Chocolate Research Development and Quality Review

I had a very enjoyable placement at Mondelez which led me to increase the duration of the placement by a further 2 months during summer before returning to university. This placement allowed me to meet many new people and colleagues and experience working in a large global FMCG company which was a great experience.

I felt highly valued by colleagues, regularly being given the opportunity to present my work in team meetings or to colleagues overseas. This reinforced the importance of my work and made me feel highly valued in the team and company.

The level of support I was given by my manager was fantastic. I was able to challenge myself to learn and develop new skills with the right guidance and advice. One particular skill which was developed with great support from my manager was presentation skills. My team would always offer support and welcomed any questions, this allowed me to get even more out of my placement year.

Over my placement, I had a great balance of practical work and office based work. With more experience I could learn how to manage my time effectively to ensure I had and maintained a good balance of work.

Over the placement, I was given increasing responsibility for projects and ideas. I found this worked well as during the first few months it was important to learn skills and ways of working before taking on more responsibility. I found this worked well and really enjoyed having responsibility for the projects I was given.

The placement has increased many skills not only for completion of my degree but also for life. The time management skills I have received have allowed me to return to University to use my time more efficiently. The practical skills I have also strengthened have impacted on my confidence in a lab environment and independent working. Presentation and professionalism skills are skills which I have developed which are important life skills.

The atmosphere in the office was great and very friendly. Everyone was highly approachable if you had any questions on a particular area.

The placement was highly organised. As I was not familiar with the area of Birmingham, I found it very useful to be provided with landlords and information on the area in terms of finding a house. It was also great to be provided with email addresses of other interns so we could set up a house, which worked well.

I had a great experience of being able to attend other Mondelez sites such as Reading and Sheffield and trials abroad. I felt this enabled me to further enhance my learning in the company. In addition to being able to travel to different sites, I also felt the company invested a lot of time in my learning, having regular meetings to check on my progress and learning first hand how to make chocolate from team members was highly beneficial.

Future employment prospects are highly appealing and I am highly grateful to be offered a job to return to the company upon completion of my degree.

As there was a large number of interns, the social scene was great. The placement allowed me to meet many new people from different areas of the country and there was always something to do in the large city of Birmingham. The social aspect was also great amongst colleagues, regularly having team meals and department events.

The cost of living was similar to University due to living in the student area of Birmingham. It was easy and fairly cheap to access the city centre of Birmingham by train and work was accessible by walking. I thought the area was very reasonable in terms of living and socialising.

The nightlife was great, there was always something going on on a Friday or Saturday night in the city centre due to the large city. In addition, there was plenty of bars/cinema/restaurants/concerts to see, all easily accessible.

Outside of work it was possible to partake in volunteering opportunities. A subsidised on site gym also provided an activity outside work, which ran many classes and activities and it was great to attend with colleagues.