Personal Development in Academic Study and Employability School of Business and Economics BSP030

Situation analysis – STAR Plus

Employability skill that this STAR example is evidence for Problem-Solving

Nature of Activity e.g. your module, your role, type of Work internship
employment, volunteering or other activity

Dates of Activity e.g. Oct 2018 – Feb 2019 Jun 2018 to Sep 2018
Time Commitment of Activity e.g. hours per week, days or 3 months
months
Description of the Activity STAR technique
Use the STAR Plus technique in Situation – where were you, what was the context of the activity?
your explanation: Task – what was the task, what were you trying to achieve?
Word count guide: 500 words Action – what was your personal contribution?
Result – what was the outcome?
Reflection – what was learnt and how might it be improved in the future?
Application - consider how you may apply this skill to future experiences e.g.
career/workplace.

Situation: In the summer of 2018 I was a business management and strategy intern at Masterchef Nigeria Limited. At this job, I
observed there was a huge time lag between the date income was earned and the date the clients were invoiced.

Task: I raised an alarm over my observation and escalated my concerns to my superiors. I was then tasked with proffering a
solution before the end of my internship. This was an additional responsibility as it ran concurrently with my daily tasks.

Action: I set out on my task and formulated an order of action. Held meetings with members of staff involved in each stage of the
process. MasterChef Nigeria limited is an outdoor catering business which serves events such as weddings and corporate
functions. They also provide cafeteria servicing services to large businesses and this was the sector of highest prevalence for the
invoicing challenges. After interviews with members of staff, I discovered that the issue in itself was the manual nature of their
process. The names of over 250 clients were written by hand and attendance at the cafeteria was taken. Due to human error and
other factors, there would be occasions where individuals who were present were not marked as so and vice-versa. The
combination of these errors and the manual nature of the counting process created increased the probability of errors. The clients
also counted manually and would automatically reject the invoices if there were discrepancies between the counts. They would
neither share where the observed errors were nor share attendance records.
The first thing I did was create a spreadsheet which had the names of the clients and had to be marked digitally upon entrance
into the cafeteria. Using spreadsheet skills I had obtained from a course I took. I applied formulae which summed and calculated
the invoice amount.

Result: All human error was removed and all that was left for the company to do was to insert the amount on a letter template I
had already created. It reduced the time lag from over six weeks to less than a day

Reflection: Performing this task taught me that it is easy to get complacent and set in a certain way of doing things. I learnt the
advantages of dynamism in the workplace

Application: As a potential future consultant, the ability to locate problems and profer solutions is a highly desirable skill. I felt
like this skill can be easily extrapolated to other business scenarios for process optimisation.

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 Personal Development in Academic Study and Employability School of Business and Economics BSP030

Situation analysis – STAR Plus

Employability skill that this STAR example is evidence for Enterprise

Nature of Activity e.g. your module, your role, type of Setting up a company in the midst of a pandemic
employment, volunteering or other activity

Dates of Activity e.g. Oct 2018 – Feb 2019 Sep 2020

Time Commitment of Activity e.g. hours per week, days or
months
Description of the Activity
Use the STAR Plus technique in
your explanation:
Word count guide: 500 words
Varies depending on Demand
STAR technique
Situation – where were you, what was the context of the activity?
Task – what was the task, what were you trying to achieve?
Action – what was your personal contribution?
Result – what was the outcome?
Reflection – what was learnt and how might it be improved in the future?
Application - consider how you may apply this skill to future experiences e.g.
career/workplace.

Situation: In the summer of 2020 after my undergraduate degree at the university of Bristol, I was watching some
landscaping videos on the internet. At the time I was interested fitting a golf putting area in my garden.

Task: My research into the resources and effort required to build and maintain a golf putting green, resulted in my
investigation into its business opportunities in my home country, Nigeria.

Action: I started playing golf in Nigeria before I commenced my university degree in the U.K in 2017. I always
wanted my own personal practice area at home however it required huge commitments in terms of time and money. In
addition, living five minutes away from the golf course had previously discouraged me. After my degree in 2020, I
decided to actualise my dreams of having my private practice space. My quest for this led me in a direction I had not
expected or planned for. I stumbled across some news articles about the emergence of a certain high grade artificial
turf that was being used in golf courses in Canada because of the high relative maintenance costs of natural grass vis-
a-vis the number of months the courses were open. I contacted suppliers, negotiated prices and reached out to potential
customers. I also formed a partnership with a shipping company to provide expedited delivery. After all these
mechanisms were in place, I received orders and have been fulfilling them successfully

Result: Set up a successful business after identifying gaps in the market and unfulfilled demand of clients.

Reflection: I learnt the advantage of perseverance and sticking to a plan. It was not a particularly smooth ride as there
were a lot of issues such as time difference, shipping regulations and even payment problems as Nigeria is currently
facing a foreign exchange crisis

Application: I believe the ability to spot opportunities, formulate a plan and achieve it is an important quality to have
as a consultant/ business analyst. This may be useful in client advice and recommendation. Communication skills
gained may also be useful.

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 Personal Development in Academic Study and Employability School of Business and Economics BSP030

Situation analysis – STAR Plus

Employability skill that this STAR example is evidence for Going above and beyond

Nature of Activity e.g. your module, your role, type of Taking up additional responsibility beyond the scope of my job
employment, volunteering or other activity

Dates of Activity e.g. Oct 2018 – Feb 2019 Jul 2019

Time Commitment of Activity e.g. hours per week, days or One month
months
Description of the Activity STAR technique
Use the STAR Plus technique in Situation – where were you, what was the context of the activity?
your explanation: Task – what was the task, what were you trying to achieve?
Word count guide: 500 words Action – what was your personal contribution?
Result – what was the outcome?
Reflection – what was learnt and how might it be improved in the future?
Application - consider how you may apply this skill to future experiences e.g.
career/workplace.
Situation: In the summer of 2019, I interned at the Ephod firm – a real estate development company. I worked on the
project team and when the opportunity to take up additional responsibility arose, I volunteered and took it on.

Task: I was tasked with leading a small team with the aim of finding a solution to a procurement issue the firm was
facing. This issue was as a result of the failing state of Nigeria’s economy. The firm was struggling to source interior
fittings at a good price as the depreciation of the currency was increasing the cost of the imports.

Action: As the company was unable to negotiate better suitable prices for the fittings, the team I led was tasked with
either researching local markets with the aim of finding products of a similar quality but at a better price. It was a two-
fold challenge because local fittings were either too low in quality for the business or too similar to the fittings
competing developers used. We went into local manufacturing communities and tried to obtain products that suited our
standards. Efforts proved abortive as we were met with the products of the quality we were already familiar with. I
decided that since we were unable to find finished products to our standards, we should consider striking a special
order contract with the best manufacturer. After receiving authorisation from the head office, we began negotiations
with the manufacturers.

Result: Negotiations were successful and we achieved more than we set out to because, not only did we solve the
existing problem, we also gave the company a new competitive advantage as we were the only ones with that type of
tiles in the market.

Reflection: I learnt from this the benefits of being fearless and taking risks. Going on a mission with no guarantees and
stepping out of my comfort zone showed me the opportunities that can be accessed with perseverance and dedication
to excellence.

Application: I feel like the skills learnt here (soft and hard) can be useful in my future career as there may times when
the demands of excellence exceed what is expected from you as an employee. Having high personal standards and the
drive to get the best possible outcome would be extremely vital.

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 Personal Development in Academic Study and Employability School of Business and Economics BSP030

Situation analysis – STAR Plus

Employability skill that this STAR example is evidence for Communication

Nature of Activity e.g. your module, your role, type of University groupwork
employment, volunteering or other activity

Dates of Activity e.g. Oct 2018 – Feb 2019 February 2018

Time Commitment of Activity e.g. hours per week, days or 3 months
months
Description of the Activity STAR technique
Use the STAR Plus technique in Situation – where were you, what was the context of the activity?
your explanation: Task – what was the task, what were you trying to achieve?
Word count guide: 500 words Action – what was your personal contribution?
Result – what was the outcome?
Reflection – what was learnt and how might it be improved in the future?
Application - consider how you may apply this skill to future experiences e.g.
career/workplace.
Situation: The module leader assigned us to groups. The selection process was random and the group members were
unknown to each other, with a diverse background. The lack of communication was reducing the pace at which we
worked compared to other groups.

Task: As a member of the group, I noticed that the communication issues were reducing the quality of our work and
would lead to a lower grade so I decided to step in to solve this.

Action: One of the first issues was getting the members to communicate. After gathering details of fellow group
members, I set up a group chat. The purpose of this was to facilitate communication and schedule either virtual or in-
person meetings when needed. There was little to no engagement on this platform and when virtual meetings were set,
there was low attendance. It was before the coronavirus pandemic so time-zone differences was not an issue as we
were all on campus.
It was at this point I decided the best path to follow at this point would be to set up a casual icebreaking event. I and
three other members decided we should invite the group for drinks with the assurance that we would cover the bill for
the first hour. Unsurprisingly, the turnout was high and all but one member attended.

Result: We used that opportunity to talk about the groupwork and the need for us to communicate. Group members
knew each other better and were able to communicate more freely. This led to us being able to produce a higher
quality of work and get a higher grade than we were ever possibly going to get given the way things were going.

Reflection: I learnt the value of communication and its importance to success. Knowing how to manage people and get
the best out of them are the qualities of a good and successful leader.

Application: This can be applied in the workplace in a variety of ways, to build morale in the workforce, settle
grievances among staff members and so on.

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 Personal Development in Academic Study and Employability School of Business and Economics BSP030

Situation analysis – STAR Plus

Employability skill that this STAR example is evidence for Time Management

Nature of Activity e.g. your module, your role, type of

employment, volunteering or other activity

Dates of Activity e.g. Oct 2018 – Feb 2019 Sep 2019 – Jul 2020
Time Commitment of Activity e.g. hours per week, days or 10 months
months
Description of the Activity STAR technique
Use the STAR Plus technique in Situation – where were you, what was the context of the activity?
your explanation: Task – what was the task, what were you trying to achieve?
Word count guide: 500 words Action – what was your personal contribution?
Result – what was the outcome?
Reflection – what was learnt and how might it be improved in the future?
Application - consider how you may apply this skill to future experiences e.g.
career/workplace.
Situation: In the final year of my undergraduate degree, in addition to my educational obligations, I worked as a
warehouse operative and volunteered for charity

Task: My main aim was managing my time in such a way that I could perform optimally at all my obligations as well
as having a social life.

Action: At the start of the semester, it was fairly easy to balance out responsibilities because of their relatively low
intensity. However, as time went on, their intensity rose and I found that it was becoming difficult for me to give them
appropriate levels of attention without one or more of my responsibilities suffering. I devised and action plan to
manage my time better. The first step of my plan was to find and block the time leakages. I found that the easiest
activities which reduced time leakage were meals and the time it took to get ready for whichever task I had.
For my meals, I began meal-prepping a week in advance and incorporated more fruits into my diet thereby making it
more balanced, healthy and time-effective.
I also found that choice of clothing was a time consuming factor as I would often find myself being indecisive. To
solve this I began picking clothes out a week in advance. These seemingly minor changes had a major effect on the
time I had in the mornings thereby allowing me to get better rest through the night.

Result: Blocking time leakages meant I had more time for rest which had a positive influence on my performance in
my other obligations, I was able to achieve a 2.1 at university, meet my volunteering targets as well as surpass the
expectation at my job at the warehouse.

Reflection: I learnt the benefits of time management as well as the influence seemingly minute events have on
outcome. Going forward I would manage my time better and take on only as many responsibilities as I can handle
without compromising the quality of my work and mental health

Application: I believe these skills can be applied to the workplace, especially when tasks with corresponding deadlines
or bottlenecks arise.

Situation analysis – STAR Plus

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 Personal Development in Academic Study and Employability School of Business and Economics BSP030

Employability skill that this STAR example is evidence for Research, leveraging new technology and adaptation

Nature of Activity e.g. your module, your role, type of Dissertation

employment, volunteering or other activity

Dates of Activity e.g. Oct 2018 – Feb 2019 April 2020

Time Commitment of Activity e.g. hours per week, days or 6 months
months
Description of the Activity STAR technique
Use the STAR Plus technique in Situation – where were you, what was the context of the activity?
your explanation: Task – what was the task, what were you trying to achieve?
Word count guide: 500 words Action – what was your personal contribution?
Result – what was the outcome?
Reflection – what was learnt and how might it be improved in the future?
Application - consider how you may apply this skill to future experiences e.g.
career/workplace.
Situation: I was in my final year of my undergraduate degree in economics. The main reason I chose this degree was
because of my strong mathematical ability and in my third year, I had to do a research based assignment in my
dissertation.

Task: My dissertation was econometrics based and it involved finding the relationship between crime and policing in
the United States.

Action: My dissertation was modelled after a popular research paper called ‘Panic on the streets of London’. This
paper studied the effect of the increase in police presence on crime in the capital after the terror attack in 2005. The
U.K has a record of police hours worked available to the public online. This was not the case in the United States and
it made the task a lot more difficult. I had to then learn how to use a statistical software and research extensively to get
information that was the basis of an assumption (increased police presence). I used a mass shooting as a proxy under
the assumption that there would be an increase in police presence after its occurence. The use of technology given the
data available helped me in different ways. As I got more familiar with the technology, I was able to use it to make my
findings more robust. For example, in some cases, I checked if the effect changed during election years as it was more
likely for police presence to increase when a politician seeks re-election. There were also other issues faced. My
dissertation supervisor had to make emergency trips during the window he was supposed to offer guidance and hence
the guidance was lacking. One of his emergency trips to Italy coincided with the Covid-19 related border closure. We
initially communicated over email and suffered long turnaround times then were finally able to move over to zoom.

Result: At the end of it all I was successful with my dissertation and had one of the best literature reviews, according
to my supervisor. I also graduated with a second class upper later in the summer.

Reflection: from this, I mainly learnt about the importance of being adaptive and the power that technology holds in
making quality of life and work better.

Application: I believe this skills can be applied in daily activities as well as the fact that they are a major quality found
in digital consultants, a field I am extremely interested in going into.

SWOT Analysis

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Personal Development in Academic Study and Employability School of Business and Economics BSP030

Strengths
Educational Background: My educational background is one of my biggest strengths. After
secondary education, I completed the Northern Consortium of United Kingdom Universities
(NCUK) program. I graduated from this program as the best business student achieving
A*AA. Following this, I attended the university of Bristol, a Russel group University where I
studied economics. I graduated with a second class upper and proceeded to further my
education, studying finance and management at the masters level at Loughborough
university, a highly prestigious top 5 university in the United Kingdom as rated by the times.

Work Experience: As a student, I have participated in internships with different companies

across different sectors. As a masters student about to enter the job market seeking
opportunities in consulting, I feel like my experience in the hospitality and real estate sector
would be crucial. I have exhibited critical thinking, self-awareness and my problem solving
skills at these placements and have glowing recommendation letters to back them up. This
range of skills and experience in different business areas are useful for a graduate consultant
as consultancies run rotations around different business areas.

Networking skills: Playing golf at a high level gave me opportunities to meet high net-worth
individuals. Being introverted growing up, exposure to social events at golfclubs helped me
come out of my shell and build my networking skills. During my internship at the ephod firm
as a project supervisory intern, I leveraged my personal relationships and was directly
responsible for the first sale the company made in their newest development at the time.

Weaknesses
Lack of experience in banking sector (Internship): As much as consultancy would be my
first field of choice, it is a rather small field because of its specialist nature. I would like the
opportunity to work as an analyst at an investment bank or a private equity. A main obstacle
to this is that the most desirable firms require that graduates have some sort of experience in
the field before they are even considered. I have no experience in that field and this is a
limiting factor for me.

Lack of certain skills: The world is changing and becoming more digital. As this is going on
businesses now require more from graduates. A good percentage of the businesses I have
considered have not been a match for me because, one of their key requirements is a basic
knowledge of coding and how to code. I have tried to learn to code myself, but it is a difficult,
time-consuming task to learn by oneself. I have considered undergoing coding courses
however even the most basic crash courses require about 40 hours a week and cost a lot of
money. I would not be able to leverage skills I do not yet have in the early stages of any
interview and at the end of the course, there is no guarantee that it would be of any use as I
would definitely have taken another job.

Immigration status: As a Nigerian national, to work in the United Kingdom after my degree
would require visa sponsorship from the company I am to work at. Majority of companies do
not offer sponsorships because they can easily employ a candidate with right to work. This is
a weakness in my employability as not many companies offer sponsorship and this would
reduce the number of companies I can apply to as well as the number of fields. The impact is
especially felt in the consultancy sector as I would prefer to work in a boutique consultancy.
These companies especially do not offer sponsorship.

Opportunities

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Personal Development in Academic Study and Employability School of Business and Economics BSP030

Black Talent/Heritage insight days: With increased focus on diversity and inclusivity in the
workplace. Firms are now running these insight days to give ethnic minorities a chance to
experience what it is like to work with them. It has come to my notice that direct invitations to
assessment centres are given at these events and they are a fast-track way to getting
employed at top firms. I stumbled on this information rather late, however, I am always on the
lookout for these events as they become available and have been signing up for as many as
I can in advance.

New Immigration Laws 2021: The main reason I undertook my Master’s degree was to
increase my employability. This choice not only increased my employability by making more
qualified but also did so because of the graduation year. A new law in the U.K stipulates that
2021 graduates will be entitled to up to two years to find a job after completing their degree
as opposed to the three months that was given in the past. This is an opportunity for me as it
allows more time to find a suitable job. The new time allowance also means I do not have to
be in as much as a hurry to find a job as I would have been under the previous laws.

Business funding 2021: Following the covid-19 pandemic, U.K businesses are scheduled to
receive grants and funding from the government to reinflate the economy. This poses an
opportunity to me as businesses are now able to open more vacancies.

Threats
Competition from non-economic/business students: A major threat to my employability I
face is competition from candidates from other fields. A good percentage of the jobs I apply
to will accept candidates from all disciplines given they achieve a 2.1 in their undergraduate
degree. What this means is that people from mathematics, STEM, law, and even language
backgrounds can apply to the business based jobs. This is essentially a threat to me
because I would not be able to apply to jobs in their fields as they can in mine.

Effect of Pandemic on business environment: While I have stated above the potential
opportunities that could arise as a result of additional funding for businesses after the
pandemic, the effects of the pandemic on businesses is still existent. Businesses are being
forced to close down, many are downsizing and others are pausing seasonal hires. This is a
threat to me as there may not be as many job opportunities. The pandemic also poses
another threat as a lot more recent graduates enrolled in masters programs as they knew the
job market would be saturated. This means that my advantage as a masters degree holder is
somewhat reduced as the competition are just as qualified as I am.

APPENDIX

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Personal Development in Academic Study and Employability School of Business and Economics BSP030

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Personal Development in Academic Study and Employability School of Business and Economics BSP030

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Personal Development in Academic Study and Employability School of Business and Economics BSP030

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