Category Management IP Review

I really enjoyed my placement at Unilever. I've had that chance to work on an amazing range of projects and across several of the UK's major retailers. I've had huge amounts of responsibility but never more than I could handle. My team have all been really friendly and I've loved my time here.

I honestly couldn't feel like my team valued me any more. Everyone has been Super helpful and willing to help me whenever I have needed it. They are really good at giving you recognition for your work and my managers have really worked to highlight the rest of my work to the business.

My manager has been fantastic. She is literally like my mum at work. She's never got frustrated with all my constant questions and has constantly been supportive. She's eased me into my responsibilities and has always been there if I needed help! I couldn't have asked for a more supportive environment.

My role was very busy and there were a few times when I would have to work late although that's never expected of you. My days are full with real work which is nice because you don't spend your days felling like you need to find something to do to fill your time!

An unbelievable amount (in a really good way!). Within my first month i was presenting in front of customers and I've had the chance to really own my area of the business and have had sole responsibility for managing the relationship with my customers. I regularly go to customers on my own and lead meetings with them which is amazing!

Because my degree isn't actually in business studies I don't think it will necessarily aid my final year of my degree. However, lots of the skills i have developed from negotiation to relationship management will certainly aid me in my future career, not just in this industry but in any other that i go into which is great!

The atmosphere was very friendly but could perhaps have been a little more social. Everyone was very friendly and there was no such think as a stupid question. However, because most people work from home on a Friday and the office was a little outside of London people didn't normally go out after work which was the only downside of the placement.

The placement is well organised but most people's role will have to change a little over the course of the placement. I've had 3 roles which has been quite tough but I've been supported throughout this and it has proved an excellent learning opportunity. The managers are all excellent at easing you in to your role and there is support from HR and your function lead if you need it!

We had training organised at the end of the placement and then were able to opt into others as the placement progressed. The training were useful but perhaps could have been better as they got a little dull sometimes and were't always relevant to your role. however, the company really invests in your on the job development with a huge focus being put on ensuring you get to work on a range of projects that will allow you to grow your skills.

towards the end of the placement everyone is assessed on their potential for the graduate scheme and there are also opportunities to be hired directly into the company. All in all if you work hard on your placement year the opportunities for future employment are excellent as you could well be in a managerial role within 3 years of graduating.

We did have a few socials however not that many. The company didn't organize any specific socials for us which would have been nice. The social scene largely depended on how many placement students were on your team. As I was the only one on my team there wasn't a huge amount going on unfortunately.

I lived in London and then commuted to surrey for work so the cost of living was very high. That being said there are loads of things that you can do for free in London and we defiantly made the most of those, just get used to paying £5 for a pint!

My office was outside of London and so there wasn't much night life going on around the office. Most people live in south London and commute out to the office so there are of course more opportunities to go out there (although its not cheap!). This was probably one of the biggest downsides of the placement.

There were sports teams to get involved with. We had the chance to play netball, rounders, and dodge ball in tournaments against the other teams and this was really fun. There are also loads of charity opportunities such as large sponsored walks and cycles and volunteering opportunities at food banks and running self confidence workshops in local schools.