Supply Chain Management Placement student Review

Immensely. I felt welcomed from the first instance, with a very efficient and friendly onboarding process. Meeting the team was a breeze, in my opinion Unilever attracts very positive/up beat people, making nearly all interactions comfortable. In terms of workflow, the placement really will be what you make of it (Without sounding too cliché). My Manager gave me real freedom/flexibility to build up my own approaches to each of my Projects. If you want responsibility, they will give it to you. So make sure to make the most of this, as you won't find it in every company.

Completely. I felt a little nervous at first to give my input on certain matters, due to being a placement student (compared to my colleagues who had endless years of industrial experience). However, I soon realised that this was a limitation of myself and not the company. Unilever has a very open approach to tackling problems, taking input from everyone, as they understand a good idea can come from anywhere. In fact, I ended up finding they took a special interest to the ideas of their fresh eyed colleagues, with University students commonly giving unique and unthought of avenues to difficult/longstanding problems.

In my personal experience, my Manager has been very supportive and helpful during my placement. I always felt like I could fall back / rely on him during difficult times, in both a work and wellbeing sense. Even with significant support, I never felt micromanaged or controlled. It will vary slightly from Manager to Manager, but its seemed their approach is for Managers to be a resource that can be relied on / used when needed, however allow full freedom in ideas/approaches for the individuals under their management.

There was an initial trough in workload due to you being so new to the business. This for me was for around 2-4weeks, in which you are essentially a sponge soaking up as much business knowledge up as possible. This period is also for general settling in, meaning a heavy work load would not be suitable. Once you become accustomed to the business / sector, like mentioned before, the placement is what you make of it. There is always work to be done, and you as a responsible individual are expected to manage your time accordingly. If you want to pick up more work, there is always the option. However, if you feel overwhelmed, there are always options to slowdown/drop workstreams.

Lots. as I mentioned earlier, if you want the responsibility, they will offer it to you. How much responsibility you take on is dependent on your appetite for it (with appropriate safeguarding from your manager, i.e. if they think something might be too much to ask of you they will step in). You will be working on live projects that make a real world impact, and their completion/progress is on you. I was actually quite stunned at the beginning how much they entrust to you as a placement student, however this is definitely what has made the placement for me. Its only when you push and stretch yourself that you develop.

In terms of my degree (Mechanical engineering), it is very heavily based on subject knowledge(Lots of which won't have come up in my everyday roll), so in all honesty I doubt it will help in that facet. HOWEVER, placement teaches you things a lot deeper rooted than this. You develop a new way of thinking on matters, meaning you approach problems in different ways. You are around SME's day in day out, learning how they think, picking up the struts along the way. Through this, I feel like I will now approach my degree in a different way, one for the better. On to beyond degree studies, its a no brainer that experience in a FMCG's company is going to increase your expertise in that field moving forward. However, again due to my adapted thinking, I feel I can now go into a range of different sectors with a new and improved way of tackling problems and thinking creatively.

Good ! Everyone was friendly and very welcoming. If you have a genuine interest in the sector that you are going in, you're going to have a lot in common with your colleagues. In terms of socialising out of work, it will change office to office. Some teams were very tight knit, going out on regular socials and keeping very connected. However this was not quite the same in mine, luck of the draw really.

Very good. There is an internal team whose sole dedication is to keep the scheme on track. They kept in regular contact with us during placement, and ensured everyone was following the same general track of development. However, the company as a whole do enable a lot of freedom, to the benefit of yourself. If a certain project or workstream isn't working out, they'll always juggle things around to make sure you get as much from the placement as possible.

A lot. There's an internal platform which is used for training all employees on a vast expanse of subject matters. If you were working in an area that was new to you, you could always fall back on this resource to clue you up. Along with this, anything you show a significant interest in, people will be happy to invest time training you up on. This is of course alongside all of the mandatory training to allow you to carry out your given roll. Just further, in my opinion, the best development for me was the roll itself. The fact that you're working on live projects and met with real problems really builds your skill set like nothing else.

This will depend person to person. Half of the point of a placement year in my opinion is to see how much of a fit you are for a company, and vice versa. If you get on well and are suited, there is an opportunity to have a fast tracked application to their graduate scheme. Along with this, there are plenty of direct entry rolls available, of which you will have a massive advantage in due to your company knowledge / experience.

It really depended on area. There seemed to be a large hub down South in terms of students from different areas and departments coming together. However, this did seem to lack a little up North. Saying that, in terms of a direct friends group, you won't have a problem there. It is likely you will know the majority of placement students on your site, allowing for personal friendships to blossom.

Obviously depends massively on location. I was lucky in mine however, rent was very cheap(Especially for the luxury compared to any of my Uni houses), and general goods seemed of reasonable price. Saying that, be very cautious of drink prices - definitely pays off to know where the good local spots are (With lots of places seeming to bump up prices to catch you on your ignorance.. of which I was caught).

Outstanding. Bar the aforementioned drink prices, nights out were what really gave the placement the work life balance. Booming city, with plenty of things to do and people to meet.

Plenty. As previously mentioned, I was located in a very lively city, with deeply embedded culture. There was something to do for everyone really. Amazing night life / bar scene, along with gorgeous views & walking locations. Like any big city you will have expanse of clubs that span all possible interest/hobbies. The city is your Oyster.