Today's workshop really helped me gain an insight onto the world of Depop from the 

perspective of others. Personally, I have only ever used the platform to buy items and 

everything I have bought has been form small sellers opening business, for example 

jewellery is something I buy from independent sellers regularly. From this workshop I was 

able to hear the opinions of others who use Depop for other purposes such as selling their 

old items or buying second-hand items. I feel this really inspired me for the future campaign 

as I already know so much more about the brand and how it can be adapted to use. The 

lecture and seminar were also clear and due to its independency and creativity, I'm excited 

and inspired to work through this brief 

Today’s lecture really educated me on the different career paths I can take with this course and showed me the names and responsibilities of different job roles. This has really helped me filter down to look into areas that interest me. The personal SWOT analysis, although challenging as I find it difficult to evaluate personally, the assessments on Moodle have really helped me and I have found out a lot about me. I have developed skills on self-reflection and feel I now can break down areas I can improve on as well as look into my strengths

The lecture today has helped me a lot with LinkedIn and how to use is to reach to the best of my ability, making it effective for my future career path. I am excited to complete the Sonru video interview as this is something new to me and therefore would be a great experience for myself to practice for future scenarios. The templates have also given me a much better understanding  of the contents of a CV, which I am currently completing. 

I have begun filling in the application form for the assessment centre. The lecture today was based around the STARR framework, which is a guide I have never come across.  The STARR framework has really helped me with the questions on the form, giving me a clear structure to my answers. I have been able to concisely answer the questions, making sure to include all the information needed. I also feel this application has allowed me to reflect on myself and situations I have been in. I now just need to complete and submit the application itself.

I have just submitted my application for the assessment centre, I feel confident with my application form and the unit as a whole after the re-cap in today’s lecture. This has made the unit a lot clearer as I now have a checklist of what to include in the portfolio and the presentation. I would have liked to have my answers checked however due to my lecturer being unwell, I was unable to have them looked over, this would’ve given me a final opportunity for any improvements before submission. Regardless, I do feel content with my answers. 

I have also completed my data CV this week and this I found very difficult as it was a lot more self-reflective which I find challenging. I had a CV prior to this however this was only for part-time jobs etc. so creating a CV for a graduate role was very different. I used a lot of parts of my previous to CV such as the skills and interests’ subheadings, however a lot of things I had to improve and change such as the work experience and objective. Although struggling with this as I do not have much industry experience and therefore did not have much to include the self-assessments on Moodle really helped me find my personal strengths and the lectures really helped me with wording. I was given a lot of feedback and guidance on my CV when having it read through by lecturers and this really helped me to evaluate it and get it to its best quality. I am now really happy with the CV I have created and feel it really resonates with the career path I want to take through the wording used. I feel confident in now sending this to employers.

The lecture today really inspired me with the visual layout of my presentation for the assessment centre. I was really struggling with how to put together my PowerPoint however the examples really have guided me on how to set everything out and what to make sure to include. From seeing these, I have started to put together a draft copy of how to set my presentation out. 

Following this, I have now also completed my creative CV. The examples of personal branding logos showed in the seminar really helped on starting this process. I used the copy from my data CV, which I have recently updated and improved to produce my creative CV. I am currently writing my cover letter to Depop. I have never written a cover letter before and the guide from the lecture has really helped break down each component. Completing the application for the assessment centre has also really helped to write this letter as it has given me something to start off. My portfolio is finally coming together son in the coming weeks I will be focusing on the presentation for the assessment centre.

 

During my first year of university, we were given a ‘Showcase’ unit, this was the first time I was given complete freedom on an assignment. This was a challenge due to a being overwhelmed with inspiration. I needed to create a campaign based around a garment, involving cultural affairs personal to myself and showcase these digitally. I managed to filter down my interests with the use of mind-maps and came to focus on the concept of styling accessories as clothing. I conducted a shoot, using my flatmate as a model, against a blank canvas. This shoot was difficult due to being in lockdown and being limited with settings, equipment and models. I edited these images in style to a brand I had chosen for my campaign. This resulted in coming out with recognition for the work I had created and also gave me a good grade, which I was proud of due to the limitations I had during the time. If I were to complete this project again, I would use a nicer location for my shoot as I have access to more now, I would also now use a variety of models to exemplify the impact of nudity.

Whilst being a waitress in a pub I was responsible for tables and guests, therefore having to manage many requests. There was one point where a customer demanded I serve him alcohol, despite me being underage at the time. I needed to resolve this situation justly in a way that complied with my policy, the legal rules I had been given during my training, but also provided the customer with service. To fix this, I reported the incident to my manager on shift, explaining what the customer had asked for and asking if he could comply the request. As I apologised to the customer, offering ways help to sort his request, my manager put through the order and took over the drink. This result left the customer satisfied, having been provided an easy service and also left me feeling accomplished in managing to take responsibility and sort the situation. This being a skill I have taken through with me to different roles. This taught me a lot about patience, management and responsibility within a role. I positively demonstrated roles of working collaboratively within a team. I was able to come out with a lot of confidence in communicating with peers. 

Depop is a brand that I personally use a lot myself, as a way to support small business and shop sustainably. Depop allows individuality and celebrates fashion, style and culture in an environmentally friendly and focused way. Working for a brand I have a passion for would only execute my attributes and skills in this role. Depop has a consistent brand aesthetic although all its individual sellers have their own personas reflected through their profiles. The diversity and variety in Depop means that there is something of interest for any consumer. I feel I can adapt to fit this brand persona but also show a reflection of the different subcultures within the brand. This through my interest of different aesthetics which I have explored through Pinterest, making these boards is something I enjoy creating in my spare time. I also think the work I have completed at university has allowed me to explore a variety of skills for example the use of the Adobe software to create campaigns and vision boards which I can present through this role. I also feel my work within hospitality has allowed me to develop skills in confidence and working in a team collaboratively. 

Today’s seminar was a group task where we analysed a previous campaign from a brand of our choice, evaluating its audience, its message and purpose and its success rate. Group tasks are something we have not been able to do much during this course due to social distancing measures and therefore was new for us all, however it was enjoyable working with peers and meeting people within the course. This task gave developed our collaborative skills in working within a team to complete an end goal. In my group we all assigned ourselves roles in order to maintain focus on one aspect and share the contribution and responsibility. I was given the role of creating the PowerPoint, I had all team members email and airdrop any research they had collected whilst I configured it all into a presentation, which another member presented to the class. We received feedback on this presentation which was really helpful as it shows us how we can improve for future tasks like this, but also fills us with confidence in what we have personally done well. I feel this was great practice for the assessment centre, knowing a part of it is a group task, this really has prepared me for that and any further group presentation work, enhancing my leadership and collaborative skills.

I have begun preparing for the assessment centre, I have started making a presentation following on from researching into Depop as a brand and the Y2K trend that I am basing my campaign on. This brief has been very broad and due to being so open, I have lacked some inspiration as there are not many pieces of work I can compare mine to. Despite this, I have been given much more freedom with this assignment because of this which has allowed me to express myself creatively. I have much preferred this way of working and have found my work and research to be a lot more enjoyable, being based solely around something I personally resonate and am interested in. I feel confident with my work currently and am moving on to build my final portfolio submission. I have received a lot of feedback on work, attending the workshops and seminars. And although the brief has been broad, I have been given personal guidance through this project from the lecturers who have given me tips on how to improve my work, presentation skills and layout. This has helped me a lot and has made me feel much more comfortable and happier with the work I have been completing. I will now be continuing my PowerPoint presentation and preparing for assessment centre to make sure that’s completed to a high standard and that I feel confident and am educated in what I am going to talk about. Through the next week and the Christmas break, I will be working through my padlet board and ‘Brand You’ portfolio to complete that for the final submission. 

I have just completed the Digital Assessment Centre; my first task was the group presentation. I was in a small group of just two girls and I and therefore assigning roles and responsibilities was quick and easy. Our brief was to create a concept based around Depop collaborating with a retailer to create a physical campaign. As a group we chose Urban Outfitters as we found both audiences are of a target market. We decided to create a campaign where Depop pop-ups where placed within Urban stores during Black Friday weekend, we called this ‘Green Friday’ to demonstrate ideas of sustainability, meeting Depop’s three pillars as a brand. I was assigned the role of creating the PowerPoint, whilst the girl’s curated research. I also presented this to the assessor. This was good practice for me for the individual practice later on. Our research and presentation were short and brief as we only had around 40 minutes, if we had longer, I feel we would’ve found more sources and developed our ideas in dept. Despite this we worked really well as a team and was given good feedback on our collaborative skills.

Moving to the next task was the Depop individual presentation, I was in the same small group and therefore was a bit more comfortable presenting to the girls as I had just worked with them. My presentation was 4 minutes 30 seconds and I managed to get through everything. Prior to this, the night before, my peers and I did a practice Zoom call where we all presented to each other and timed ourselves, we then gave each other feedback. I feel this really helped me prepare and made me feel a lot more confident on the day.

Finally, I had my interview, this is the task I was most nervous for as I didn’t know the questions that were going to be asked. To prepare for this, I read the job spec before to make sure I understood what the role was and what they were looking for. I was asked why I wanted the job and so talked about how I use Depop and how its values resonate with mine, highlighting their pillars. I was also asked about my creative output where I mentioned my Instagram and Pinterest. I was asked to develop this with how I express my own individuality where I talked about the Showcase brief, I completed last year and how free it was. I feel the STARR framework really helped me with the interview as I answered the questions asked following that, making it a lot easier as I had a structure to my answers.