E-commerce has emerged into the fastest growing retail market in Europe. Within a year, online sales have grown by 16.2% reaching £60 billion. Marketing has majorly influenced the e-commerce sector and I want to be able to bring my passion into the real world. Working within a global industry and being able to manage others through efficient decision making and finding innovative solutions to problems gives me more interest in this area. Doing a degree in this area will give me the intellectual mind to apply marketing principles in an international business environment.

Completing a 4-week MOOC on Future Learn called ‘Management and Leadership: Growing as a Manager’ by The Open University Business School and CMI, further enhanced my understanding of this industry.

I attended Capgemini’s Women’s Business Network Event “#ILookLikeARoleModel” which gave me the opportunity to listen to a very inspiring lecture by Sarah Wood, an entrepreneur who is running a successful start-up firm named ‘Unruly’. Visiting the Bank of England gave me an insight on how the government preserve the value of our money by keeping measures of inflation, such as the Retail Prices Index. Taking part in the Senior Maths Challenge allowed me to put my mathematical skills into practice. I am currently helping the year 7 prepare for the French Spelling Bee Challenge, thus helping me expand on my translation quality assurance. I keep myself updated with current business- related affairs, such as Brexit.

I read a book written by Vince Cable ‘The Storm The World Economic Crisis and What It Means’ which highlights the global economic crisis and how as a nation we should fight against the challenges it brings. Cable talks about unexpected “amplifiers” and how “clichés surrounding globalisation” can be foreseen. I read an article from The Economist called “All that is solid melts into air” which summarises the online share of retail trade this year, in which it states that online sales have augmented by 90% from January to September through smartphones in Britain. This vast impact that it has created on the globalisation of the world today has given me the drive to go in this field.

I have undertaken two weeks of work experience at Urbanpoint Property Management Ltd, where I acquired the skills of accounting and administration work. I used the Sage accounting system to invoice clients and handle VAT and budgets and analysed business performance by reconciliation (credit card receipts and expenses) and filing Company House Annual Returns. This allowed me to put my theoretical knowledge into practice. Doing work experience at Boots allowed me to understand customer behaviour and how this impacted on the business’s contrasting marketing strategies at different times of the year.

Maths has given me the ability to analyse and interpret data such as cash flow charts and balance sheets. Business Studies has developed my critical analysis skills and my understanding of business behaviour from the outlooks of different types of stakeholders. Studying French alongside Business Studies will help bridge in the gap by supporting the communication process. It will provide me with the ability to work in any industry, including overseas businesses.

The NCS Challenge involved me giving a speech on how globalisation affects the business world, which I am passionate about. Creating a promotional video for a care home has helped me expand my knowledge of marketing principles. Along with this, running a campaign highlighted the importance of social responsibility which plays a major role in project management, a vital skill in managing a business.

Acquisition of these skills through experience has led me to do an EPQ in how business tycoons are affecting the economic growth of the UK. For example, Richard Branson who established Virgin has a current net worth of 5 million USD. The independent research from primary and secondary sources gone towards this allowed me to broaden my knowledge and understanding on this topic.

Leading young children through the CSLA has not only given me the leadership skills, but has also allowed me to gain sense of how different departments within a business work to perform one function. I took part in the Headstart program and volunteered at Scope charity for 6 months, through which I successfully passed a New Look interview. This allowed me to see how they recruit employees and gave me an insight of a real-life business. I volunteered at the school library for 4 months where I organised the library display and ran errands. I was a school prefect and school councillor during year 11 which allowed me to develop my communication skills and get a sense of responsibilities for my actions. I was part of the school leavers committee who designed leavers’ hoodies, where I attained team working skills. I played the violin, where I successfully completed grade 3 and was part of the school orchestra. Having completed this degree at university, I want to pursue a job as an International Marketing and Sales Manager as I want to be part of the global economic growth.