Benjamin David Simpson

Selected as 1 of 2 students for a prestigious international placement. During the role i significantly improved many skills and had a wide variation of responsibilities, as follows.

• Led event management, coordinating logistics for academic and community events, ensuring seamless execution.
• Designed and taught an extra-curricular course using innovative methods to enhance student skills.
• Performed data analysis for strategic insights, aiding in institutional data-driven decision-making.
• Managed recruitment processes to form a skilled, diverse team, improving workforce quality.
• Conducted engaging public speeches and presentations to effectively communicate with varied audiences.
• Drove lead generation through networking, enhancing the institution's partnerships and resources.
• Created marketing materials to increase engagement with university programs.
• Developed staff training initiatives, resulting in improved institutional performance and proficiency.

This role involved supervising a 15-member team in an M&S Food store with responsibilities for customer service, planning operations, coaching new staff, merchandising, stock and cost control, and problem solving daily.

I also oversaw the store charity programme, involving the organisation of fundraisers, directing activities, and allocating resources appropriately through budget management.

Through this role, I developed skills such as:

• Leadership
• Time management
• Teamwork
• Networking
• Training and development
• Communications

I worked at Tesco for a 6-month period while first attending university. Although I only worked at Tesco for a brief period, working at another massive retailer allowed me to compare and contrast the different ways in which large organisations operate.This role involved responsibilities for customer service, merchandising, stock management, and problem solving.

Although the responsibilities and role is very similar to that of my previous experience, I have found that within this role, it is a lot more fast-paced, also requiring the need to pivot and adapt quickly to situations.