Commercial AwarenessJenny KeaveneyCareers and Employability Service

Best summarised as an understanding of the marketplace and environment in which an organisation operatesEqually important in both the public and the private sectorsWhat is commercial awareness?

What is commercial awareness?"At heart, commercial awareness is about being able to talk to clients, finding out what they want, why they want it, what they will do with it and what they are prepared to pay, and then delivering it in the way they want. To do that you need to understand how organisations work, the issues they face and the role of people within them.Christopher Stoakes'All You Need to Know About Commercial Awareness'

Employers look for commercially aware applicants who understand the organisations mission and aims are aware of the political and economic issues affecting the organisation are aware of the major competitors understand the sectors the organisation operates within understand the commercial priorities of the organisation

Do they find them?We (a financial services firm) were surprised by the number of candidates who were unable to say why they had applied to uswhat we do what appealed to them about the job how they could contribute Candidates who are well-prepared, have done their research and can demonstrate commercial awareness stand out like shining lights in the wilderness! (Solicitors firm)

Analysing organisationsWhat does the organisation do? (make a product, provide a service, etc)What roles are involved in doing this? (probably more than you might think!)How is the organisation structured?What restrictions are there on how the organisation operates? (professional, legal, regulatory etc)What other organisations do similar things? Are they direct competitors?What outside factors may contribute to the organisations success or failure?

Businesses involve a lot of different people and activitiesLegal

Some key roles and what they involveHuman Resource Management: getting the right people with the right skills in the right placesMarketing: Finding the most motivating concept & inspiring people to buy the product Finance: Providing financial support to the factories and costing uphousehold brandsSupply Chain: Getting a product all the way from raw material state through production to the shelvesSales: creating unmissable opportunities visibility through all shopper touch pointsManufacturing: Improving efficiency of the production lines throughcoaching, training and problem solvingEngineering: Managing projects, to install the best technologyQuality Assurance: Ultimate responsibility for product safety, uniformity and customer satisfaction

Some current hot topicsRetailhttp://targetjobs.co.uk/news/309637-want-to-be-a-retail-star-use-comet-s-demise-to-flaunt-your-commercial-awareness FinanceBanking regulation; the Public Accounts Commmittee hearing on taxing multinationals Lawhttp://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors/law-solicitors/291163-commercial-awareness-and-how-to-achieve-it-by-trainee-solicitors-and-law-recruiters General Business issues BAE Systems/EADS merger; M&S profits drop

Following upRead:The business press. This doesnt have to mean the Financial Times (unless you are applying for investment banking) but you should read the business pages of a quality daily newspaper Graduate publications/websites such as Real World, TARGET jobs and sector-specific titles such as Lawyer 2B; Accountancy Age; e-financial careersWatch/listen to:Business-related programmes on TV and radio such as Working Lunch, the Money Programme, Bottom Line, Law in Action, Dragons Den, The ApprenticeBBC podcasts www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/genre/factual/money

Ways to develop commercial awarenessGet actively involved in student societies Use your work experience Research and analyse employers and job sectors that interest youTake the Careers Employability Award

Student societiesManagement/leadership experienceOrganising activities and eventsFinancial planning/budgeting/fundraisingMarketing and promotionSourcing materials e.g. T-shirts

Work experienceThink about your work experienceWho did you work for? Who are their competitors? What do they do well/not so well? How is the company run?Present it in a positive and relevant way to employers

Researching employersFollow a company in the press for a month or so Review a companys annual reportPerform a SWOT/PEST analysis on a company or sector of interest to you Analyse the market sector in which a specific company works what are the current issues?See www.kent.ac.uk/careers/EmployerSearch.htm for some useful information resourcesThe British Library produces industry guides covering everything from Advertising to TV & Film http://www.bl.uk/bipc/dbandpubs/Industry%20guides/industry.html

Moodle Careers Employability AwardDevelop and test your commercial awarenessIncludes a how commercially aware are you? test and an assignment to produce a report on a company or organisation of your choiceBy successfully completing this assignment you can gain 40 Employability PointsGo to https://moodle.kent.ac.uk/moodle and enter your Kent login and password Then "search modules" (via the search box) for careers The module is called "CEM: Careers Employability Module": enter by double clicking on it Enrol by clicking on "Enrol me".

Further adviceBook: All you need to know about Commercial Awareness in Careers Resources Roomwww.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/commercialawareness.htmSome advice for law students from Herbert Smith Freehills http://bit.ly/TB1TMz A useful article from Target Jobs http://targetjobs.co.uk/news/206850-what-is-commercial-awareness

Commercial Awareness the employers view

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlwB3awsRd0

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*PEST = Political, Economic, Social, and Technological factors...