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| A day in the life of Foschini Group Employees |
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Why do you do this job? Being a creative person this is the perfect match for my personality, passion and certainly a dream come true. I have always said that I never want work to be a 'job', it needs to be something that I eat, breathe and live and I am fortunate enough to do this in the Trainee Buyer position within the Foschini Group. What training did you receive? I have a Diploma in Marketing from the AAA School of Advertising which has provided me with a fantastic base to move into numerous areas of specialties. I am currently on the Trainee Development Programme with The Foschini Group through which I am exposed to all departments within this business. This has been a brilliant introduction to the 'corporate world' as I am able to clearly understand how all business functions are interlinked in the running of Foschini. I have also spent some few months in stores to gain insight on the customer profile of the brand as well as reported back any product findings to the Merchandising Team. I am now working alongside the Senior Buyer and Planner learning the art of buying and planning with the goal of managing my own small portfolio in the near future. What happens 9-5? On arriving to the office I check the electronic style cards; a tool that tracks the clearance rate of our products in store. I then have a look at the turnover figures for our department as well as for the whole company. At the end of the day, the business is dependant on where in the buying cycle we are as we plan our merchandise ranges 6 months in advance, so we are currently fitting and approving shoe samples which will go into stores the second half of summer 2010. There is a large amount of admin which needs to be completed throughout the buying process so many days are spent processing order discussion records, loading the styles onto the system and communicating via emails with suppliers. The Merchandising Department works closely with many departments like Marketing and Visual Display so we often meet with the relevant persons and strategically plan the growth of our brand. There is a constant creative energy in the department which is brilliant as the team works extremely close together and the day seems to fly by! What's the upside? The upside is certainly working with a beautiful product which naturally makes the job a pleasure but the heart of buying is knowing your customer inside out and buying product she will buy. I can imagine that the most rewarding feeling would be to watch the sales of a shoe or bag style that you knew in your gut would sell and it sells out across all stores - that is definitely an upside! What personality traits do you think you have that make you good at your job? Attention to detail with a creative flair. Also I am organized and systematic especially with regards to paperwork. More importantly I am passionate, outgoing, energetic and always open to learn and an intense love for fashion and trends. Overall I am naturally hardworking and setting high standards for myself. What's the downside? The amount of admin possibly out weighing the creativity is a downside to the job. At this stage I think that presenting strategy to Management may be a bit nerve wrecking which will improve the more times you present but at this moment in time this is a real downside. Who are your role models or mentors? My role model in business is my mom as she is an exceptional business women who needs to rub off some of her 'number skills' to her daughter. Within the Foschini Group, definitely Trudy Blake who is the Buying Executive for Fashion Express as she has a gift of transferring her endless knowledge in a simple yet powerful manner. Do you make enough money? For the moment I have accepted that I have a while to go before being top of my game but financial reward is definitely something which motivates me. Do I make enough money? Knowing that I will someday soon is what drives me to be more as quickly as I can. So yes, I make enough money to remain focused and ambitious. What will you do next? My goal is to remain within the group until I retire - seriously I do. There are so many opportunities and career growth options available within the Foschini Group not to mention the culture of the Company. It is important to me that I am a 'good fit' with the organization I work in as I spend so much time at work and here at Foschini it feels as good as being at home - well not really but close enough. Medium to long term goals would be to gain some exposure in the Apparel Division of the business within the capacity of a Buyer and perhaps also within the Marketing Department as this is what I originally studied.
Why do you do this job? I was registered for a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Economics and Finance at UCT, and in my final year of varsity I was still quite unsure as to what I wanted to do after graduating. All I knew was that I wanted a job that would keep me interested, offer development opportunities and allow me the flexibility to grow – all while giving me broad exposure to the world of business. Being a trainee planner allows me do all the above while requiring me to use the knowledge acquired during my studies to interpret market trends and optimize the performance of the product we put into our stores. One could almost say it allows me to gain the hands on experience of running a business in a supervised and “controlled” environment. What training did you receive? Everyday is training for me. I get sent on various workshops to up skill me from a professional point of view. I have also been assigned a coach within my department who is a fully fledged senior planner. His role is to teach me how to use the systems I will be using once I am a planner. Based on his own experiences, he also teaches me the pitfalls of the job and being in a corporate environment while teaching me how best to avoid and resolve them. What happens 9-5? While I am still a trainee, I have been given the function of a merchandise controller within my department as part of my training. This means that I allocate stock to our stores when it comes in and deal with queries from stores and customers around product within my department. I also sit in on meetings we have to discuss the performance of our products and our stores in order to address under and over performance. Over and above that, my coach has me sit with him from time to time while carrying out his functions as a planner, allowing me to get the experience that I’ll need for the job. What's the upside? I get a lot of hands on experience as I am allowed the freedom to attempt the practical day to day tasks of the job. This means I get to learn through trial and error while under supervision to ensure that where I do make mistakes I know how to spot and correct them. Having a coach is also a huge bonus as I have a wealth of knowledge and experience to tap into should I ever get stuck with anything. In fact, I consider myself twice as lucky as most other graduates as everyone I work with from our assistants right the way up to our managers and general manager are all very approachable and forthcoming with constructive input. What personality traits do you think you have that make you good at your job? I came into the job with the intention to succeed while knowing full and well that I was a graduate fresh out of varsity. This allowed me to be driven and focused while at the same time keeping me (and my ego) in check – even when things have been going well. I also think my openness to learning; even if I already “know” what I’m being taught has been crucial to me fitting into the company and the job so well. What's the downside? I always swore to myself that I would not have an office job at a desk behind a pc all the time, but this is a job that sometimes requires that of you. That said I understand that it is a “necessary evil”. Every job has an element to it that you won’t quite enjoy doing, but I believe that if you keep your focus on the importance of that task to your development in the long run, and you understand why you are doing it (both from a professional and a personal stand point), it becomes a lot less tedious. Truth is I’ve actually started to enjoy playing around with Excel spreadsheets! Who are your role models or mentors? My parents and family as a whole have always been mentors to me as they’ve always had the belief in me that I would succeed. In going through life that was one of my biggest driving forces and as a result of that I’ve come to subconsciously “select” to keep people in my life who themselves not only aspire to do great things, but also insist that I live up to my potential. As the saying goes, “greatness is remembered by the company it keeps”. Do you make enough money? For a starting salary the pay is not bad, I would obviously love to be making more money – who wouldn’t – but I’m in no rush, when it comes it will come. For the time being I’m just focused on my self development, which is what this job gives me in spades! What will you do next? My short to mid term goal is to get through the Foschini Group Graduate Program and learn as much as I can while doing so. In a few years time I would like to go into business for myself as that’s been the plan since day one. To learn more about the Foschini Group, click on the underlined script next to their logo on the A-Z of Employers Listing. |
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