A great way to enhance your CV / UCAS application

Well done to Melissa Gunstone (Year 13 Business Studies) who took the initiative and organised herself a voluntary work placement with the Dame Hnnah Rogers Trust at Seale Hayne. Melissa hadn't studied the subject at GCSE, but since taking it at A level has decided it's what she wants to study at university. Working one afternoon a week, Melissa has been able to experience what it's like in the real world of business and make excellent use of some of the marketing & finance knowledge she has gained from her studies. Here is her Blog Post:

By Melissa Gunstone (Year 13)

Since the Summer of 2011, I have been working voluntarily at the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust at Seale Hayne. Here I have been able to conduct first-hand market research for future business ventures such as their Christmas and Wedding hospitality packages and the new 'Cake House' retail outlet. These have brought  challenges regarding setting budgets, assessing the competition and meeting tight deadlines. My involvement has enabled me to attend business meetings where I have been asked to contribute ideas of my own, thereby improving my presentational skills and self-confidence. One meeting involved discussing design ideas for cake packaging and the wedding and Christmas brochures and coming to decisions on which designs would best reflect the business and capture customers' interest through effective use of the Trust's unique selling point (USP); it's beautiful location. I was also involved in the organisation of a bridal fair, which again brought many challenges. It's fair to say the greatest challenge was effective communication between departments within the organisation as well as with the media regarding promotion of the event. Overall, the fair was a great success and I gained valuable experience in organising a high-profile, corporate event.