Career Viewpoint: Exploring Opportunities in the Retail Industry

This document explores the career opportunities in the retail industry, specifically in marketing. It discusses the skills, knowledge, and experience required for a marketing professional in the retail sector. The document also includes the findings from primary and secondary research on industry trends and job prospects. It concludes with insights on internships and career options in the retail industry.

Career Viewpoint
(CW1)
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
ANALYSIS & APPLICATIONS....................................................................................................3
Secondary research.................................................................................................................3
General trends that may have impact over chosen profession...............................................4
Skills / knowledge and experience required...........................................................................4
Primary research.....................................................................................................................6
Evaluation...............................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
APPENDICES.................................................................................................................................9
APPENDIX 1...................................................................................................................................9
APPENDIX 2.................................................................................................................................10
APPENDIX 3.................................................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
Career research is more of a major life step which every individual at some point takes in
their lifespan where they make decisions about their future and pursuing favourable opportunities
from the ample bundle present in front of them (Ike and et. al., 2019). Most commonly when an
individual completes their qualification they start looking over and reviewing number of job
opportunities for availing a successful career. A fresher who have recently completed school and
graduation develops their career view point with the help of career research and the ideas
available to them. I am a fresher who have recently graduated from an MBA school with a
specialisation in marketing and wishes to pursue my career in the similar field with respective
positions. Under my knowledge and with the help of my tutors guidance I have realised that
Retail industry is one of the major developing sector providing ample of opportunities to students
belonging to different fields including marketing and sales. Thus, with the help of primary and
secondary research options I found a a position of a marketing manager in a retail outlet.
ANALYSIS & APPLICATIONS
The chosen industry is of retail, a business sector which bridges the gap between the
manufacturers and customers by engaging in purchase and sale of product and services. Retail
sector is currently known to be one of the fastest growing businesses where trends are
continuously changing and development is taking place according to the market requirements.
Retail sector who contributes a major part to the economy of the respective country by offering
employment, satisfying needs of people and most importantly supporting the legal and financial
structure of the economy. Therefore, beginners Retail industry and marketing is a suitable career
path contributing to overall employability and development of the individual. For further
evaluation of the same regarding a potential career option and internship in marketing primary
and secondary research is conducted and presented in the sections underneath.
Secondary research
This is a most common and productive research option which people use for investigating
collecting data from where it already exist and published by other expert for different purposes.
Secondary research data is known as second hand information which enables an individual in
developing a thorough understanding about the current area of information and provide a evident
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conclusion bye by supporting it with relevant authentic data sources. Most commonly secondary
data is is collected from internet, published articles and authentic web pages.
General trends that may have impact over chosen profession
The choosing profession is of becoming a marketing professional by starting with an
internship in a retail house by performing different actions on behalf of the firm. In marketing
sector there are a number of duties and errands which the team runs such as conducting market
research, gathering information about the competitors, developing promotional strategies and
offering the best information to customers for making them a royal part of the business (Kim,
Jang and Baek, 2019). as known that the industry is dynamic and developing everyday which
leads to some major factors the intern needs to corporate before working and for making
continuous improvement in their practices and performances. Some of the trends or changes that
are taking place in the industry are represented beneath:
 Technological Advancement: One major change which is taking place in the industry is
due to technology and revolution taking place in the technological world. Marketing and
retail both sectors are being effective with the development of technologies as new
systems are coming inn which are accompanying and drinking is for retail industry
marketing sector.
 Internationalisation- Another change is the reason behind dynamic as well as regular
changes in trends of Retail industry is due to internationalisation. Companies now have to
have an overall idea about the changes and development taken place in the World that is
influencing the overall trends of industry and marketing requirements (Hernaus, Pavlovic
and Klindzic, 2019).
Skills / knowledge and experience required
There are certain skills and knowledge which a marketing professional or an intern who is
entering the industry should have and are presented in the next section.
SKILLS: Communication skill: Effective communication ability offers the person to potentially
convey there messages to parties showcasing their viewpoints and potentially
understanding the aspects of others. Leadership skills: Being in a team brings number of tasks in front of an individual out of
which sometimes they have to lead the team for the project as well. Therefore, leadership
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skill enable the individual in in effective direction and guidance provided to the fellow
subordinates when required (Balogun, Choi and Formenti, 2019). Conflict management skills: Being a part of a team and working with multiple
individuals conflicts are common to be developed and hence it is essential for the in turn
to know how to deal with such issues and problems with team members. Time management: This is one of the basic and most common employability skill which
is expected out of an employee unprofessional by all the employers for achieving all
given tasks and targets in in the provided timeframe.
KNOWLEDGE AREA AND EXPERIENCE: Information Technology: As discussed and identified that information technology is
bringing huge turnarounds in the whole business sector and a professional field is a very
common expectation of employer that the intern has potential knowledge about
information technology (Lucherini, 2020).
 Financing: Marketing crucial activity which needs to be conducted in a effective manner
for attracting most reasonable customer base. Therefore it involves number of activities
which involves ample amount of money. In that case marketing intern for professional
should have appropriate knowledge and experience in managing finances for the team
and formulation of budgets for the sake of effective utilisation of finances.
PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT:
1. Bad
2. Not Bad
3. Average
4. Good
5. Very Good
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Skills (Personal Audit
Questionnaire)
1 2 3 4 5
Communication skills *
Leadership *
Conflict Management Skills *
Time managment *
Adaptability *
Information Technology *
Finance *
Primary research
Primary research or data is first hand information which a researcher or the investigator
gathers on their own through different sources and techniques. Primary data can be collected
from several sources such as through questionnaires, interviews, communication and others. In
order to collect primary information, I was engaged in an interview with the marketing manager
of Marks and Spencer in concern with choosing an appropriate career path (Lu, 2019). The
interview script is attached below in the appendix.
Evaluation
I am a newcomer or a fresher for the industry and do the real world of business. I have
recently completed my post graduation within marketing and sales sector which has brought me
to a next stage of my life that is my career and a path towards my future. In order to pursue
which is the best and the most fortunate career opportunity I have conducted a market research
by using primary and secondary investigation techniques. Through my research and career
auction exploration I found out that retail sector is currently offering best growth and career
opportunities to newcomers and beginners. The industry is dynamic and regularly changing
which rises the need of organisations to bring in fresh blood for more innovative ways to adapt to
while working and serving to people. Thus, after an in-depth investigation I found out a potential
opportunity of interning in a renowned organisation that is offering me several chances in terms
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of enhancing my employability skills for future as well as career options leading to overall
development and for studying me towards higher standards of success as a marketing
professional (Tran, Mathias and Panush, 2019).
CONCLUSION
On the basis of discussion and investigation conducted in the above report it is interpreted
and concluded that career research is one of the crucial and life changing stage of an individuals
career period. The research for the respective career field enable the individual in identifying all
the attached benefits and challenges which will be adding value or deteriorating the experiences
received their career path. The career research process assist an individual in understanding and
determining the present trends of a particular industry and the job role they are looking forward
for. As well as enable the person to make a proper enhancement in their skill sets for matching
with the current environment and competition present in the industry.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Balogun, O. D., Choi, A. M. and Formenti, S. C., 2019. Shaping the path for a global oncology
academic career. JAMA oncology. 5(7). pp.931-932.
Hernaus, T., Pavlovic, D. and Klindzic, M., 2019. Organizational career management
practices. Employee relations.
Ike, M. and et. al., 2019. A holistic perspective on corporate sustainability from a management
viewpoint: Evidence from Japanese manufacturing multinational enterprises. Journal of
Cleaner Production. 216. pp.139-151.
Kim, N., Jang, S. Y. and Baek, P., 2019. Career chance experience of Korean women
workers. Career Development International.
Lu, W. L., 2019. Time, tense and viewpoint shift across languages: A Multiple-Parallel-Text
approach to “tense shifting” in a tenseless language. Cognitive Linguistics. 30(2).
pp.377-397.
Lucherini, M., 2020. Caught in the middle: early career researchers, public health and the
emotional production of research. Critical Public Health. 30(3). pp.367-372.
Tran, H. W., Mathias, L. M. and Panush, R. S., 2019. Has rheumatology become a more
attractive career choice? Comparison of trends in the rheumatology fellowship match
from 2008 to 2013 with those from 2014 to 2017. Arthritis care & research. 71(4).
pp.456-460.
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1
Name of contact Mr. ABC
Company Marks & Spencer
Job tittle Marketing manager
Date of contact 30/09/20
How did you contact them I was going through some of the online
websites and sources looking for job or and
career opportunity where I found out about the
internship in Marks and Spencer. Then on the
provided detailed I contacted with the current
marketing manager for gathering more in-depth
information regarding the career path with
Marks and Spencer and in marketing field.
Question asked  What is company’s growth and its
experience s in last few years according
to the market and in stable economy?
 What are the benefits of working in
marketing sector?
 How is the working environment and
culture of Marks and Spencer?
Summary of response In my views angle knowledge from the
conversation I received an idea about varied
and diverse experiences company had in few
years with growing numbers of revenue and
profit. The major role in such benefits
organisation was played by the marketing
tactics and promotional approaches of business
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through technology and other human resource
expertise. Also according to the manager
whom I have been in contact the company's
culture is positive and employee friendly where
leaders are motivators and workforce is family.
APPENDIX 2
CURRICULUM VITAE
Name: Mr MNO
Phone No: - 0123456789
Career Aim: To work in an environment where I receive ample of opportunities to showcase
my expertise and offer best of my service, along with continuous growth and enhancement in
my skill sets and career agendas.
Skills:
 Time Management
 Effective Communication
 Leadership
Knowledge:
 Finance
 Marketing
 Information Technology (IT)
Educational Qualification:
 BBA
 MBA (Sales and Marketing)
Declaration:
I hereby declare that the information presented above is true and current.
Date:
Place:
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APPENDIX 3
JOB DESCRIPTION
Organisation Name: Marks & Spencer
Post: Marketing intern
Roles and Responsibilities
 Be able to generate lead by performing online promotions
 Responsible for assisting in meet and greets as well as networking events
 Provide regular report to the marketing manager regarding the customer feedbacks,
external discussion, online marketing etc.
 Be able to investigate and present current marketing trends.
 Assist in creating as well as managing the blog post
Required Qualification
 Must be Graduated from affiliates university
 MBA in marketing and finance specialisation
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