MG410 Career Viewpoint: Analyzing Graduate Employability in Retail

This report, submitted for the MG410 Career Viewpoint module, investigates graduate employability within the UK retail industry, specifically focusing on the role of a retail logistics manager. The report begins with an introduction outlining the industry's significance and the student's career aspirations. It then analyzes general trends in the retail sector, such as the growth of e-commerce and the importance of Generation Z preferences, and their impact on job prospects. The report identifies essential skills, knowledge, and experience required for a retail logistics manager, including dynamic capabilities, organizational skills, and IT literacy. An evaluation of a job advertisement from The Watches of Switzerland Group provides a practical application of these skills. The report concludes by emphasizing the student's personal competencies, career goals, and the future prospects of the chosen career path, highlighting the industry's potential for professional development. The report is based on extensive research and includes references to support its findings.

Running head: GRADUATE EMPLOYMENT
GRADUATE EMPLOYMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Analysis and application..................................................................................................................2
General trends..............................................................................................................................2
Skills, knowledge and experience................................................................................................3
Evaluation........................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................5
Appendix..........................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
The report is focused towards finding a suitable graduate employability area and evaluate
its potential for developing a significant career prospect. The aim of the report is to understand a
relevant industry and analyse the same in the context of my own personal graduate capabilities.
The chosen industry for this report is the retail industry. I am primarily interested in the job
position of a retail logistic manager. This report would consist of a thorough investigation and
analysis of the retail industry. Specific importance is given to the retail logistics section of the
business and understanding its importance in the context of graduate employment. A factual
reflection on the industry is provided. The general trends and the skills, knowledge and required
experiences for the given employment prospect are evaluated. The study is based on extensive
research of the industry and the requisite skills for employment in the industry. Subsequently, I
have evaluated a job advertisement in the selected industry and a summary of the skills and
knowledge is provided.
Analysis and application
General trends
The retail industry in the UK is one of the largest industries in the country. The total
value generated in terms of sales revenue is 394 Billion pounds. There are more than 306.6
hundred retail stores in the UK. Moreover, the retail industry contributes to around 5% of the
GDP of the country (Johnes 2019). There are some recent trends in the retail industry of the
country that would affect the present job prospects. One of the biggest current trends in the retail
industry of the country is the rapid growth of e-commerce. In view of the same the logistics
functions of retailers have become very important. It is a specific department that is growing in
its functional significance, as a result of the e-commerce drive over the last few years. The
generation Z and their preferences matter more for the retailers at present times (Retail Trends
2020 | Deloitte UK 2020). Hence, there is increasing focus on learning this generation’s
preferences more. Another important current trends that determine the requirement of job skills
is the necessity for dramatic transformation.
Globalization and technology have made these trends even more intense. As I would like
to work as a retail manager there are some important skills that I would need to develop within
myself. Being effective in terms of technology usage is also important. Logistics managers need
to be well equipped with the latest ICTs and resource management devices. The retail industry
presently witnesses rapid developments (Testa and Karpova 2018). Hence, people working in
this profession need to improve their innovative skills. Communication is one of the most
important areas of development for me as much of the inventory functions of the organizations
depend on effective communication. There is a need for delivering the right items to the right
customers at the right time. Hence, time-management skills are also very important. Keeping
pace with the dynamic demand and supply functions that are required for retail logistics would
require me to manage people very effectively. The supply chain functions need to be understood
and an efficient personal knowledge base need to be formed. Logistics management also requires

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a certain degree of physical fitness. In line with the recent trends I would need to be aware of the
seasonal nature of demand and supply. Stock management is an important function of retail
logistics. It needs to be optimized through the development of various skills within the graduate
employees.
Skills, knowledge and experience
Retail logistics management is a very tough function in the retail industry. The
competencies that are required for this function can easily be used in most other job roles in the
retail industry. As per some of the job interviews that I came across, some of the most important
skills that employers ask for are dynamic capabilities, team-working skill, creativity and
innovativeness, strong organization skills, analytical skills and IT literacy. These skills have
become very important in view of the recent developments that have occurred in the industry.
Additionally, the potential candidates are required to have effective levels of motivational and
interpersonal skills. Customer management and inventory management have become well-
connected due to the recent developments in e-commerce (Chhibber 2019). Hence, people
management skills have become more important. The research that I conducted on the retail
industry helped me to understand the value of optimal capability development. Dynamic
capability helps to become active in the role. Organization skills helps to manage the supply
chain more effectively. Motivational skills are required for effective people management and
task allocation. Analytical skills help to understand the stocks, demand and supply and function
accordingly.
The employees need to understand more about the technology they use and develop the
ability to use it effectively. The most valuable skill is not a single or a number of different skills.
However, it is the ability to combine all the important skills harmoniously and acting as a single
unit that matters most. A potential candidate needs to be knowledgeable about the recent
developments in the retail industry (Oh, Weitz and Lim 2016). This would help them to develop
an effective primary understanding of the dynamics of the functional areas of retail. One
important area of knowledge is IT function. Retail in the present scenario is very much
dependent on IT functionality. Developing knowledge of the various ICTs and the resource
management software are very important in retail functionality. Another important area of
expertise is communication. One needs to have sufficient experience in communication as the
effectiveness of the job role is much dependent on communicating with the various levels of
management as well as the ground staffs (Jarvis and Williams 2017). Essentially, all the skills,
knowledge and experiences should be aligned with the real time requirements.
Evaluation
I came across the job role of retail operations manager in the showroom of The Watches
of Switzerland Group. It is a watch retailer company which is in need for a logistics operations
manager. There are some key skills and abilities that are important for the potential candidates.
These are creativity and innovativeness, strong organization skills, analytical skills and IT
literacy. The advertisement provided a detailed description of the work and the various
competencies that one needs to develop in order to do the work efficiently. The organization
provides an effective introduction of its work. The company also specifies the showroom
location. The showroom is located in London and the logistics functions need to take place in
consideration of the London area. The advertisement specifies that fast moving, dynamic and

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creative people are required for the position. It is important to evaluate my personal
competencies in regards to the employment prospects.
I am interested in this job role as it can provide the perfect start to my career. It would
provide me with more learning opportunities and development values. I would be able to use all
the essential skills that I already possess. I can use to same to gain further personal development.
The job is concerning the role of retail logistics operations. This is one of the most important
roles that one can undertake in the retail industry. Hence, this is a very good opportunity for
understanding the retail industry. This would give me confidence to further explore the job role
in the future. This provides better job opportunity than the other jobs that have been considered it
is important to understand that this job gives the opportunity to optimally develop the
professional and personal skills that I have within myself. This is a job role that has emerged in
the last few years in the retail market. The roe of the operations manager is present for a long
time. However, the job responsibilities have increased and become larger in the context of the
retail market. Hence, it is important that the personal skills are improved in accordance with the
new functional requirements. This is also an opportunity that is only bound to become larger in
the future. This would be effective in terms of achieving the larger life goals that are associated
with the retail industry. This is also a role through which the entire process can be understood.
Thus, this job role is future proofed according to me. This is a job role is to bound to increase in
scope in the future.
Conclusion
The implications of this study has brought forward some important aspects that are
related to the retail industry. I have been able to better understand my personal job competencies
in view of the larger industry. I have understood the value of the personal skills that are
necessary for professional development. The retail industry was found to be an effective industry
to improve one’s career prospects. It was found to be very important in view of the development
that can be achieved and the skills that can be optimally realized. I believe I can be an effective
professional in the retail industry and improve my skills further with time. In future, I would like
to be a retail operations head.

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References
Chhibber, P., 2019. Mentoring as a Practice for Nurturing the Personnel Performance a Study on
Retail Sector. Journal of the Gujarat Research Society, 21(8s), pp.663-673.
Jarvis, J.E. and Williams, I.A., 2017. A case study exploration of strategies to improve first-line
supervisor problem-solving abilities in the retail supermarket industry. International Journal of
Applied Management and Technology, 16(1), p.6.
Johnes, G., 2019. Retail therapy: worker displacement and re-employment in the
UK. International Journal of Sales, Retailing and Marketing, 8(1), pp.7-13.
Nickson, D., Price, R., Baxter-Reid, H. and Hurrell, S.A., 2017. Skill requirements in retail
work: The case of high-end fashion retailing. Work, employment and society, 31(4), pp.692-708.
Oh, H., Weitz, B. and Lim, J., 2016. Retail career attractiveness to college students: Connecting
individual characteristics to the trade-off of job attributes. Journal of Retailing and Consumer
Services, 31, pp.345-354.
Retail Trends 2020 | Deloitte UK (2020). Available at:
https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/retail-trends.html (Accessed:
26 March 2020).
Testa, D.S. and Karpova, E., 2018. Academic Research Use in Strategic Decision-Making:
Barriers and Opportunities within the Apparel Retail Industry.

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Appendix