December is coming!

Less than one month to go till Christmas, I cannot quite believe it...! The Christmas decorations will be going up on the 1st December (we want to make the most of them in the flat as we have to take them down before we head home!) and my Christmas shopping is not going well! I feel online shopping will be required for most people!

I spent last weekend at home in Northampton, which included a lovely meal at the Old Red Lion in Litchborough - highly recommend the Halluomi Filo Parcel! Going home for the weekend was lovely as it gave me a chance to relax a little whilst enjoying some home comforts! (Mum made a cake!)

I am currently doing an assignment on Strategic Management which is proving to be more difficult than I first thought! I have to say that this is my least favourite module at the moment, it's a core module which everyone within the Business School has to take. I find it interesting but it seems to be fairly outdated in some approaches! Roll on 6th December when it is hand in day for this!

The next assignment is based on Global Marketing, which I find really interesting! It is great to see how different countries operate and get a wider understanding of differing processes.

Right I best get back to my assignments! (Need to clean the flat too!!!)

Ciao x

A quick update

Oh, hi there.

I had fully intended on writing a post about something else this week but I am struggling to find the right words so that will come later!

The past couple of weeks have been manic with deadlines, reading and general housekeeping! My lovely friends have been graduating, which makes me sad that I am not graduating with them, but has really motivated me to work really hard! A big congratulations to them!

This week I have been to two workshops about graduate employment - some useful tips were given! I have decided to start really looking in March for jobs... but I will keep my eyes peeled for any opportunities! Step provided a guest speaker to provide information on ways of getting into graduate recruitment. 

I am so excited about what is to come over the next 6 months! :)

So I am heading home this weekend for a long-weekend of home comforts! Christmas shopping needs to commence and I am going to use the time to crack on with my next assignment! (Plus celebrate my Dad's birthday!) I am looking forward to catching up with a few people too!

Bit of a short one this week but bare with me because the next post will be longer!

Ciao xx

Feeling Festive...

Right so 2 assignments are complete... only 3 more to go before the C word... Christmas! (Is it too early to mention that?!)

Only 6 weeks left of this semester, where has the time gone?! It's been an emotional rollercoaster so far... The pressure I put on myself with assignments is crazy! But there is light at the end of the tunnel and I am looking forward to the Christmas break! Assignments still to do include looking at the strategies for a company, taking an existing company to a new country, and a report on my job search so far...! No big deal! (haha)

Anyway, enough about that...

.... Have you seen the John Lewis and M&S Christmas ads? Not sure what your feelings are but I am not really a fan of the JL one, although I have to say that it is growing on me! However I LOVE the M&S one!

I also think the Aldi Christmas advert deserves a mention - simple yet so effective! And the Sainsbury's Christmas "film" is worth checking out if you have some spare time!

As you might be able to tell I am feeling festive! I want to start writing my Christmas cards and buying gifts! Might need to wait for a while though! Hopefully Sheffield is going to have a Christmas market... fingers crossed! Christmas films will start soon!

I am writing a cheeky blog about jobs...Coming soon to a blog (well this blog) near you...!

Ciao x

Are companies social enough?

I am a student with very little time to do a lot of research into products and services that I want to buy - I do a lot of online shopping purely for ease, as I can order from my sofa and then go back to my uni work.

If I can't find the answer to my question quickly on a website I will turn to social media and pose my question to the company via Twitter, Facebook etc. It's perfect for me, it means that I can just go back to my work and wait for the answer to my question to come through to my phone/laptop.

But here is the thing that really bugs me... Sometimes I don't get a response! Sounds like I am just having a little rant, but it only bugs me when the company have tweeted since I posed my question. They tweet things about their company etc but are ignoring the questions/comments posed by customers!! WHY?! We live in a fast moving social world now and it seems that some companies are not able to keep up! Time to review your social media plan? I think so!

Don't get me wrong, if a company doesn't get back to me and don't tweet other things in between time then that is fine... and I do give them time to get back to me! But if you ignore me and tweet about other things that only benefit your business, you are likely to lose me as a customer! Harsh but true.

And lastly, another problem is when a company tweets back and then cannot deliver on actual customer service. One example is a well known phone company... Had a nightmare with them!

What are your thoughts? Had any good or bad experiences? I would love to hear about them!

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This next coming week is a crazy one with assignment deadlines - so it is unlikely there will be a blog post! Someone get me back to this place...

Please?

Work hard...

....Play Hard!

Okay so I am not going to lie, final year at uni is tough - but if anything I think it is shaping me into a stronger and more independent individual.

My blog posts seem to be getting shorter because I feel guilty for taking time off from doing work! But I have decided that I need to have breaks so this can be part of them.

Assignments are in full swing, my first one is complete and ready to hand in on Wednesday. The second one is due in on the 15th, and I have started it this weekend... The library and I are becoming best friends it seems! (Can I move in?!) Five assignments are in before Christmas...! YIKES!

Alongside these assignments I have been doing a lot of reading, both the prep reading for my seminars and reading around different subjects for my assignments and to boost my theory. I find it really interesting to read differing opinions on marketing matters such as market segmentation etc.

So far final year has been great, albeit a bit stressful! I put a lot of added pressure onto myself because I want to know that I have tried my absolute hardest - then I will be happy no matter what degree classification I get, because I will know that I couldn't have done any more!

Anyone who tells you that final year as a Marketing student is a breeze is either lying, abnormally clever, or didn't do much work! But hey don't judge me, I am only human, of course things are going to be difficult and times are going to get tough. Every now and again I might need a good cuppa and a little rant about how hard this year is!

If anyone else is feeling the stress so far in final year, I sympathise! We need to make the most of our time at uni though, so remember to work hard, but also play hard(ish).

Have a lovely week ahead.

Ciao x

p.s here is a funny cat because this was an intense post!