sofia stone

Brightsparks places students into a range of corporate events across the UK. I undertook bar work, waitressing and ambassador work at prestigious events such as Royal Ascot where I spent a week working in their VIP enclosure and was responsible for ensuring people were in the right places and their needs were attended to. This involved dealing with a range of people, often in difficult and challenging situations and always required us to display a friendly, helpful and respectful attitude.

I worked for this global legal search business in order to gain further experience of working within a commercial environment. I engaged with candidates and consultants and undertook searches of hundreds of UK and international lawyers across the world, reviewed CV's and worked with senior individuals within the group. I was able to quickly learn and apply new skills to a range of daily tasks as well as undertaking detailed mapping and research assignments.

In my first year of my A level studies, aged 17, I worked for the UK's number one supermarket brand on various weekday evenings and on Saturdays. I provided shopping and general advice based on customer needs and communicated daily to customers, promoting in-store deals and discounts and helping with day to day queries and often dealing with challenging situations and people.

I had to manage high-pressure situations with ease, ensuring customer satisfaction during peak hours. After a short time with Waitrose, I worked on the tills which was unusual and people selected for this were generally people who were trusted and had an excellent communication manner. I also learned to balance and prioritise school work whilst working

I was invited to attend a short introduction to Private Banking and Wealth Management at the prestigious, Swiss Private bank, Julius Baer, in London. I was part of a select group of students who were introduced to the various lines of business within JB and undertook role play challenges as well as collaborating with others to present our findings on a range of matters pertinent to the bank. We attended seminars and witnessed, first hand, the roles and duties undertaken at a large, financial institution.