Benjamin Small is seeking graduate opportunities to kickstart an international trade career. He has a BSc in International Business and a BTS in International Trade from France. He is trilingual in English, French and Spanish. His experience includes marketing projects in insurance and logistics. At ES Risks, he expanded their French and Spanish markets. At DB Schenker, he successfully managed shipments and improved customer service. At Root 1 Media, he provided strategic solutions for clients and pursued new business. He is competitive, ambitious and has experience in project management, negotiations, marketing and e-commerce.

1. Benjamin Small
The Mount • SL9 7PU • Gerrards Cross,•UK
MOB + (44) 79 03 61 97 75•E-MAIL BenjaminThomasSmall@gmail.com
PROFILE
Competitive, ambitious and positive trilinguist with French and Spanish - Interested in graduate
opportunities to kick start an exciting career in international trade.
Graduate in International Business with experience in project management, multicultural negotiation,
logistics, marketing and e-commerce within start-ups and multinationals.
I moved to France at the age of 8 and have thus completed the majority of my education within the
French academic system.
I have been able to successfully combine my studies with work and other commitments including
managing a football team and organizing local community events and as such I recognise myself as a
reliable, hard working and organized young man with a logical and practical approach to problem
solving and a genuine enthusiasm for learning.
Bi lingual in FrenchandEnglish withconversational SpanishandbasicItalian.
EXPERIENCE
Work placement with ES Risks
June 2016 – Present America Square EC3, London, UK
8 week placement with a well-established international Lloyd’s insurance wholesaler. I worked with
the marketing and compliance teams under consistent guidance from brokers. A very complete
experience that has provided me with a great grounding for a career path in the city.
Roles included:
International Marketing:
Instrumental in improving brand awareness within the French and Spanish market.
- Redefined realistic objectives to fit the brokers’ ambitions as well as the company’s capacities.
- Efficiently translated and adapted existing marketing material targeting SME brokers,
encouraging interaction and breaking down the barriers to innovative markets.
- Produced tailor made material to appeal to potential specialised partners and expand
influence within the European market (via Website, printed brochures and newsletter
emailing).

2. New business development:
Contacting commercial insurance brokers within the French and Spanish markets and ascertaining
their business mix with a specific focus on niche product ranges (renewable energy, engineering
medical malpractice). The priority was put on finding prospects with the capacity (volume) and the
appetite to build towards a long lasting relationship. This lead me to:
- Compiling a brand new contact database for the French and Spanish market.
- Establishing a fluid commercial strategy to optimise results.
- Cold calling and emailing the selected prospects whilst effectively communicating the brand’s
image and corporate values.
Achievements:
 Developed an understanding of the roles played by the variable structures within the
insurance industry.
 Confidently applied my common sense and business acumen to solve strategic problems
within a complex environment.
 Exploited my linguistic capabilities and put my self forward to force the brand into a
recognised bracket of international wholesalers.
Work placement with DB Schenker
February 2014 – March 2014 Toulouse Area, Blagnac, France
6 week work placement with one of the world’s biggest and most influential logistics firms. I worked
with their import, export and customs teams of the Airfreight department.
Roles included:
Project management
I successfully took the lead over planning and managing multiple shipments giving me firsthand
experience of taking responsibility for high value and time sensitive cargo. This entailed:
- Being in constant contact with clients to make sure their needs/priorities are understood (deadlines,
budget, and security levels expected).
- Planning shipments in accordance with the client’s needs whilst striving for ambitious profit
margins. This meant working alongside the operational team to designate the most commercially
viable roots and providing insurance firms with analysis of risk exposure to cover the shipments.
- Negotiating with the selected freight forwarders and transporters to ensure profit margins are met.
- Tracking and logging each stage of the shipment process to keep clients up to date and more
importantly be informed of any miss laps in time to provide and implement solutions.
Customer service

3. In an organisation that puts a lot of emphasis on customer satisfaction, I thrived with the customer
service team, tasked with receiving claims and complaints over unfulfilled or poorly executed
shipments and providing both logistical and commercial solutions.
Achievements:
 Lead shipments from start to finish with a high success rate of customer satisfaction.
 Provided multiple solutions, notably one shipment caught at the terminal in Phnom Penh, in
which I managed to coordinate the re-expedition of the goods without drastically
compromising the profit margin.
 Improved the reactivity of the commercial team by confidently putting my languages to use,
negotiating with foreign transporters and getting updates from the freight forwarders in
South America and Asia.
 Restructured and updated the agency’s contact data base, compiled profile sheets complete
with key information on existing clients and their representatives.
Work placement with Root 1 Media
April 2013 – July 2013 (3 months) Notting Hill, London
10 week work placement with the commercial team of a start up that provides brands and celebrities
with an online platform “MerchAnt” that drives brand awareness and new streams of revenue
(bespoke merchandise) via their social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc).
Roles included:
Customer Account Management
I efficiently collected quantitative and qualitative data on existing clients from either internal
historical sources or their social media output online (type of interaction, profiling of followers)
enabling me to provide detailed analysis on existing client’s commercial performance (SWOT).
I then came forward with multiple strategic solutions to help drive sales and online interaction based
on my findings (promotional strategies, marketing campaigns).
I also put myself forward to act as an intermediary between the clients, the sales teamand the
creative team to facilitate ongoing projects.
Prospecting and targeted new business development
As I had joined a Start Up, I was regularly tasked with pursuing new business development
opportunities and providing support to the commercial team to tie in new deals. This entailed:
- Prospecting new clients from all areas of modern entertainment with a strong media following and
online potential.
- Providing analysis on the selected prospects for the sales team(following profile, potential
marketing streams, upcoming events, brand awareness, potential...).

4. - Collecting contact details for selected prospects and helped plan sales approach.
- Sourcing new products to complement existing range.
- Compiling personalized Pitch books in collaboration with the creative team to support the sales
team.
Achievements:
 Assisted sales pitches and provided useful feedback.
 Provided profitable solutions to failing key accounts.
 Created and implemented backed promotional strategies for the likes of Levi Roots, 5ive and
Atomic Kitten.
 Prepared Pitchbooks complete with key and relevant USPs and potential merchandise range
for meetings with The Michael Jackson Estate, Franck Lampard, Katherin Jenkins and the lad
bible.
EDUCATION
BSC INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS WITH LANGUAGES 2:1
Université Blaise Pascal (Clermont-II) - Clermont-Ferrand
2015/2016
3rd and final year of a Licence degree in international studies with languages.
Spanish
EU history, structures and policies, unity and diversity
Negotiating techniques
Negotiating in practice
Principles of management
Project management
Spanish
Selling in other countries
Cross-cultural communication : theory and fundamentals
Cross-cultural communication in practice
Principles of finance
The European Union : unity and diversity
Business strategy
Export sales management
International Marketing
International Business
Research Project
BTS INTERNATIONAL TRADE

5. Lycée Ozenne, Toulouse
2012 – 2014
2 year post baccalaureate degree focusing on languages and business. Along with the combined 16
weeks worth of work experience, this course gave me access to the following modules, giving me a
strong foundation for my pursuit of an international career:
- International Finance
(Risk management, currency control).
- International Negotiation.
(Extensive sales planning for B2B, B2C, and B2D pitches, multiple evaluated sketches in English,
French and Spanish).
- Study of foreign markets
(marketing strategies, marketing MIX, product adaptability, foreign procedures, and market
obstacles).
- Inter-cultural studies
(Based on the works of Hofstede and Hall).
- Management of Import/Export activities.
(Logistical planning, operational proficiencies, Customs, Insurance and Re-insurance).
- Commercial Spanish
(Summaries of economic and social documents, Commercial communication).
- Basic Economics and International Law.
FRENCH BACCALAUREAT – STG - Sciences et technologies de la gestion
Lycee Georges Leygues, Villeneuve sur lot, Aquitaine
2010-2012
Passed with Distinction
Technical baccalaureate specialising in Accounting (Financial and Managerial), Economics,
Management, Maths and French