Credit Analyst Review

Kimberly-Clark was an amazing company to work for, the experiences and people really made my time there. The office environment had a very friendly, helpful and supportive atmosphere The work I completed during the year was greatly valued by my team leaders and managers, making me feel very valued and appreciated. I was based in Brighton for the year which only added to my enjoyment of the year - being in such a vibrant, open culture with so much to do and experience meant I looked forward to every day and was saddened to leave!

Because the department I worked in was very target based, each individual was set personal targets in order to accomplish a departmental target. One outcome of this was that the hard work put in was that it could be seen by all and if you succeed, was very well appreciated by all. Also, due to the very communal environment the office has, I was welcomed and made to feel like one of the team on day one - there was no delay nor was I made to feel like an outsider/placement student that was only there for a year. I was part of the 'family' as people welcomed and took on board alternative perspectives and opinions in order to improve and streamline processes.

Kimberly-Clark takes great pride in its personal and performance development programmes, and so my personal development has progressed because of this fact, through the “Building Talent” Leadership quality they employ. Although I was only at Kimberly-Clark for a restricted period of time, my team leaders ensured that I was involved in this programme to not only measure my performance, but also drive my personal development. I scheduled regular feedback sessions with my colleagues and attended quarterly reviews with my team leaders in order to identify and address any training gaps.

Like with any role, you will find days where there are too few hours in the day and days where there is insufficient to fill the hours and I experienced both on my placement year. On 90% of days,I found the workload would be virtually a perfect balance - obviously it requires flexibility on both sides however. There would always be something to do or to help a colleague with a task if there was a spare hour in the day.

Although it took approximately 2 weeks before I was fully responsible and accountable for anything, this soon changed and for 11 of the 12 months I was responsible for approximately 500 accounts - 65% of which based in the UK and the remaining 35% based around the world. The fact that a percentage of my responsibility was based in over-sea's accounts, made it feel like I was being entrusted with a much greater depth of responsibility which was greatly appreciated after such a short time in the company. The level of accountability was also very high due to the level of responsibility - we were set individual and team targets to which we would have to meet, therefore if you didnt succeed it was on you as to why not.

This placement year has been invaluable to me, both in terms of the skills I have developed along with the experience I have gained. From this year, I have noted a distinct difference between the skills gained through my academic life compared to those gained in a work environment. There have been those gained in academia that have been able to be developed and molded to suit a business environment but I believe nothing hones skills like experience and that is why I have appreciated this past year so much.

The office environment was a great mix between hard work and play - all my colleagues were very social, both within the office and outside of it. Although there were times, primarily at month and quarter-ends, when the office was tense in anticipation of meeting targets the rest of the time was relaxed but everyone had the mindset to work and succeed.

Our year was the first year Kimberly-Clark ran a Fiance placement, and so there could have been slightly better tailoring of the internship to meet more of an undergraduates needs. They have run a graduate scheme for a number of years and so got the impression that the same strategy was used - I had expected to learn and experience certain aspects of the company and role that unfortunately did not get completed until the final few months of my year.

See answer to question 3.

The graduate scheme with Kimberly-Clark is, personally, very very attractive! I was incredibly fortunately to receive a graduate offer at the end of my placement which I accepted.

There were 2 other placement students in the Brighton office with myself, along with a number of graduates as well. My colleagues, although varying in age, were all young at heart and loved to party therefore there was frequently people to socialize with.

Brighton, being known as London By The Sea, was somewhat expensive in terms of living costs especially within Brighton itself. Living with the other 2 placement students, we were fortunate enough to find a great place in Hove (top floor flat right on the seafront) for £400/month. Being a large student city, the cost of socializing was relatively cheap however.

There were some amazing clubs and nights out experienced in Brighton...I absolutely loved it!

The Brighton office ran a Sports and Social club that would send round monthly emails providing details of subsidized offers in and around Brighton - anything from Brighton Fashion Week to interhouse sport activities.