Finance Industrial Placement Review

I have enjoyed my time working at Unilever. The culture of helping others and creating relationships with a wide range of individuals is extremely welcoming, with good support systems in place to help you achieve your goals. Being one of many placement students also helps the opportunity to make friends.

I felt the work I undertook was on the whole valued by colleagues. Most people where interested to use the work I produced and grateful for the insights. The only time this was lacking was when it created more work for others, often found they were then less receptive to helping deliver pieces of work.

I received great support throughout my placement from team members if I ever needed assistance delivering a piece of work. However, I didn't receive much guidance on how I could perform better until very near the end of my placement, leaving little time to change the outcome of my performance review.

I was often very busy, and generally I found that if for some reason I was bored then by asking for my work it was possible to get involved in other work streams, meaning it was very rare that I was bored for a long time. Overall a good balance of work.

I was given a good level of responsibility throughout my placement, it clearly set out what was expected of me for any pieces of work undertaken, so I understood what needed to be delivered. I don't think too much responsibility was given to me, so it was a good balance.

I think I have definitely developed skills which will help me in my degree and future career. From a degree point of view, I haven't developed skills specific to my course, but the work ethic and communication skills will definitely be useful for my degree. The analytical skills i have developed will certainly be very useful for future jobs

The atmosphere was fine, I spent 6 months on the corporate floor which was quiet/intense, followed by 6months in a larger team where the atmosphere was more lively (only spent 2 months here before working from home began). Overall the atmosphere was okay, people happy to help if needed but generally quiet.

The placement was well organised, good structure with 2 rotations with in 2 different teams to gain greater exposure. Only downside was the end of placement review seemed less well organised, confusion about who and when final decisions were going to be made. Clearer communication on this would be good.

The company invested in my personal development with the opportunity to take on challenging pieces of work that would push me to develop many skills. There was little emphasis on training but lots of resources available so if you are keen to learn there is lots of opportunities to do so.

There are good future prospects, with opportunities to get fast tracked on to a 3 year graduate scheme with rotations across the business. There is also the opportunity to go straight into an entry level job if not successful on the gad scheme, with managers offering support to find suitable roles.

There was a good social scene, organised by fellow placement colleagues, meeting for drinks and so on. Made more difficult by being split between different offices - only 10 students at my office. Obviously drastically reduced by the coronavirus outbreak but socials have somewhat continued online with zoom calls instead

Cost of living is very high, have to live in a specific area between 2 offices for finance as they couldnt confirm if both rotations would be in the same office - central london and leatherhead, leaves only limited area commutable to both. SW London is only real option - expensive Socializing was expensive as drinks in central London are not cheap..

We often went for drinks after work on a Friday, with lots of bars close to the London office to choose from. They are however very expensive so didn't often go out for very long, preferred to do so further out of the centre where it is a bit cheaper.

Each placement student is assigned a '+1' activity, outside your usual scope of work. This was a good chance to get involved in something - mine was to go to University campuses and talk to students at careers fairs about placement and graduate job opportunities. There wasn't much outside of this available.