Kaitlin Gifford – 46407138

Reflective Essay
Throughout the years of fulfilling my university degree with Macquarie University has been a
whirlwind of obstacles. I began my degree in 2020 with a strong passion for business
consulting within an international business mindset, although I couldn’t decide what my
speciality would be once I left Macquarie. I was initially enrolled into an International
Business major but realised this what not something I wanted study thoroughly and changed
my Major to Marketing Management to encourage my creativity to be reflected within my
assessment tasks. Furthermore, my journey has exposed me to an abundant variety of new
experiences, life lessons, business concepts and forming connections between my education
and career. These elements have allowed me to continuously develop my business mindset to
grow autonomously. University has instilled skills of self-management, teamwork
adaptability, opportunity orientated and discipline. The experience and knowledge obtained
has assisted to shape how I approach setting new goals and using perspectives to curate my
career path that is purposeful for myself. My reflection will include significant elements of
achieving my Bachelor of Commerce Degree majoring in Marketing Management and the
start of my career.

Scholarship:” Discipline specific knowledge and skills, critical analysis, and integrative
thinking”

At the beginning of my Commerce Degree, I had enrolled into all core units which was
crucial to expanding my knowledge in business and allowed me to have a substantial
understanding of these key components. Although, I had only a few weeks on campus before
we had to adjust to online learning due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Therefore, the additional
hurdle was to also curate and adjust to different learning styles whilst keeping a schedule to
remain engaged with my educational studies. The units I had chosen were a comprehensive
introduction to commerce and allowed me to identify my strengths and weaknesses from each
core unit which brought to light what I appreciated from my learning. Primary observations
made with my first year were an overall acceptable performance across the following units:

Exhibit 1: Results from semester one 2020

Kaitlin Gifford – 46407138

Prior to my university education I was already aware my mathematical/numerical skills were

limited, although I had received great results throughout the semester. However, the pressure
of final exams had the potential to skew my results. Additionally, my initial interest of Global
Businesses declined due to the lack of engagement throughout the unit and similarly to
Principles of Management. For the units such as Business statistics, Principle of Economics
and Marketing fundamentals I obtained strong results as there were units I enjoyed
thoroughly.

During my first year of university, I engaged in a trial and error of study techniques and had
to adjust to online learning. The second year included maintaining engagement online and
exploring my interests through electives. The final year was taking the skills I have built and
applying them to my chosen major. Furthermore, the experience gained throughout third year
was to solidify how I wanted to begin my career. Fortunately, through work opportunities I
was able to network with customers across all industries and found my passion for consulting
especially business operations. These skills were adopted from my Sales and Personal Selling
(MKTG3007), which granted me the ability to practice leading presentations regrading
myself but business problem solving. Throughout the semester we completed a Sales and
Personal Selling Course through the platform HubSpot activities. Within the course had
numerous modules on a variety of different skills along. This allowed me to gain promotion
my current employer and a graduate position at a Business Consulting firm.

Exhibit 2: Modules completed for Sales training

Engagement: “Problem solving and research capability/ effective communication”

Across my study of Commerce, I noticed a significant repetition of assessments. The key

elements are as follows, identification of the problem, formation of a case study which is
applied to a real-world example to create solutions for that Business. This requires a deep
investigation of the issues and problems within the case, utilising research, and critical
Kaitlin Gifford – 46407138

thinking skills to be applied. This was evident throughout Marketing Strategy (MKTG3003)
where we conducted market research on a brand in the Motorbike Industry in Australia to
gain market share against competitors (other tutorial classes) in a “game style” format. This
included diagnosing the brands issues, market research, analysis if market research and
formulation of a marketing strategy to obtain engagement with the brand. Although this was
conducted within a limited time frame due to the constraints of a university semester.

Exhibit 3: Sample results from marketing strategy game

Sustainability: “Commitment to continuous learning / Creative and Innovation/ socially and

environmentally active and responsible”

Within the Unit of Sales and Personal Selling (MKTG3007), we learnt many communication
styles within a workplace example and for our own personal communication style. We
conducted a short personality test within our tutorial class to identify our communication
styles. I received a mixed result although it was clear that I am more accommodating, task
and team orientated and creative in my approach. These elements I believe are accurate to
describe how I conduct myself. I certainly enjoy curating a plan when giving tasks and
helping other to see “the bigger picture”. Also, I enjoy tasks that can spark my creativity and
or making dull tasks creative for other as well. Therefore, I suppose changing majors helped
me enhance my skills and practice using these skills within different marketing contexts. By
participating in various group activities across my degree highlights that everyone
communicates differently, different goals, individual morale’s, and values. Such as the
manager Chris is assertive, and goal orientated individual while Laura his employee is
responsive and has an arm nature. Therefore, to work efficiently together they must flex their
own communication styles. This may include Laura adopting a task orientated attitude and
present her manager with information that aligns with the business’s goals. This is essential
Kaitlin Gifford – 46407138

to practice before entering the workplace environment and this will assist in understanding
everyone’s role is crucial for company growth.

Exhibit 4: Summary of Communication styles

Regarding implementing business agility, I have particularly applied these skills in my

working career. Throughout my studies at Macquarie, I had been working two jobs, which
both required extensive interviews to obtain. Some of my Marketing units have granted me
with the capability to problem solve, communicate solutions, and reflect upon my
experiences upon answering a wide variety of questions. Furthermore, through my curiosity
of business operations I took initiative to upskill and accountability to have regular
performance meetings with my managers to accelerate my learning within the company.
Through this I was granted a promotion to become an “Operations Specialist”, this role
requires constant collaborating skills with managers to ensure the logistics of the store is
efficient. Business operations encounters many challenges, such as annual stocktake, visual
merchandising and system audits. Each of these areas require constant reflection to identify
areas of growth for the team and profits for the company.

Ethical practice: “Engaged in local and global citizens / Capable of professional and
personal judgement and initiative “

Throughout each unit studied at Macquarie, it has always included a module on ethics within
that subject’s context and how it also extends to wider community. Moreover, my Consumer
Behaviour (MKTG1003) subject allowed us to understand the physiological effects of
marketing techniques to consumers and the way they consumer products in Australia. The
assessments were based upon the effect of the pandemic, consumption patterns and the shift
to online platforms. Through my research I focused on two key challenges for businesses
such replicating an in-store experience online and changing consumer preferences. Although
my overall intention was to investigate Goal 12:” Responsible consumption and production”
Kaitlin Gifford – 46407138

of sustainable development from United Nations. When conducting research, I was

enlightened by the results I had found about Australian Consumer patterns. A common theme
was that consumer were participating in Value based purchases that gave a positive outcome
to improving their quality of life. These included making purchases from small businesses
that conduct sustainable practices, investing into recreational goods and utilisation of
sustainable packing. Additionally, discussing the accountability of business to help educate
their consumers about sustainable practices they can implement such as compostable
packaging for gardens and or participating in recycling programs.

Exhibit 5: Terracycle and implementation of this in a retail store

 Kaitlin Gifford -
Kaitlin Gifford – 46407138 46407138
Kaitlin Gifford – 46407138