Placement Year Review at Kimberly-Clark

The Role

1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

I really enjoyed it. I was made to feel part of K-C from the beginning. I had a lot more responsibility than what a placement student was expected to deal with due to team changes. This provided plenty of opportunities to get involved within different areas of the ATR team aswell as taking a more specialized role within the team.

2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

Even from the beginning, my opinion always counted. Upon joining, the role I was in was very much on the job learning, because of the nature of the role. I was valued from the beginning by completing the mundane tasks at the start of the placement which allowed me to familiarize myself with the systems, to being highly respected within my team and to colleagues across Europe due to the contributions I was making on projects and the support being provided across 20+ European legal entities.

3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

I rated this a 9/10 because at the start of the placement my first supervisor was looking to change roles and was not interested in mentoring a student which impacted me significantly. After voicing my concerns, and a restructuring of the team I was then managed effectively and had no further problems when asking for help. The new team was always there for any questions I may have had. The support system at Kimberly-Clark is great and everyone is very friendly.

4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

My role was based around month end. Month ends were hectic at times, but this does balance out in the middle of the month, where you can prepare for month end and by progressing with projects and enhancements to processes.

5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

Due to the restructuring of my team, I was immediately thrown into the deep end which was great, it provided me with lots of opportunities to get involved in areas where a student would not normally be expected to go. This responsibility allowed me to be very pivotal in decision making within the team.

6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

I developed a lot of very transferrable skills. Training programs were offered at K-C in the form of Visual Basic/Excel which was great if you are interested in managing processes/risks. There were also plenty of opportunities where I booked my own training time with colleagues from different teams in the finance function which allowed me to gain a greater understanding of the business.

The Organisation

7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

Generally good, everyone is friendly. However, come month end the office does have a much more serious and tense atmosphere. My team was full of big spirited characters and even during critical work days we made the best out of the worst.

8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

I rate an 8/10, simply because I am not sure how this would improve. The finance internship was the first of it's kind, a pilot scheme. Perhaps It could have been better by introducing more formal overview session days amongst other teams, I arranged these myself but other interns did not seem to have any knowledge of what different teams did.

9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

Always encouraged to go on training days and sessions. These were also very expensive. The interns don't quite get the same level of investment/training that the graduates do in the form of professional development programs. However, as an Intern I was enrolled onto the multi-rater which provided a good sounding board for personal developments.

10. What were the perks on your work placement?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

• Flexi Time
• Subsidised Canteen
• Sports and Social Club
• Subsidised/Company Gym
• Company Parties/Events
• Staff Sales/Staff Shop
• Above 25 days holiday
• Working from home
• Healthcare/Dental

11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

I have been offered a finance graduate role. There are no assessment centres or interviews that will have to be completed unlike many other firms where once offered you are only fast tracked to the assessment centre/interview stage.

Other Information

12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Started off very well, but did dwindle due to the graduates rotating across different departments/locations. I was always involved with colleagues and between the teams / interns / graduates there was always something going on.

13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

1200 for a 3 bedroom flat right on the sea front. Socializing wasn't very expensive as Brighton has a large student population.

14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

A mini London - the weekends were fantastic but so were the student orientated week nights.

15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

There was always something going on, either it be with interns/grads or colleagues. There was also a social committee which provided discounts for events around Brighton. There is plenty to do in Brighton and I will certainly miss it.

In addition to these questions, is there any extra information you would like to leave about your experiences on your work placement that other students may be interested in?

Great company to work for.

Review 7/7 for Kimberly-Clark

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