Surf Summer Intern Review

Unilever is a really evolved workplace that really cares about work-life balance. You are given a lot of responsibility and trusted to deliver on your projects which makes it really rewarding and means you learn quickly on the job. The intern network has made it so enjoyable. The HR team do a great job in facilitating this through a fantastic onboarding process which allows everyone to meet each other before the first day - no first day jitters!

This is definitely not a company where you are viewed as inferior because you're an intern. Your opinions are expected and valued. Some of the suggestions I have made have already been implemented and will be on shelves, in consumers hands, in 6 months time. Homecare is a really close department and they are constantly asking for others' opinions on projects and utilising your skills for different projects.

My manager sat me down at the start of my internship and asked what I wanted to gain out of the experience and what sort of projects I would like to work on. I had regular 1-1s with her to ensure my work was being approved and a weekly sit down to ensure everything was going ok. My mid-placement review was really structured to ensure we both knew where I stood in relation to the standards of leadership and my work plan for my end of placement review.

I told my manager early on that I was someone who liked to be busy and worked much better when they had a lot to do. As you are given so much responsibility, you are always busy at Unilever. This was balanced out however, because every week we would have a team meeting and discuss what was on our priority list for the week and tasks would be delegated to other team members if you were too busy!

As previously mentioned, you are given a lot of responsibility at Unilever and trusted to deliver on your projects. I was given a product and asked to lead it, meaning I could make on-pack claim changes, suggest changes for pack size and design, do an in depth view of competitors and act as a mini brand manager. This was great exposure to what it could be like being a brand manager. I was also the brand lead on numerous projects where I was solely responsible for coordinating and delivering the business and brand objectives.

Unilever have a fantastic training system and you are sent mandatory or optional trainings almost everyday which you can choose to sign up to. The trainings I have completed have ranged from Nielsen and Kantar (data training), marketing essentials, influencer breakfasts and talks from ex-Googlers on how to get productive and work with different working styles.

The atmosphere is really great at Unilever. The spaces at the Headquarters in Leatherhead where I am based are all designed around the products/department and have lots of personality - not your typical office vibe! Everyone genuinely likes each other here, which means there are always jokes flying around the office and you really get to know the people you sit with.

I found out I was placed very early and so it was a really long wait without any communication to find out where I would be based, who my manager was and what I would be working on. However, from the induction to my manager's reviews, it has been so well run. Unilever really have nailed their onboarding process and it meant that all the interns were able to make friends before we even started which was such a relief and a massive help in the first few days.

We receive so much training at Unilever, and you are encouraged to experience other offices where possible. The trainings were delivered by Unilever employees and external individuals, which gave a real breadth of knowledge. My manager was also really focused on my development, and ensuring I was exposed to a variety of projects to fully allow me to develop and learn new skills.

Unilever have an end of placement review process which means you are assessed against your work plan and also the Unilever Standards of Leadership. Managers then get together at the end of the placement based on function to calibrate your assessment and scores. You have the potential to be fast-tracked to the final stage of the assessment centre for the graduate scheme.

As I've previously mentioned, the intern community has been one of the highlights of the summer. The induction event, where you stay away with the other interns, means you get to know everyone early on. We have lunch together every day and I've been acting events secretary to organise fortnightly socials after work. We've got an end of summer placement party planned where we've got a floor booked out in Soho for a fancy dress party. In my work team, we also have drinks after work and team lunches. We also came 3rd in the Unilever mixed netball league which sees teams across Unilever compete head to head each week (and gets very competitive!)

We have managed to find a lot of low cost options for social activities as an intern group. We've visited the Aqua Park in Thorpe, Junkyard Golf in London, Top Golf in Addlestone and hosted potluck dinners in people's houses. These events haven't costed more than £5-15 each. Our end of placement dinner is £25pp for 3 courses and a cocktail. I'm fortunate to be living with family but I know others have said that living in and around London can be really expensive.

Leatherhead is so close to London and depending on where you get placed you could be in central London. A lot of the interns live in Clapham or Wimbledon which has easy access to central London meaning the nightlife opportunities really are infinite! The office in Leatherhead itself is separate from the town centre so it doesn't have any pubs close to it but the shuttle bus to the station and the easy commute to London make it easy to go out.

There is a free on site gym which holds numerous classes everyday. It was great to get involved in this with some of the other team members and was a fun way to get to know others outside of work hours. The mixed social netball league was also a highlight and an amazing way to get to know other functions. Teams are created in your functions or brand teams and compete head to head each week over the summer before culminating in a finals night. It gets very competitive!!