Assistant Brand Manager Review

This industrial placement at Unilever has given me a great opportunity to learn and build upon skills that I began to develop at university in a working environment. You are given responsibility from day one to lead and manage projects, whilst having the support from your team. I have enjoyed my year at Unilever in HR, where I have gained business insights and help me decide on my future career path.

From the beginning of my HR Industrial Placement I was given big projects to lead upon, which made me feel valued and trusted by the team. A lot of my team either worked part time or from another location, so I had learn to communicate via skype and emails a lot, however I still felt I was valued and had their support.

I had a line manager, along with two other employees who I worked with directly on different aspects of HR. I could approach them if I had any questions or needed any additional support, however the culture of Unilever is to encourage employees to first of all try to find the answers themselves as that is the best way to learn and develop. I received regular feedback from them to ensure continuous development as well as two formal reviews against the Standards of Leadership (one at six months and one at the end of placement). I also had a mentor whom I met with on a regular basis to discuss how my placement was going and if I needed any additional. I had access to additional eLearning courses to develop skills in areas such as assertiveness and project management.

The nature of my HR Industrial Placement and my work plan meant that my work load fluctuated depending on what events or projects I had to deliver on at the time. I always had tasks to complete, just at times I was busier than others due to the nature of the recruitment process and cycle in which my team manages.

During my placement, I was giving large amounts of responsibility, managing the undertaking of a number of high profile projects. However, I did always have the support of my line manager and consulted her on any important decisions made, but largely worked autonomously. Interns are very much valued and seen as regular employees, therefore are given real responsibility from day 1!

During my placement, I have learnt many invaluable lessons and gained transferable skills that will benefit me no matter what profession I enter. These skills range from stakeholder management to communication and networking. Whilst my placement will not directly impact on my degree, I believe there is no substitute lesson for your first job and at Unilever, you will gain skills that will carry you for the rest of your career.

The office is lovely. It's a very casual office and feels like a really friendly environment to work in. There is a gym on site and you can go down at lunch time or after work or whenever you want really which is nice because if you're busy in the evening you can fit it in at other times. The environment is very modern and adaptable which makes work much more flexible and rewarding.

Very well organised. We had a really informative induction week and have had events throughout the year so we can see how everyone is getting on. All the assessment is made clear from the beginning so you know what you are working towards as they set out standards of leadership for you to demonstrate during your time at Unilever.

You are able to attend lots of training sessions throughout the year by signing up on the online training manual. This allows you to attend things outside your normal job role and explore other areas of the business. Much of the training is given by external personnel but they still allow placement students to attend which is great because you can learn about things outside of unilever too.

Very appealing. Unilever's Future Leaders Programme (grad scheme) offers many opportunities across the business but is very competitive to get a place on. You do rotations during your 3 years with Unilever so you can see other parts of the business. It's such a lovely place to work so securing 3 years with the business isn't a bad start.

Unilever didn't host any social events for the placement students, except from the induction event at the start of placement and then bringing all the interns together for a mid and end of year review session. There was a good atmosphere among the interns at the Leatherhead Office where we would meet up and I went on holiday with a big group of them! The only downside is that placement students don't tend to live in the same areas which makes meeting up for social events hard.

I lived nearer London than Surrey so this was obviously expensive however Surrey isn't much cheaper and therefore I'd say it was very expensive to live here. About £700/month just for rent and bills. Commuting was also very expensive and Unilever don't pay for this. It's a fun area to live but definitely isn't good if you're looking for a value option.

The Leatherhead office is quite out in the sticks so socialising was quite difficult as it's in the middle of nowhere with no pubs/bars etc in walking distance. You can always arrange nights out in London and meet with friends from work but it is more difficult to go for work drinks than it would be if you worked in a London based office where you can walk to the pub after work.

Yeah lots. Unilever employees do a lot of volunteering so you can get involved with various schemes such as movement to work and young enterprise among others. This means you can take time away from your day job and get involved with things that interest you. The business are generally happy to support any extra curricular activities.