As a student applying for internships, everywhere you look you will see the ever-elusive phrase, ‘commercial awareness’.
All employers claim to want it, and yet nobody seems to be able to explain exactly what it is. Even after attending ‘Commercial Awareness 101’ talks and reading online, this glimmering all-star quality will most likely remain vague and shrouded in mystery.
To put it simply, commercial awareness is an understanding of how businesses operate, in the context of today’s social, political, and economic climate.
This article will break down the three simple steps you can take to develop it.
1. Understand how businesses operate
To understand how businesses function is to grasp the workings of your future clients, and is the first stage in developing commercial awareness.
If you are new to the world of business, Christopher Stoakes’ Commercial Awareness book is a succinct and easy to understand introduction to basic concepts such as balance sheets, private and public companies, inflation, debt and equity, and interest rates. YouTube is also an invaluable resource for crash courses on topics such as M&A or private equity.
I came into the commercial world knowing nothing about business, and my biggest piece of advice for this stage is not to let this put you off! No question is too obvious, and business is nothing you can’t grasp if you do your research.
2. Stay up to date with current business trends
Once you’ve got the basics of business, it’s time to cover the second strand of commercial awareness and apply this to a real-world context.
The best way to do this is to read business sections of the news on sites like the Financial Times, The Economist, and websites such as Consultancy.uk. Podcasts, such as the FT Daily Briefing or the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, are other great resources for synthesising important political and economic updates into digestible chunks.
It is important to make sure that you’re incorporating this into your daily routine. Just looking at the news last-minute before an interview is not enough; an awareness of trends and long-term patterns is important if you want to be able to formulate your own analysis and have your own opinions. This can only be built by staying up to date ‘little and often’.
Another tip is to do more than just read. Think critically about what you see in the news – make a note of things that interest you and questions you might have about stories. Challenge yourself to think about the implications of business stories, and analyse areas of opportunity as well as challenges or risks. Make case studies of current businesses that interest you, and try to think about their various options in different scenarios.
Develop an interest within this commercial context. What are some specific sectors that you want to know more about? Not only is this good for showing interviewers that you are passionate, but it is a great way to help you build an idea of what you might want your career to look like.
I’d also recommend researching the firms you are applying for. What is the role of consultants in these news stories? This will help you understand how the industry impacts the wider commercial landscape. As well as this, think about firms’ own developments: consulting firms are businesses too, and understanding areas of growth, challenges they are facing and consulting-specific business trends will help you understand the priorities of your future employer.
3. Put your reading into practice
The best way of developing your commercial awareness is to reinforce it in practice. Join student societies to do with consulting, business, law, or finance, go to workshops by commercial firms and attend webinars. If you can, try and get work experience in any corporate setting – it doesn’t always have to be consulting-specific. Universities often offer short placements or internships through their careers services. Just seeing the inner workings of any business can help you understand your future clients, what their key priorities are and how decisions are made.
My biggest tip for this stage is to ask lots of questions. There is often a difference between what you read online and what people in the business world actually think – not everyone will share the same opinions, and can offer unique insights.
Key Takeaways
Commercial awareness might sound like a mysterious buzzword, but in reality it’s simply about building a genuine understanding of how the world of business works and why it matters.
By learning the basics of business, keeping up with current affairs, and putting that knowledge into practice through societies, work experience, and conversation, you’ll gradually develop the kind of sharp, informed perspective that employers value.
It’s not about memorising headlines or becoming an expert overnight. Instead, it’s about curiosity and consistency, which will set you up for long-term success in any career you choose.
India Jordan Jones is a final-year undergraduate student at the University of Oxford, reading English Language and Literature. She is interested in a career in consulting or commercial law and passionate about sustainability and energy matters in business.
Image: DALL-E
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