This document is a student's assignment submission for a strategic management module. It includes a cover page with instructions, an introduction outlining the report's focus on the student's employability and career aspirations. The main body consists of three sections: 1) A learning log discussing how academic modules and a SWOT analysis helped shape the student's job prospects. 2) A summary of career events attended. 3) A reflection on work experience in hospitality and retail to improve interview skills. Appendices include test results, a CV, and a social media strategy for connecting with employers on LinkedIn and Twitter.

1. THE BUSINESS SCHOOL
BA/BSC: BSc Business Hons
YEAR 1/2/3
(Delete as appropriate)
3
Student Name: Samantha Pierce
Module: Strategic Management
Tutor’s Name: Federico Iannacci
Student No: PIE12058299
Assessment No 2
Submission Date: 9/2/2015
Word Count: …………713……………… (excluding abstracts, appendices,
direct quotes, bibliography, diagrams and illustrations)
Students must sign here ………………SPIERCE……………… to show that they have read and
adhered to the University plagiarism regulations as stated in the student handbook.
Please read these instructions carefully:
Your assignment MUST be stapled securely in the top left hand corner only.
If submitting a report only, please do NOT include any plastic covers, folders or any type of casing.
If handing in a disk with this assignment, the disk must have your name, year and degree on it and must
be contained in a suitable disk holder to facilitate safe return. The bookshop sells document wallets which
ensure neat submission of disks and reports, or self-sealing pockets that can be sealed to the report.
A zipped up or clipped document wallet is best and ensures that lecturers can place your disk and report
neatly back in the wallet after marking. Whichever method you use, please help to make it easy for our
administrators to sort the assignments by ensuring that the information on your front sheet can be read
without having to open the wallet.
STM REPORT 2 - SAMANTHA PIERCE SP

2. INTRODUCTION
In this report I will be reflecting on my own employability and recording the progress of
my learning. I will be incorporating my working experience along with academic learning and
my future career aspirations.
I will be taking a more emergent approach, as my strategy to gain a graduate position will
adapt to different events. I will be using strategic management tools in order to help me select
potential employers together with looking at how I can make myself stand out from the crowd.
LEARNING LOGS
ACADEMIC SKILLS AND EMPLOYERS
During my years in education I have always wanted to progress onto a particular path. I
would like to climb the banking career ladder. University has taken me the closest to this.
Studying modules such as International and Multinational Finance and Strategic Management
has allowed me to make myself more attractive to a potential employer in this sector.
I found the SWOT tool to be particularly helpful. I identified my strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats in a TOWS matrix in order to shape myself into an attractive
graduate. I worked on my weaknesses such as my CV and social media pages and I now
consider them strengths. Opportunities I can take advantage of and learn from are graduate
interviews and experiences.
I have found, particularly with financial service employers, they want a strong candidate
achieving a 2:1 or above, preferably from a London University. This was a threat of mine as I
am in a university lower on the league table and this was not something I had thought about
previously.
I now am taking advantage of every opportunity as well as using my strengths to overcome
this threat. Using a SWOT analysis has allowed to me gain three interviews with banks around
the South East of England with each one commenting positively on previous academic
coursework, CV and my LinkedIn presence.
BUSINESS FUTURES EVENTS
During both business future weeks, I attended several sessions, all of which I found helpful
in different ways.
Two sessions were based around using social media and LinkedIn to help aid job hunting.
This was a weakness of mine, as I did not have LinkedIn neither was my Facebook separated
from my graduate job-hunting email. To improve my LinkedIn page I updated it and tailored
it to my specific career aspirations. Target Jobs advice has enabled me to add information and
get a step ahead by allowing me to see what specific skills my future employer wants me to
have.
I additionally attended the Kent Job Fair. There were very few banking institutions in
attendance, when I spoke to a representative from the Bank of England, they told me the
majority of banks and financial service providers prefer a graduate from a London university.
In order to overcome this, I decided to make myself more appealing by completing
Bloomberg Test where I achieved above average (Appendix 1). The Bloomberg Test is

3. published and can been seen by potential employers and this has increased my presence online
for potential employers.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Professionalism is the skill that is expected from a person trained proficiently. Hempstead
House is a silver service restaurant and four-star hotel where I gained valuable experience
working there for nearly 3 years. I learnt how to treat customers from all backgrounds and
how important it is to look smart and portray a good image of the company I was representing.
After gaining this experience for a number of years I wanted to move onto a corporate
organisation to see how the recruitment process works. I had never attended an interview
before so I used the interview simulator and the CV builder on the core. I tailored my previous
experience to Sainsbury’s specifically and both tools helped prepare me for the interview day.
As a result I was successful during the recruitment process and I have gained invaluable
experience in assessment tests and interviews with several stages.
I used the strategic management tool of PESTEL in order to help me with this recruitment
process. I looked at the competitors of Sainsbury’s and the larger environment. I researched
what is important to them and used this as a strength in the interview stage, discussing their
values and the work they do with local charities within the community.
APPENDIX 1: TEST RESULTS
Bloomberg Aptitude Test
Above shows the test result achieved for Bloomberg Aptitude Test during the Business
Futures week, where in the Economics section of the test I achieved 5 points over the median.
Overall my score was 440/800 30th
pctl.
APPENDIX 2: CURRICULUM VITAE

4. 5 Fairleas
Sittingbourne
Kent, ME10 4LS
07593718449/01795 227092
samanthapierce@live.co.uk
SAMANTHA PIERCE
OBJECTIVE
I am currently looking for a challenging and exciting position, which will
enable me to utilise my existing skills whilst building upon new ones.
I am an extremely hardworking, reliable and dedicated individual with the
ability to work under pressure and use my own initiative. I have excellent
interpersonal skills, I am well organised and an effective communicator. I can
relate to others well and can listen well to others, making me a great team
player. I am also proficient in the use of Microsoft Office software packages,
and have an excellent telephone manner.
SKILLS &
ABILITIES
 Strong analytical and problem solving skills – which was developed from
studying the Research Methods module in the second year of my degree,
where I have to evaluate different sources of information, and it also
involves critical and statistical analysis.
 Critical Thinking – developed from my Corporate and Business Law
module, where I learnt to gain all the information before stating the
judgment, and not to take things at face value.
 Strong interest/knowledge of financial industry – this was developed from
studying a financial trading course outside of my academic study as well as
several financial service modules at sixth form and undergraduate level.
 Strong oral and written communication skills – developed from post sixteen
studies where I explained and presented ideas in a clear format, keeping the
audience engaged, and tailored writing to different audiences.
 Attention to detail – this was developed throughout my academic life, as I
was constantly checking work repeatedly to make sure there were no
mistakes or missing parts. My current part time position also requires
attention to detail, as we have to set up venues; this means everything gets
checked in order to satisfy the customer.
 Team working – developed throughout studies where I’ve worked in groups
for presentations and reports, and developed in competitions such as the
IBM University Business Challenge.
 Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office
 Basic knowledge of French at GCSE Level
EXPERIENCE COUNTER ASSISTANT – SAINSBURY’S
May 2014 - Present
Duties include keeping the counters clean, serving customers, making pizzas,
making sure all food is stored and cooked correctly. I additionally help achieve
the department targets of reducing waste and upselling produce

5. FRONT OF HOUSE – HEMPSTEAD HOUSE COUNTRY HOTEL AND SPA
September 2011 – May 2014
Duties include working behind the bar, greeting customers, taking coats, taking
wine orders, helping lay out the room and helping out at events such as weddings,
funerals and conferences. I also help out in the restaurant, clear tables and layout
and serve the buffet in the evening, depending on the type of event. I always
ensure that I am presentable and that I portray a good image of the hotel and give
customers the best experience that they can possibly have.
EDUCATION BSC HONS BUSINESS FINANCE - CANTERBURY CHRIST CHURCH UNIVERSITY,
CANTERBURY
I am currently studying Business Finance at university, my modules include,
Securities, Investment Analysis, Portfolio Management, Business Ethics,
Strategic Management and International and Multinational Finance. I am on
course to receive a 2:1 or higher.
POST 16 STUDY – WESTLAND’S ACADEMY, SITTINGBOURNE
I entered sixth form education after obtaining 12 GCSE’s from A* to C. I studied
a Business National Diploma where I achieved an A*. I additionally managed to
achieve a B in both the IFS Financial Studies Certificate and IFS Financial
Studies Diploma, equivalent of 430 UCAS points.
ACHIEVEME
NTS/INTERES
TS
At university I entered into the IBM University Challenge in 2013, where my
group reached the Semi Final Round held at RBS in London. We have entered
again this year, which will begin in October 2014. Whilst studying at university I
took up a course with the Academy of Financial Trading and I achieved 93%.
Other interests include keeping up with world news by reading BBC news daily. I
enjoy practicing making trades on the stock exchange using Bloomberg Terminals
and keeping fit by walking or using the local gym. I additionally enjoy spending
time with family and friends.
www.linkedin.com/pub/samantha-pierce/661/831/44/
REFERENCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
APPENDIX 3: SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN
The first time using Twitter and LinkedIn I had no idea what I was doing. My aim is to
achieve a graduate position within a financial services company, but I was unsure of how to
reach my goal.

6. Before the business futures events I did not realise how helpful social media would be in
helping me get a graduate position. LinkedIn is a great platform to aid graduates in searching
for a position. Firstly I filled out my profile and was completely honest when doing so. I
believe this to be a competency of mine as having an honest profile tells the employer than
you’re an honest person.
My second step was to find first class coursework of mine from any of my academic studies
and post them to my profile showing potential employers what I am capable of. This work
includes corporate finance coursework as well as econometrics assessments.
My third step was to engage in extra activities, I paid to do a financial trading course in which
I achieve 93%, this was another thing I added to my profile. Whilst playing around with the
site I found various groups and discussions in which I could get involved to increase my
presence online and potentially get noticed by graduate employers. My plan for the future is to
get involved into more of these groups and discussions as well as connecting with more people
than could potentially land me my dream job.
Twitter is the second social media plan that is helpful in aiding graduates. I am not as
experienced with Twitter as I am currently with LinkedIn however I am willing to learn. I am
currently following several different companies and use their twitter pages to see what is
going on within their company. Twitter is additionally helpful to see what customers think
about a particular company. This is helpful when attending interviews as I have a platform on
which to gain a wider image of the company.