Supply chain summer placement Review

I really enjoyed my internship. I was really welcomed into my department and all of my team were really supportive throughout that I felt like a full time employee instead of an intern. The HR team provides a lot of support before and during the placement. There were so many other placement students that it was great for socialising too. I learnt a great deal about supply chain and gained insight into the FMCG sector and Unilever as a company to work for.

All my team members were so friendly and I felt really welcomed when I first joined. I had weekly meetings with most team members, where they provided feedback on my projects as well as updating me with any changes happening within supply chain. I was involved in other projects outside my own and involved in team meetings. All my work was valued by my colleagues and they often set aside time to support my work or guide me to the next steps.

My manager was a great, I received a lot of support over the placement and I got really useful feedback about my working style and the projects I completed. We had meetings several times a week to go over any updates and she was always available to contact if I needed to through email, skype etc.

For the majority of the placement I was really busy. Especially at the start as I spent extra time getting to grips with the various areas in supply chain and understanding the projects I was undertaking. As the placement went on and I started to finalise my projects, I could have perhaps been a bit busier but I was never bored at any point.

I was given great responsibility. One of my projects I was the team leader and led the project through to completion; involving many colleagues and holding different stakeholders responsible. The other two projects I was heavily involved, although not leading the project its self I lead my own tasks and was responsible for various tasks.

I learnt so much about supply chain, as not only did I learn about the area I was working in, I got to go on factory tours, complete online e-learning and talk to colleagues in different parts of the supply chain. Project management is a key skill I developed, but I am definitely more inclined to involve myself in meetings and negotiations now. I have developed my confidence and my presentation skills have vastly improved which was previously a weakness of mine. I have really learnt about what it takes to work in supply chain and this gives me great motivation as a future career.

Due to the agile working benefits Unilever offer, many people in the office worked from home or from other sites quite a bit of the time. This meant that there was always different people in the office which I found quite confusing at first as I have been used to working in small businesses where I know all of the employees in the past. Everyone in the office was really friendly and approachable if you needed to ask a question though which was really encouraging. The office was so modern and the benefits (staff shop, free ben and jerrys) were great! We also had the chance to work from home our selves which most people did on Fridays.

The organisation was really good I was always kept up to date in the next steps of the process by email. We were given "buddies" who we had phone calls with 2/3 times before joining which was great to ask and questions to. However, I felt that we were told our placement location quite late on which made it a bit difficult to find suitable accommodation, but that wasn't necessary really bad as everyone was able to find accommodation.

We had induction training for the first 2 days which were great to learn more about the business in general as well as technical knowledge about the specific functions. Throughout the placement, I completed online e-learning modules about supply chain. I asked my manager if I was able to do this and she authorised me to get access to the system. We were given "work plan goals" for the placement which meant we were really adding value to the organisation and we actually had goals to aim for.

The placement has exposed me to what it is like working in supply chain and about the culture at Unilever. I found it really great and I hope to receive an offer for the graduate scheme. If you pass the placement, you are offered a job on the scheme, following an assessment centre. In the office, there are quite a few current graduates which were always friendly and up for a chat to get to know more about what it is like to be on the UFLP.

All of the placement students arranged social events which was really fun. This was not only mixing with other placement students but grads to which was great. With regards to socialising with colleagues, it depends on your team. I personally didn't have any social events with my team, but I know of a few people who went on staff nights out or meals with their team so it just depends on the people you work with.

Cost of living was quite high, mainly accommodation as we had to organise it quite last minute. Prices in restaurants/bars were average and just the normal price you would expect to pay in any large city. There was loads to do for socialising and everyone on the placement was always keen to do things at night or at weekends which made the whole placement really fun.

Nightlife was really good there was so much choice. All the placement students went out together on a frequent basis, whether that be for a few drinks after work or a night out.

I personally didn't get involved in any activities but a few others took part in activities such as football and cricket.