Graduate Talent Specialist Review

Great first experience in a FMCG company. Provided me with highly valuable experiences and insights into how a business operates. I've been able to upskill and develop in several areas e.g. business acumen, agility, confidence and have felt supported throughout my placement experience. The placement network is great but you also have the rest of the future careers network i.e. apprentices and grads. Regular social events are organised within the placement network. Many also live together. Flexible working was also a huge benefit.

Unilever definitely really values their placement students. You are trusted to deliver, yet supported by your colleagues. The work I completed was certainly recognised and valued by my colleagues and stakeholders. I was always involved in team discussions and encouraged to share my opinions which were always listened to and considered.

Unilever has a very supportive culture. Everyone is willing to help others whether that be answering your questions or providing advice etc. I felt very well supported. Line management style can vary in terms of the level of guidance you receive - some encourage you to be more autonomous, others may more readily supply you with guidance. This also varies as you progress with your placement and become more confident in your role.

On the whole I would say I had the right amount of workload. At times I felt my workload was quite high, perhaps more at the beginning as I was new and getting used to the level of workload and then mid-end of my placement as I wanted to have a high workload to maximise my experiences. But if ever I felt overwhelmed I could always reach out to my manager/team for support. I was happy with the workload as it enabled me to learn and experience a lot.

Placement students at Unilever are certainly given real responsibility. The work I was completing had real and important impacts which really motivated me to deliver. I was given my own projects to lead on, but equally I was aware of the support network I could seek help and guidance from.

I learnt how to get better at prioritisation and planning. This will help me become more efficient and effective in my final year of University. I also became more confident and comfortable with talking to/working with people of varying ages and levels of management which I believe is a skill you will always need in life. There was a number of soft and transferable skills I learnt/developed at Unilever e.g. excel skills, communication, teamwork, leadership etc.

The atmosphere in my office was very relaxed, friendly and welcoming. Everyone works really hard but equally you can grab a coffee with a colleague for a quick break/catch up. You don't have to sit and work in silence, you can ask your team mates questions or can freely have a discussion when appropriate.

The work placement set up is organised well. The onboarding process ran smoothly and was engaging. From the beginning you are clearly made aware of who your key points of contact are and their responsibilities. A placement roadmap is outlined to you with key milestones and dates. You are also provided with sufficient resources to aid this.

At Unilever there is a great online learning resource which holds endless and endless amounts of learning resources that is available to all placement students. A number of face to face learning sessions are also available to placement students for example, excel workshops, purpose workshops, data dashboard building workships etc.

Unilever has a fantastic graduate scheme that develops the next generation of future leader - it is called the Unilever Future Leaders Programme. It is a great accelerated learning programme that the company heavily invests in which does appeal to me. I love the Unilever company culture and values so I would like to continue to work in this company.

Yes both. Unilever takes on quite a few summer and industrial placement students which you are well connect with from the beginning. A lot of students live together and regular social events are organised e.g. top golf, quizzes etc. Team events are also organised e.g. netball league, away days etc. There is also a great Christmas party.

The cost of living and socialising was quite high as I lived in London, but the salary I received from Unilever meant I was able to afford this.

There was a couple of good pubs in the area and a Weatherspoons.

Yes, the placement students stayed very well connect via facebook chats and regularly organised social events ranging from nights out to top golf to takeaway nights and so on. There was also opportunities such as the Pride parade, Christmas party, netball leagues, football leagues, team away days, quizzes, birthday celebrations etc.