spreadsheets, which I can use in this particular job role. - What has been your biggest professional disappointment? This has to be that when trying to find my first ever job at 16, no retail jobs would take me on. They all wanted experience or just ended up going with other candidates. Because of this I ended up in a hospitality job that I do not have a passion for at all. I have been in the hospitality business nearly three years now, and although it is not my career goal I have taken a lot of skills from it. I have dealt with a wide variety of customers, complaints, praise, I have employee that is liable and confident in my role.
- Do you prefer to work in a small, medium or large company? Companies of all sizes come with their own advantages and disadvantages, and it is difficult to say which I prefer. I like the sense of community in a job and I think small business provide this as everyone knows each other and works closely together. Larger companies are however a lot more formal when communicating between departments, it is usually emails that are used as a main form of communication, which could be seen as a lot more organised and better for the company. As long as I am able to along effectively with my co-workers, however I don’t think the size of the company would affect my work ethic or motivation for the job role I was doing.
- Who was your favourite manager and why? Working in the same company for three years, there has been many different managers come and go. My favourite manager was a woman named Rachel. She was I her early twenties so I could relate and talk to her, however she was not afraid to be firm when she had to be. She kept her department running smoothly and organised, there were little to no complaints from customers with the service and even though she has a strict working environment, she still allowed our personalities to be shown and allowed us to work independently knowing that time management would not fail.
- How did you prepare for this work? I did a lot of research about the company, filling in the gaps that I didn’t know much about. I also did extensive research on the roles of the job and created this portfolio to show which aspects of skills I have to succeed in this work. Because I have never had this kind of job before, I was willing to get experience in little business as a volunteer to understand the position more. This helped me to achieve a god understanding of what I need to focus on. - A team experience you found disappointing? When in college we were asked to work on a group task. We were put into groups and we had to come up with an idea of a fabric of clothing and style it for daytime and night time attire. As a group, we came up with roles for each other and then at the end of all out research we would come together and create a final styling board. I did my part and few others did theirs, however the communication was awful. Group chats were made and we would try to discuss in class but some of the group was very uninterested making the task hard to include everyone and getting everyone to pull their weight. Consequently, the task didn’t reach its full potential due to people missing deadlines and the overall board suffered, I was disappointed because I like to work as part of a team and I like to include everyone and feel as though it is not just my project, but this made me feel as though it was not up to standard and made me want to redo everything with certain people involved.
- Do you prefer to work independently or on a team? I like to work as part of a team and independently. Part of team allows me to develop my communication skills further and takes the pressure of a little bit. I enjoy other people’s company and like to hear other people’s ideas and build on them to incorporate a bit of everything from different perspectives. However, working independently I am able to challenge myself and know I can count on myself to get things done, which outs my mind at ease. - Do you work well under pressure? I am not a very stressful person and this allows me to work well under pressure. I keep a calm, cool head that lets me see and cover every aspect oppose to having my mind worry about future things that need to be done. I work in the moment and am able to get things done with maximum effort and stress free. An example is at my previous job as a waitress and bartender, when there was only minimal staff and looking after near 100 people alone at the same time can be very mentally and physically hard, however taking each thing as it comes and work fast paced helped everything be kept under control and still allowed the customer service to be outstanding, a upbeat aura and relaxed and happy atmosphere gives others around you to feel like is controlled also. - Tell me about a difficult experience you had in the workplace?
Once when doing my usual restaurant shift a man complained about his food, I asked to swap it and take it off the bill but he was very rude and decided he would just eat it. After eating his meal, he came over to my host desk and threw the plate down towards me and started swearing at me saying it was awful. I could have so easily lost it and argued back because one thing that I hate in people is rudeness and total disrespect. However, I kept my anger to myself and dealt with the situation calmly, I took his food of the bill gave him a free drink and apologised about the food. He was still very rude, but I was able to keep myself under control and still offer good customer service. That was difficult but knowing I have the ability to do that is good for future working environments.
- How do you feel about taking no for an answer? I respect any decision that an employer makes, and would rarely question it if not appropriate to. In the instance that I really disagreed with my employer, I would tell them why, and encourage him to discuss it with me further, with an aim to come to some sort of compromise.
- When given an important assignment, how do you approach it? Action plans are the best way to do this. Usually mentally as this is usually enough, I can set myself targets and meet my personal deadline. But I will sometimes write things down as well, depending on how big an assignment it is. - What was the most stressful situation you have faced? In a working environment, I have been asked on a number of occasions to stay begin in work to help with unexpected guests. For example, the hotel I work at is a hotel that many people stay at when getting a flight, the next day etc. This also means that flight delays are a huge issue, when we have flight delays the hotel fills up very quickly and they are expected to eat and drink as part of the flights apology. This means that with little staff we have to get around to everyone and make sure that they are satisfied and get great service. One day particular I had a deadline to meet in college and I was planning on going home after work and finishing off my last few bits of work. When I got home after having to stay behind an extra three hours in work, I got to my laptop and noticed my pen drive had bent. My heart sank and when I tried to plug it in, it was not recognised. I hadn’t saved my work anywhere else and had only printed out a few things which left me with no choice but to redo a lot of my work and get it in before deadline day. This was the most work I have ever had to do in such a small amount of time but it taught me a lesson of saving everything I do to more than one place.
What do you think you can bring to this position?
I am very eager to learn new things and progress my career, so I feel that in this role I would bring s certain level of enthusiasm to the workplace. I am also a keen believer that the people you work for with matter, and for that reason I would bring with me an eagerness to interact with my co-workers and form good working relationships. The skills I would bring to the role are a keen analytical eye, and a methodical way of thinking and managing deadlines. I also have a knack for being able to view things from different perspectives which I feel would be useful in an environment with many people working together. - How do you evaluate your ability to handle conflict? When faced with conflict I tend to step back and look at it from an objective point of view. If a conflict is between other people I will listen to both sides and try to suggest ways in which they can handle and resolve it. If a conflict includes myself, I will often attempt to distance myself from the situation and view it as an observer, which helps me to see the other side of it. However, I am not afraid to express my opinions if relative and appropriate to do so and I will always come to some sort of compromise.
- What quality of yours or personal trait matters the most in your career? My honesty in situations is the most important thing when it comes to my career. I like to express my passions and interests and if I can be honest with co-workers then I am able to thrive in my job role. I also like honesty when it comes to myself, I like that other people can tell me if I am wrong or disagree with a decision I am making because that allows me to build up my character even more.
- You have not done this sort of job before. How will you succeed? I would be unwise to go into a job without any knowledge of what to do. My work an college has taught me many aspects of working with skills that suit the role and applying them to certain situations I find myself in. I will ask for any help if I am desperately stuck on what to do as I don’t want it to affect the work of the business, but I would maintain the same professional attitude with which I talk to customers. - How did you handle meeting a tight deadline? I produced action plans and made myself mini deadlines to meet each individual task to bring the how task as a whole together at the end. I do not stress very easily and I find that this is a way that helps me to meet deadlines as keeping a calm head allows you to properly cover every aspect of what to do and focus clearly, giving myself more time to think about what I am doing oppose to what I need to get done.
Cover Letter Name of contact Name of company
Recruiting Dept Address
12 Cranford Road Garston
Liverpool L19 9AZ
Dear Name, Further to the recent advert on your website, I would like to apply to the Assistant Buyer role at your Liverpool site, and have attached my CV for your considerations. I have built up my knowledge of the fashion industry and skills required by completing a Level 4 Diploma in Buying and Range Planning of Fashion. This has given me a good understanding of range planning and market analyse, strengthened by my team work skills and face to face communication with customers. I am a diligent worker and with an excellent record, and a drive to succeed in this occupational area. Yours sincerely, Savannah Avery