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Commercial and Marketing Graduate
Pentland Brands Ltd

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Time Code	Dan Taylor Commercial Graduate
00:04	Dan Taylor. I work for Pentland Brands.
00:06	My current job title is a Commercial Graduate and I’m currently working in Berghaus field sales.
00:12	The company is full of people who are happy to help, happy to talk to you about anything and that’s something that is definitely, definitely very valuable, When you come into a company you don’t know anything. You have to ask every single question about every single detail to get to the bottom of it. So the great thing about where I work is that you’re encouraged to do that.
00:30	This is what I would say is my first proper job. It’s probably like my seventh or eighth job in total.
00:36	When I was 14, I was a child minder but then I started working in a local hotel.
00:41	Worked on the student bar when I was at university, which is definitely the best job you can ever have.
00:46	I worked for Capital Radio, just sort of like marketing.
00:49	I was also kind of like a painter and decorator as well for a little bit, which was pretty fun.
00:52	When I graduated from university, I was pretty committed to going travelling, so I took a bit of time out and the way that I paid for that was to get three jobs that I worked simultaneously on zero hour contracts.
01:07	My parents are supportive of me. They know that I want to travel, they know that that’s something that’s really important to me.
01:11	I went to a comprehensive school in South Wales, not very glamorous at all.
01:15	I just followed what I was interested in, so at every juncture I just picked the things that I wanted to do so when it went to GCSE, I did drama, I did PE, I did history alongside the core subjects and I would wholeheartedly encourage everyone to of that. You get one opportunity to study things, study what you enjoy. Don’t study what you think you should.
01:32	You spend a lot of money, you will rack up a lot of debt when you are at university. You will spend a lot of money doing it. Do it for the right reasons. Do it because it’s something you want to study and something that you enjoy, I would say.
01:40	People say, ah how do you know, how did you know what you wanted to do? It was like, that does anyone at 24 know what they want to do, because I still don’t know what I want to do. It’s like I’m just doing a job and I like my job and it’s great but to know what you want to do, it’s just like it is like it’s phenomenally difficult and the assumption is that if you do start down a particular route, then you can’t then like sort of jump off it and go sideways.
02:00	Breadth of experience is always valuable. You can always bring something new to the table if you have something to lean on.
02:05	At least I’m getting experience, I’m my biggest barrrier to myself. I always expect more from me than anyone else.
02:11	The biggest thing that I’ve learned is that it’s OK not to know. So I spent ages trying to like work out like a career path and a plan and this is where you need to be and I need to have done this, that and the other and I’ve worked out that actually, for me, being slightly more reactive is better.
02:23	Part of the reason I took this job was to get a holistic sort of view of a company and so that I’d get pumped round different departments and that’s what I like.
02:30	I like to explore different things because I still don’t know what I want to do.
02:33	That’s the best thing about this job is that like I’ve never felt more balanced because I’ve never felt less like I’ve needed to have a very clear idea of what I’m doing.
02:401	People are very, very happy for me to just sort of, you know, why don’t you go do that, why don’t you apply for a job here, why don’t you do that?
02:48	So if I was speaking to my younger self, I would say, do what you want to do, study what you want to study, spend time doing the things that you enjoy.
02:54	END

“I just followed what I was interested in, so at every juncture I just picked the things that I wanted to do.”After a combined honours degree, Dan went travelling before applying to Pentland’s graduate scheme. He now works for the outdoor kit brand Berghaus, finding new retailers to stock its products.

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More information about Marketing and commercial managers

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£48,360

average salary

The UK average salary is £29,813

average weekly hours

There are 37.5 hours in the average working week

58% male

42% female

The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male

Future employment

Future employment?

Description

? Marketing and commercial managers manage, plan and oversee the promotion of services, products, companies or brands, find new business, plan specifications and prepare details of the requirements for a project and negotiate contracts.

Qualifications

There are no pre-set academic entry requirements. A degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant field may be advantageous and significant relevant experience is usually required.

Tasks

Liaises with other senior staff to determine the range of goods or services to be sold, contributes to the development of sales strategies and setting of sales targets
Discusses employer’s or client’s requirements, carries out surveys or other market research and analyses customers’ reactions to product, packaging, price, etc
Compiles and analyses sales figures, prepares proposals for marketing campaigns and promotional activities
Produces reports and recommendations concerning marketing and sales strategies for senior management
Manages a marketing team and directs the implementation of marketing strategies for products and services
Builds relationships with clients, negotiates new business contracts, plans specifications and prepares details of the requirements for a project

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