Eleanor Gascoigne

07498 050725 ele123gas@hotmail.co.uk

Personal Statement

I am a critical, logical thinking person, open and willing to learn and develop in a workplace
environment. As a Catering and Retail Assistant with the National Trust, and Café Customer
Assistant at Marks & Spencer I have gained invaluable career skills in differing aspects
including serving and interacting with customers, building upon company and product
knowledge, restocking shelves, sorting the stockroom, and working on tills. Furthermore, I have
been described as a considerate and empathic individual with the ability to effectively engage
with a diverse range of backgrounds.

Core Competencies

 Logical thinking
 Empathetic
 Excellent written and oral communication skills
 Able to work well in a team
 Socially and environmentally conscious
 Inquisitive
 Good numerical skills
 Strategic

Education

Ridgeway Secondary School – GCSEs: English (A*), Art (A*), Maths (A), History (A),
Chemistry (B), Physics (B), French (B), Biology (C)

Ridgeway Sixth Form College – A Levels: Art (A*), English Language & Literature (B), Media
Studies (B)

Experience

 During my time as a Catering and Retail Assistant at the National Trust, August 2017 to
November 2018, I regularly worked on tills, prepared coffee, ran food, performed daily
cleaning routines, and developed great connections with customers and team members
alike. My catering experience in the property’s café saw me delivering great customer
service, preparing and serving food and beverages, and restocking items, routinely and
thoroughly carrying out health and safety practices such as cleaning and temperature
checks. Furthermore, working for an environmentally conscious charity deepened my
understanding of the impacts of micro day-to-day decisions as well as macro guidelines
and regulations.
 Within my role as a Café Assistant at Marks & Spencer, since November 2018, I have
taken the time to hone my barista skills and enthusiastically built upon my pre-existing
knowledge of preparing hot and cold drinks. As well as this, the increase of pace within
this working environment was something I adapted quickly to, while still taking the time
to engage with customers and build recognition and friendship with the many regulars.
Following on from my time at the National Trust, I valued the opportunity to work for
another organisation that prides themselves on their environmental sustainability and
 ensures this for their customers and employees with their eco and ethical programme
‘Plan A’.
 I have also gained work experience within the art department of my former sixth form
college. Responsibilities included creating new displays, assessing students work and
thinking of original and creative ways of presenting work. I organised an upcoming
exhibition which involved contacting and collecting information on previous students, as
well as developing a visual theme for promotional materials (leaflets and social media).

Achievements

 Formally an Art Ambassador at my sixth form college, which involves organising and
setting up events to promote the art department and giving advice and sharing
experiences with both students and parents.

 Graduated from the National Citizen Service, a four-week full-time programme, in

September 2016. In the first half of the programme, I developed team-working and
problem-solving skills, including advice from Santander on how to manage finances. In
the last two weeks, my team organised events to fundraise for the local charity Brighter
Futures. This required a considerable amount of interaction with the public; especially
when collecting money and finding corporate donations for our tombola. As a result of
the two weeks, myself and a team of 13 others raised £878.68, 175% of our target, for
our chosen charity.

Interests and Hobbies

In my free time I enjoy creating art, playing video games, watching documentary films, reading
books, and trying to widen my knowledge on classic and current affairs. I also enjoy socialising
with friends and attending a pride youth group; as one of the oldest members, I have voluntarily
organised fundraising nights to help finance the group.