Finance Placement Student Review

I very much enjoyed my year spent within the finance department at Unilever. I found Unilever to be a very supportive working environment and I met some truly inspiring and dedicated people during my time there. I would very much recommend this placement year to anyone else interested as it is a fantastic place to begin a career!

From day one, I felt extremely well valued by my colleagues at Unilever. Throughout the year, they supported and encouraged me, always appreciative of the work that I was completing. Furthermore, my team took the effort to invite me to team events and after work drinks, which was a really nice touch.

Throughout my time at Unilever, I was provide a high level of support by both my team and line manager. Furthermore, my team and line manager took the time to provide comprehensive feedback on all of my work, which I found really beneficial and allowed me to continually improve and develop.

On a day to day basis, I was busy, however I never felt overwhelmed by the work that I was assigned. Most days, my working hours were 9am - 5pm, however as Unilever operates a flexible working policy, if I arrived early, I was able to leave work earlier in the evenings.

I was really pleased with the level of responsibility that I was given during my placement year. I was assigned two individual projects, which remained my responsibility to manage and execute. My line manager had general oversight, however I had the autonomy to make day to day decisions and I really enjoyed the responsibility.

I will certainty use the skills developed and training received in the future. As this was my first 'proper job', I have learnt an invaluable amount and developed an array of new skills, namely communication, time management and presentation skills. All skills will be highly beneficial for my degree and life beyond that.

I found there to be a really great general atmosphere at Unilever. It is a really warm, welcoming and open working environment . Everyone I met were so friendly and it was very easy to chat to people at the coffee stations or over lunch. Overall, a great general atmosphere!

Overall, the placement year was very well organised. Before I began the placement, HR and the Early Careers Team was in frequent contact, providing me with all the information I needed to begin. They connected all the interns so we could arrange housing before we started. On the first day, we had a comprehensive induction and throughout the placement, we had a good number of talks and training sessions.

Throughout my time at Unilever, I felt extremely well invested in. The induction session prepared us well for joining the company, providing us with a good basis of training. Over the course of the year, my line manager invested heavily in my personal development and I have left the organisation more confident and prepared for work life.

Future employment prospects at Unilever are good! I was extremely lucky to have been offered a place on the Unilever Future Leaders Programme (in other words, Unilever's graduate scheme) and I could not be more thrilled. I believe that Unilever is a really great place to begin my career as there is such a strong focus on personal development.

There was a really great social scene amongst the placement students! We would very often social together after work, during lunch times or go to the gym together. I lived with 3 other placement students and I have now made some really great friends for life! Furthermore, my team was very social!

Leatherhead, which is based on the outskirts of London, is quite pricey but we managed to find reasonable accommodation and Unilever paid well.

There were a couple of nice pubs and restuarants next to the office and it was very easy to get into Central London, where the nightlife is great!

Yes, there are so many different opportunities, ranging from the onsite gym to the vast amount of volunteering opportunities available to employees.