Customer Executive Review

Thoroughly enjoyed my year long placement at Unilever. I gained so much valuable knowledge not only throughout my day to day role but also from the different things going on throughout the business. It has a very friendly culture with everyone more than happy to help you/give advice and feedback and help you learn as much as possible.

I felt completely valued by my colleagues, this was within my immediate team, wider team and the whole function I work in. They create an inclusive climate through team meetings/huddles, catch ups, and social events to ensure everyone feels together. Not only this but wellbeing is spoke about often so you get the feeling people actually care about you.

Given complete support and guidance from my line manager throughout the whole placement. Whether that be from a work perspective where they would ensure they are giving you opportunities to learn and develop skills, and also through pushing you to make sure you are completing things to the best of your ability. Also the support given on a personal level to ensure wellbeing is good has been incredible.

Day to day busyness often changed as everyday seemed different in such a fast moving environment. Some days could be quite busy with various deadlines and different requests. Then others it was slightly quieter where you could find time to put more detail into work and also the chance to think about personal development which I find has been really important on this year.

I was given responsibility to have ownership over my part of the business and to work with external buyers to create and manage a relationship and an account. Although some things need signing off by people higher in the business, you have the ability to make decisions.

Unilever offer many different training opportunities which you have the opportunity to take complete advantage of and I've found completely helpful. Also taking interest into some training allowed me to develop deeper understanding of this. From various activites within the role itself it allowed me to develop skills such as communicaiton, team working and presenting which I think will be benefitical for wherever I want to progress in my career.

The atmosphere was always very cheery and had a very positive vibe to it. The atmosphere encouraged you to be yourself and also to have the confidence to speak to anyone else in the office - something which I think is great on a placement year as I was able to speak to anyone!

Very well organised. This was through many different things such as the onboarding. You were given a buddy from your function and they were able to answer any questions and give overall support. There was also site visits and meet ups organised before a induction event which gave plenty of options to meet other placement students! On the actual placement, training opportunites, appraisals and feedback sessions were organised in advance which was great having it set up and knowing the expectations for the year.

There was plenty of training and development sessions through the year! This was great for being on a placement year as I am very eager to learn and it is such a different insight when it is in a workplace/actual exeperience as oppsoe to being in university. These sessions were also great for networking and meeting other people in the business.

Unilever offers 3 different methods of future employment prospects, one being the Unilever Future Leaders Programme, and the other direct hire. Both are very appealing as Unilever has stuck me as a great company to work for. There is also so many people who are happy to give advice and talk through your options for after the placement year.

Yes a great social scene. We often would arrange to have placement lunches within the office restaurant which was a great time to catch up with people and hear about their experiences in their role. Also, we reguralry organised social events outside of work such as junkyard golf, aqua park, and gigs - so much fun and definitely had an impact on how great the year has been!

I lived outside of London therefore the price of living and socialising was lower than those living in London. However, compared to university (i go in Newcastle) it is very different! However, it is managable to social often and live well if you bugdet yourself, similar to how I would at University.

I worked in Leatherhead and there wasn't much nightlife going on there. However, closer to London there is so much going on and so many different vibes, so something for everyone! It wasn't difficult to get train/tube into London and there was plenty of buses to get you home at the end of your night.

We had different sporting leagues throughout my placement year such as netball, rounders and dodgeball. These were a great way to interact with your team and also with people on different teams. It was really easy to get involved, i didn't have a car myself but someone is always happy to give you a lift and drop you off at a train station.