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Member of The Dean's List, class of 2018

Rebecca recognised the importance of gaining work experience alongside her education, and stayed in employment for the entire duration of her University life, whilst also being actively involved with her community.

Fast-paced work environment

Having already obtained experience working in a bookstore before university, Rebecca had a firm interest in working within the retail sector. During her first and second years of study she worked in customer service roles at Handmade Burger Co. and Hollister to strengthen her skills. She took the opportunity to learn how to upsell lower-priced products alongside a larger purchase, and opted into working busier events such as the Black Friday sales and the Meadowhall Student Lock-In, to gain more insight of fast-paced retail events. 

Rebecca’s drive and enthusiasm enabled her to secure a placement year role at Marks and Spencer as a Management Trainee in South West London. She made the most of the opportunity to work in a head office environment, shadowing store visits and aiming to work in as many stores as possible to develop a wider perspective of how each store functions differently. When she spotted a management vacancy toward the end of her placement year, she requested permission to work in Wimbledon during the tennis competition period, so that she could test her own commercial awareness. 

Guiding fellow students

After finishing her placement at Marks and Spencer Rebecca secured a temporary role as an Employability Assistant in the Management School, offering support and guidance to fellow students in the application process for an industrial placement, and signposting students to relevant resources. 

Rebecca became a Student Ambassador for the School during her final year of studies, sharing her university experience with prospective students and their parents. As part of her Ambassador role she presented to an audience about the benefits of undertaking her work experience placement and her development throughout her studies.

Charity Champion

Rebecca was successfully elected Deputy Project Leader of Hope Brand Representatives within Enactus during her first year. She generated sales of Hope products created by women in ºù«Ӱҵ safehouses, and her team was awarded the Highest Impact project at the Enactus Awards evening. 

During her second year, Rebecca became Secretary for the Stop The Traffik Society, where she developed a passion for raising awareness of modern slavery and raised £2,000 for charity. After a successful tenure as Secretary she visited the London headquarters of Stop The Traffik during her placement year, met the founder of the charity, and learned more about the campaigns that she and her fellow students could be involved with. She then became President of the society in her final year, and worked alongside charities including Ashiana and The Snowdrop Project to paint houses, wrap gifts and transport stock. She also took part in the Spider Walk, raising £300 for charity. 

During her placement year at Marks and Spencer, Rebecca became the Charity Champion for her store, where she organised Percy Pig campaigns, bake sales, and in-store rowing competitions. She selected key volunteers and Charity Leads, and hosted fortnightly meetings to plan fundraising initiatives for the charity CLIC Sargent (now called Young Lives vs Cancer) to reach a goal of £10,000, which was successfully achieved during her placement year. 

Next for Rebecca

Rebecca impressed her employers during her placement year and she was offered a graduate position at Marks and Spencer as an Operations Commercial Manager.