Finance Industrial Placement Student Review

I really enjoyed my placement at Unilever - I was able to work in two different areas of the business which were both very interesting and meant that I learnt a lot over my 12 months there. The people were really friendly and I was given a lot of responsibilities but always had the support there if I needed it.

My colleagues were always very friendly. As I had a lot of responsibility, most of the time I felt very valued and colleagues listened to my points of view. Sometimes it was a little hard to get people who were much more senior to engage in what I needed from them and sometimes it needed a nudge from my line manager, however most of the time my colleagues were very helpful and I felt they valued me.

My managers were very supportive, particularly in my first few months when I was still learning a lot and trying to get to grips with the ways of working. They were always happy to answer any questions and help me get trained up in the right areas. I also had a mentor/supervisor who I could go to if I had any worries in my work that I didn't want to go to my line manager about - she also gave career advice which was really useful.

Most days I was relatively busy. My first role was consistently relatively busy but I never left past 6pm, however my second role was more up and down as we had short deadlines which meant that occasionally I would work until 8pm or later but other times I wouldn't be very busy.

I was given a lot of responsibility, pretty much from the beginning. This was a little scary but meant that I learnt a lot very quickly and learnt how to be accountable for things. By the second month of my placement I was the lead of one project and co-ordinated with many people from other functions, and during my second role I was also the global lead for an initiative.

I have gained many skills this year, from specific to my role and course at uni, to transferable skills that I will have for life. This year has definitely enabled me to put into practice what I have learnt in lectures and will hopefully help me understand what I am taught in the future as I have experienced it in a business environment. Skills such as presenting, communication, team work and organisation will be skills that I will take back to uni and beyond.

Most of the time, the office was fun and buzzing. Everyone was really friendly and happy to chat as long as we still got our work done properly. If there was a really busy time then there would be less talking but it is still a nice atmosphere - even the brand decorations in office make it fun. Team lunches occurred often and my team often did social events outside of work too, e.g. BBQs or drinks etc.

The work placement was very well organised. There was an official onboarding weekend with all of the new interns where we got to speak to current placement students and grads about their experience so far. We also received our laptops on the first day and met our managers, with my work plan already in my inbox when I logged into my laptop. I had regular check ups with my manager and had work goals that I was working towards and was assessed on at the end. We also had events with all the interns, for example mid placement presentations where we could present to each other and to more senior colleagues about what we had done so far.

There was lots of opportunity for personal development, we had our 3 work goals but also had an extra goal where the company allows you to have a plus one. For interns you are allocated something to work on for your plus one but other colleagues are able to choose it as something they are interested in developing outside of their role. There were a lot of training sessions and learning sessions with colleagues, however they weren't always advertised as well as they could have which meant I missed out on a few at the beginning.

The Unilever Future Leaders Programme is a very highly thought of graduate scheme, where you get to work on 3 work placement rotations in different areas of the business, even with opportunity to travel abroad. Past the grad scheme there are so many opportunities in the company, and so many areas to go into. There is scope for progression through very hard work, particularly if you have been on the grad scheme.

My work team were very social and we had several BBQs over the summer, went out for drinks several times and dinners for birthdays and other celebrations. There was also a overall social scene with the work Christmas party and the new year kick off. The interns also had a good social scene as many of us lived near to each other and saw each other socially outside of work for nights out or dinners etc. A group of us even went on 2 holidays during our intern year.

As the offices are all either in London or near London, the cost of living is relatively high. However the further from London you live, for example past Wimbledon it gets a bit cheaper but is still very expensive compared to other parts of the country. The bars around London are also pretty expensive, however there are good happy hours and can get deals on dinners at certain times. There are a few pubs near the Leatherhead office which are more reasonably priced.

The nightlife near the Leatherhead office isn't very good, however most people go to Wimbledon/ Clapham/ Central London where the night life is very good. The central London office has many bars, pubs and clubs nearby. From any of the offices it is quick and easy to get public transport to very good night life areas.

There are many external clubs and activities to join in the London or Surrey area, and the company supported you if you had a club or society to get to after work. With the company there weren't lots of sports/ other activities outside of work, I was expecting for there to be lot of sports clubs advertised but although they exist they aren't advertised very well. Some teams start up their own clubs, for example one brand has joined a London Softball league which I managed to get involved in.