Florist Designer: Job Requirements, Cover Letter, Resume, and Job Search Strategies

This article provides information on the job requirements, cover letter, resume, and job search strategies for a florist designer. It includes a gap analysis of the job requirements, a sample cover letter and resume, and tips for succeeding in the hidden job market through networking. The article emphasizes the importance of knowing what you want in a job, setting up meetings with contacts, and networking traditionally in formal functions.

Florist Designer 1
Florist Designer
Name
Course
Tutor
University
City or State
Date of Submission

Florist Designer 2
Question One
Gap Analysis
Requirements for job as
stated in job advert
Your
competency:
none /
beginner /
intermediate
/ advanced
Your evidence of competency - specific examples,
stories, achievement statements
Super talented florists
with a minimum o 2
years experience- an
absolute a must
Beginner I do not have much experience in the florist
business but I have been helping out in my aunt’s
florist business for the past one year. Therefore I
am familiar with some aspects of the business such
a checking the quality of the flowers and
maintenance of the flower. For example, if flowers
do not sell within three days of arrival, the water
should be changed and they should be re-cut.
Energetic, professional
and committed
Intermediate I am energetic since I assist my aunt in arranging
the flowers, cutting them, watering them,
conditioning them and cleaning flowers and
foliage for storage. I select flora and foliage for

Florist Designer 3
arrangements and I work with various
arrangements to synthesize and come up with new
creations. I also wrap and price the completed
arrangements.
I have also mastered some professionals skills
since I handle customers at the shop and tackle
customer complaints. Sometimes, customers do
not know how to maintain the flowers and I have
to guide them through while others mishandle the
flowers and we have to replace. In some cases
customers come with complaints and I have to
handle them making sure that the customer is
satisfied.
I talk to customers about maintenance, care and
how they should handle different indoor plants,
flowers, foliage and other products. I deliberate
with them to agree on the price and type of
arrangements they want, the date, time and place
of delivery I plan arrangements based on the
customer’s requirements, using design knowledge
and material properties, or come up with the

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appropriate standard and design pattern.
As I handle customers I makesure that customer
experience is maintained. I am committed to the
florist business, giving the best products and
services to our customers and making sure that
they get the ultimate value for their money.
Nevertheless, I have not mastered these skills at an
advanced level since most of the time, I am just a
helper. I only handle the light duties.
Well honed
communication skills
Advanced Over the years, I have mastered communication
skills through interaction with different people and
of different genders and age groups.
At the business, besides tending to the flowers I
also work at the customer service and on a
professional level, I have interacted with different
customers and I have handled different issues.
I have to guide customers through maintenance of
the flowers, indoor plants and other products and I
have to be patient with them since some take time
to understand.

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Some also ask too many questions but I have
learned to be patient and to always be polite even
if I am offended.
Resourceful and
commercially astute
Beginner Even though I have gathered some information
and gained some experience in the florist business
I am not extensively commercially astute.
However, a florist should always observe the
competitors to see what they are offering and
come up with something unique to gain
competitive advantage. Records on prices, weather
and sales should also be kept for future reference.
Flexible availability at
peak times
Advanced I am not in school full time; hence I can be at work
most of the time.
Self motivated but also
able to work as part of a
team
Advanced I have learned to work in teams from school
through group projects and at the flower shop.
Since maintenance of flower includes different
action such as conditioning, cutting, watering and
packaging, we do it in teams, different people
handle different processes. However, individually
I have to make sure that I perfume my task to my
best.

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Lover of flowers, art and
design
Advanced I love flowers since they are nature’s beauty.
Moreover some flowers such as the rose flower
have healing properties and I think everyone
should have the in their home.
Colors of flowers blend in to bring out a sense of
art and design making any place beautiful. We also
decorate buildings, churches, houses and occasions
such as weddings and this brings out my artistic
talent.
Flowers are my passion.

Florist Designer 7
Question Two
Cover Letter
Name
Address
Address
Phone # and email
Date
Mandalay Flowers
Human Resource Manager
Address
Dear Mr. Stewart
I am contacting you regarding the job florist job advertised on the internet. Working at Mandalay
flowers would be a great opportunity for me to expand my experience and knowledge of the
florist business while contributing my passion for flowers, art and design.
I am in my final year, and I major in Business management. Through my course, I have
understood the work and importance of the day to day operations in a business. I have been
working for my aunt’s florist business and this has equipped me with practical experience of the
florist business. I have learned how to maintain flowers including cutting, conditioning,
watering, wrapping and pricing. I am also creative, coming up with different arrangements and
flower combinations to bring out their colors.
At the florist business, I had the opportunity to interact with clients and handle their complaints
boosting their customer experience. I have learned how to relate with customers, planning
deliveries and teaching clients how to take care of indoor plants, flowers and other products.

Florist Designer 8
Through these experiences, I have attained background knowledge and I can apply this
knowledge, enabling me to make huge contributions to Mandalay flowers.
Besides my strong academic background and practical experience in the florist business, I have
valuable leadership and team building experience both as the leader of the Geography club in my
school and as a team player in my aunt's florist business. As the Geography club we undertook
different projects including a program for environmental conservation. I led the active group,
planting trees and educating others on the effects of pollution and other activities that relate to
the environment. We also got rid of all plastic containers and papers in school and distributed
recyclable garbage bins. At the florist business, we worked as a team especially when it came to
decoration of weddings, building, churches and houses. Everyone had a different duty and we all
played our role to make sure that we exceeded the client’s expectations.
I believe that my experience will be benficial to Mandlay flowers and I belive I have a lot of
ideas I can contribute to make the business better. I look forward to meeting you to further
discuss how I can poistivey cointrbute to Mandalay flowers.
Sincerely
Name

Florist Designer 9
Resume
Name
Address
Phone Number
[e-mail]
Professional summary
Extensively innovative and creative florist with vast freelance and in-house experience.
Possesses quality sales and customer service skills and works with corporate and individual
clients for each scale and type of event display. I have strong understanding of management of
floral inventory and maintaining contact with suppliers. Achieving utmost customer satisfaction.
Extensive scientific knowledge of all botanical branches besides aesthetics. Specializes in the
organization of deliveries and creation of new arrangements
Core Qualifications
 Expertise in garden revitalization
 High proficiency in traditional floral and traditional tropical floral design styles
 Strong sales experience
 Expertise in price design and profit margin management
 Good rapport with suppliers

Florist Designer 10
 High understanding of a floral shop inventory
 Dedicated and reliable worker
 Ability to maintain and manage an online portal
 Aesthetic and scientific knowledge in fresh foliage plants, blooming plants and fresh
flower types
 Skilled team player and leader
 Up notch customer and interpersonal skills
 Ability to lift over 50 pounds, walks, and stands for lengthy hours.
Experience
Floral Designer
Botany Flower (1/4/2017-1/4/2018)
 Recorded and totaled purchases for corporate and individual clients
 Decorated private rooms and halls for parties
 Accountable for rotating inventory to make sure that customers only bought the fresh
flowers
 Worked with the sales people assisting customers to choose arrangements and then
finalizing the sale
 Set daily deliveries and made sure that all deliveries were made on time and accurately
 Designed and created seasonal window displays
 Assisted in creating and marketing new arrangements both in local fliers and online
 Collected information from clients to come up with new ways of how arrangements
should be done to meet the customer’s expectations

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 Stored, cut and watered flowers and plants
 Designed wedding, holiday and graduation even displays of dried and fresh flower
arrangements
 Maintained customer records and handled customer complaints and queries
 Ordered and purchased flowers from wholesalers and growers
 Ensured cleanliness and health of flowers and foliage before storage
Education
Final Year- Business Management
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Hello (Name) nice to meet you. Your resume is impressive but with all the qualified
candidates why should I hire you?
Me: I think this is the most important question. Is this the best job for me? Am I the right person
for your team? However, I have extensive experience in the florist business; I know about taking
care of flows and plants, decoration and customer service. I believe I am the right person to join
your team.
Interviewer: Since you have been in the florist business for some time, in your opinion, what is
this business lacking.
Me: I think you need to improve on customer service. Flowers are not a necessity and some
people prefer buying the artificial flowers since they are easier to manage. Hence customer
service is imperative to gain competitive advantage. Customers’ grievances should be addressed

Florist Designer 12
promptly and they should be advised on how to take care of the flowers and plants. When a
customer feels appreciated they will always come back.
Interviewer: We would like people who can work flexibly both in a team and individually and
also succumb well to change. Can you be flexible in such a manner?
Me: My experience at Botany Flowers is the best example for this question. I learned a lot and I
adapted well to the working practices. This was my first professional experience and I was part
of a team working on major projects while also undertaking individual responsibilities in the
project. For example we would decorate weddings, churches and parties as a team but I had
individual duties. We had a weekly review projects as a tea, where we contributed to decision
making and planning for the projects making sure that individual work was going on as planned.
In one meeting we had to address new changes that the client had made to the original
requirements. I reviewed the work with the manager and came up with a solution to the changes.
We made the changes and this did not affect the completion date. We still finished the project on
time.
Interviewer: Thank you for your tie I think I have heard enough to make my decision.
Me: Welcome and thank you too for time, hope to see you soon.
Question Three
Job search
The hidden job market includes the jobs that are not advertised and can only be found
though networking via contacts in different companies. Most people do not use their relationship
with their contacts to their fullest benefit. For job seekers to get jobs in the hidden job market,
they must notify people that they need a job. It may be difficult at first since unlike in the visible

Florist Designer 13
job market where one only applies for the advertised jobs without having to tell anyone; in the
hidden job market, the contacts must know you have a problem (Hargittai and Litt, 2013).
However, this becomes easier as time goes by since people realize that everyone passed through
that stage and due to the support and help, they get. Job seekers must also know job vacancies
and their passionate fields.
Nonetheless, job searching may be challenging since before one gets the right job they
must explore their options and interview for many jobs. A colleague or friend may have the best
job for you but you have to go and find more about the job and if it suits you. Even though job
search in the hidden job market depends on networking while in the visible job market, one only
has to apply for the advertise jobs, for one to succeed they have to follow a job search strategy.
First, it is important to know what you want. Job searchers should be clear about the
career they want and they have to pursue it. They should come up with a list of the things they
want in a job and summarize them into five top qualities they should be seeking in employment
(Yate, 2017). When they meet with people and when they apply for jobs, they are clear about
what they want and they do not waste a lot of employers’ times, their time and the contacts’ time.
In most cases, people get out of touch with their contacts since they feel like they are a
bother. However, it is important to set up meetings with them including drinks, phone calls,
lunch and coffee dates. If it is possible, you can even plan for a walk with them. Spending time
with them, you get to talk about your career and they may give better options or solutions
(Hansen, 2013). If you do not have contacts, network traditionally in formal functions such as
conferences, career fairs and commence events. Contact people in your network including
LinkedIn connections and college alumni and notify family, and friends about your job search
(Wrzus, et al., 2013).

Florist Designer 14
Conduct extensive research online, and apply for jobs that suit your needs. You could
then investigate if you know anyone in the company that could help you present your resume to
the hiring manager (Yate, 2017). In some cases, it is discouraging since some individuals do not
reply after you follow up but do not lose heart. There may be different reasons why the person
has not replied. Continue with your search till you get lucky (Caliendo, Cobb-Clark and
Uhlendorff, 2015).
If you are interested in working in certain companies, it is advisable that you contact the
employers of interest. Do not wait for them to post jobs but reach out to them, by making a call,
visiting the office or writing a letter of interest.
You can also volunteer in the company of interest. Regardless of the field, if the
company is in need of volunteers, sign up and as you get accustomed to the company and the
employees, disclose your interest of working there. If you want to remain in the company but
working in a different position, dig around for information, but quietly not to alert employers
into thinking that you want to leave (Alós-Ferrer and Prat, 2012).
Follow the companies in the social media and other platforms and subscribe to new alerts
for the companies that you want to work for (). From these platforms, you will get any new
information concerning the companies such as expansion, or mergers, which may indicate
chances of hiring.
Interview
Face to face interviews are conducted physically in one on one conversation while digital
interviews are mostly conducted through the internet. Face to face interviews are flexible,
structured and adaptable since they depend on social interaction and they can be monitored

Florist Designer 15
within the interview environments. Through stimuli, the interviewees can be observed to assess
whether they are being completely open about the issues or not (Irvine, Drew and Sainsbury,
2013). However, face-to-face interviews contribute to interview bias and both parties have
limited time.
On the other hand, digital interview are less expensive since the interviewer does not
have to travel and they consume less time. Interviewers do not have to be present. Nonetheless,
the interviewer cannot efficiently observe stimuli to tell if the interviewee is being truthful or not
and they mostly rely on their word.
To succeed in a digital interview, you have to do a lot of research about the company.
Furthermore, you have to know what the internet says about you. Read about the company and
visit some news websites, searching for the company’s updates and features. Know what is going
on in the industry and the company (Litt et al., 2013). After research, come up with the
commonly asked questions and answers to these questions. Also, make up a list of facts
including what you know about the company. Summarize the facts into the most relevant facts
that the employer may be interested in.
Most digital interviews are behavioral based since employers are in the lookout for
certain skills such as motivation, leadership and creative problem solving skills. The questions
asked are based on gathering information on when and how you exhibited these skills. Hence,
revisit your past and read a lot of case studies and people’s experiences on how they have
exploited these skills, at work, class projects, club, school projects and work environments
(Kuhn and Mansour, 2014). If you have some examples you can reference them when the
questions are asked, and the chances of succeeding are higher.

Florist Designer 16
A digital interview may be unnatural and uncomfortable, just like speaking in front of a
camera. Hence, practice out loud while recording yourself to deal with stage fright (Janghorban,
Roudsari and Taghipour, 2014). You can review your behavior on camera and practice until it is
perfect. Ask a friend to help you out, interviewing you through an online video chat. Give your
friend some interview questions or tell them to come up with the questions and see how you fair.
Take note of the production values since you should make a good impression (Mattfeld,
20130. Make sure that the camera is well placed at the right angle and you have a powerful
internet connection. Also, make sure that the computer you are using is efficient and is working
at its best. Ensure that you are at an appropriate distance from the camera so that you are only
visible from just below the shirt collar and up (Bailo, 2013). Your face should not also cover the
whole screen. Dress appropriately and ensure the room is well lit and the background noise is as
minimal as possible. Moreover, take note of what is visible in the background. Dirty clothes,
inappropriate posters, drug tools, beer bottles and other inappropriate items should not be visible
on camera.
It is challenging to maintain a person’s attention in a digital interview. Hence, ensure that
the answers are short and precise. Get to the point as quickly as possible and effectively.
Through this, everyone hears what you say.
Since the one behind the screen on the side only see a part of you, you may appear to be
very enthusiastic even if you do not intend. Make sure you fluctuate your voice to ensure you do
not come out as flat. Smile in some instances and tilt your head in some cases to signify different
expressions. By observing your gestures, the interviewer will be interested to listen.
Question Four

Florist Designer 17
Job title Florist Designer
Step # Goal Action Dates
Boost
experience
Increase experience in
the florist business to at
least two years
Continue working at
Botany flowers after
school and enroll for
internship at different
florist companies for a
period of one year.
1/6/2018- 1/8/2019
Boost my
professional
skills in the
florist
business
Learn about the business
operations of a florist
shop to the level where I
can manage a florist
shop
Undertake management
duties at Botany flowers,
familiarize myself with
different departments
such as sales and
marketing, apply for
internship to different
florist companies, and
work in different
departments.
1/6/2018-1/8/2019
Commercia
l skills
Become highly
commercially astute
Identify the untapped
market for Botany
flowers and asses my
ability to make market
1/6/2018- 1/8/2019

Florist Designer 18
predictions that could be
beneficial for the
business. I will also
undertake research on the
competitors to know the
different steps they have
taken. I will also enroll
for internship with
different florist
companies and
familiarize myself with
the market research
departments to hone my
skills in the field.

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Bibliography
Alós-Ferrer, C. and Prat, J. (2012) Job market signaling and employer learning. Journal of
Economic Theory, 147(5), pp.1787-1817.
Bailo, P.J. (2013) The Essential Digital Interview Handbook: Lights, Camera, Interview: Tips
for Skype, Google Hangout, GoToMeeting, and More. Red Wheel/Weiser.
Caliendo, M., Cobb-Clark, D.A. and Uhlendorff, A. (2015) Locus of control and job search
strategies. Review of Economics and Statistics, 97(1), pp.88-103.
Hansen, K. (2013) A foot in the door: networking your way into the hidden job market. Ten
Speed Press.
Hargittai, E. and Litt, E. (2013) New strategies for employment? internet skills and online
privacy practices during people's job search. IEEE security & privacy, 11(3), pp.38-45.
Irvine, A., Drew, P. and Sainsbury, R. (2013) Am I not answering your questions
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