Case studies: In-store cake and chilled desserts buyer: Rosalynde

Rosalynde is a buyer for ASDA. She graduated from Leeds University with a degree in theology and religious studies and an MSc Marketing from Manchester Business School.

Although at first glance my first degree doesn’t appear that relevant, I’ve found that quite the opposite is true. It allowed me to develop my time management, interpersonal and team-working skills - all of which are vital within business. During my studies I spent the summer holidays undertaking work experience and internships in a number of marketing departments which, although hard to secure, was invaluable experience.

At the end of my degree I felt that I still needed something extra on my CV to help me stand out. By this point my research and work experience had convinced me that I wanted to be a retail buyer so I decided to refine my skills and enrolled on an MSc in Marketing. This, along with my first degree and work experience, stood me in good stead in a very competitive graduate marketplace and I was absolutely delighted when I secured a position as a trading assistant on the ASDA graduate programme.

I’ve been with ASDA for about three years now and have progressed from looking after a small area and then a development to a large core trading department. I view my area as my own business and am fully accountable for its success, which is really exciting and challenging. You have to be passionate about what you’re doing to be successful in this industry, and I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing.

There is no such thing as a typical day at ASDA - all that you can be sure about is that it will be a busy one. One day I can find myself visiting one of our suppliers, the next analysing sales figures and designing new packaging, before finishing the week in our kitchens sampling new products. There’s no getting away from the fact that the role does present its own challenges and is hard work at times, but that’s what I love about it. You’re given all the training you need, and the variety, pace and great people you work with make the role really enjoyable.

Building an exciting and profitable range of products is the essence of what we do and therefore we have to really understand what our customers want. The saying that ‘the customer is always right’ is most certainly true. As well as understanding your customers, you also need to be well organised, have a flexible approach, be able to adapt and be comfortable with numbers.

My advice to anyone interested in this role is to spend as much time in retail stores as possible building your experience and understanding of the industry. Passion for what you do and commercial awareness are also vital. Make sure you understand the market and the issues companies face and don’t be afraid of having your own ideas and opinions.