I am currently in my final year at Plymouth University studying for a BSc in Business Economics having recently completed a placement year working in Operations at ShopperTrak and I am seeking a trainee opportunity as a ship broker either via a graduate trainee programme or a work experience placement. Having read through your website, I would be very excited for the chance to work as a shipbroker and I have a particular interest in commodity broking. To enhance my knowledge of the industry, I am extremely interested in studying for the post graduate in shipping at the ICS as it will give me an understanding of how the whole trade and shipping cycle works together and it will provide a solid background to becoming a successful shipbroker.

Shipbroking particularly interests me because from what I understand, it is the art of anticipating what can go wrong. I have the ability to investigate every possibility of potential failure in the transport of goods, and I have experience of successfully doing this whilst working on my placement year. Whilst working at ShopperTrak, I spent vast periods of my day liaising with engineers who fitted new stores and shopping centres with our technology. This required a high level of organisation and communication and I had to make sure that the equipment was delivered on time to the correct location, that the store was ready to be fitted, guarantee that all necessary paperwork and legal documents were signed, and ensure that the engineer had the correct tools to perform the installation. Also, I had to be certain I was receiving the best price from the contracted engineers by analysing the market and negotiating with numerous companies to make sure that the profit margins were kept as high as possible. This often led to many of the companies reducing the price they charged significantly for us to secure more work.

As part of my role I was involved in the Mall Engagement Management team. I successfully spent my time managing the relationship between ShopperTrak and our high-calibre clients, which included organising and managing a weekly call with our largest shopping centre group and ensuring that they were satisfied with the corporate, excel based reports I produced on a weekly and monthly basis. I analysed large data sets comparing all available data and guaranteed that any changes to the totals were highlighted and dealt with accordingly.

I would be delighted to further discuss my experience and qualifications for a position as a shipbroker. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or require any additional information.  Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

• Operations Coordinator at ShopperTrak
  Aug 2015 - Aug 2016

  • ShopperTrak is the leading global provider of shopper insights and analytics that enable retailers to improve profitability and effectiveness. • Produced corporate traffic reports which entailed analysing footfall data periodically and presenting to the Director of Operations on a weekly basis. • Had to identify key trends and patterns in a time pressured environment, then present and justify why these trends occurred and how we should respond to them. • Assisted the management of three apprentices which meant I had to delegate and ensure that they were performing tasks correctly and contacting clients in the appropriate way – both via email and telephone.

• BSc
  Economics at Plymouth University
  2013 - 2017