HR Advisor Review

I really enjoyed it. My role was exactly what I was hoping for and I'm sad to leave it. At times it was stressful as with any job so you do need to be dedicated to it and enjoy the scope of the role. The team is great and there are so many learning opportunities, and since it is so people-based, you get a lot of satisfaction from helping employees with their problems.

From the start I was treated like I was a member of the team and within my first week I felt like I had been there for months. Everyone I worked with was so friendly and willing to help. My role is heavily team-based and most activities involve working in groups and my input was always considered with the same weight as other people's.

I didn't sit in the same building as any of my managers/supervisors and they managed a wider team beyond just me so it wasn't a daily mentor relationship. However whenever I reached out they would devote time to helping me, and reviewed my performance throughout the year using their own judgement and getting feedback from other people.

In the first month or so it was a bit quiet while I was getting used to the role and introducing myself to the team and the wider business. But once I got more involved in my projects and my day to day job, I always had plenty of work to be doing, supplemented with learning opportunities and ongoing training. I never had to work unsociable hours or take my work home with me.

I was functionally an admin for the rest of the team day-to-day but I was given the same project scopes as regular employees. In that sense, I was given a reasonable amount of responsibility and people did count on me to get things done. I was accountable for delivering things that relied on me only, but I was supported by colleagues when needed.

I can see the things I learned in this year being assessed in my next year of university and I learned things on the job that I know someone who didn't do a placement year would not be exposed to. Some things I learned are Unilever-specific but so much of what I was trained on and learned about would be applicable not just in my future career, but in life as well. My work also enhanced soft skills that I had begun to develop before joining.

It was great. The office was closed off, we couldn't be in open plan because we worked on confidential things, so there was always chatting in between calls and we would go to get tea or coffee together on breaks. My team & I all got along really well with each other, and everyone always had time to talk if you needed help with something or just wanted a friendly chat. In fact the atmosphere in the office is probably the thing I will miss the most.

The first 3-4 weeks weren't the most smooth because it took a little bit of time to allocate projects and roles to me. Equally it naturally took some time to get me trained and ready to do my job. However once that and my IT access was all sorted, the rest fell perfectly into place.

Personal development is an integral part of working at Unilever so it was ingrained in my job. My supervisors provided me with training calls every other month on general knowledge in my function, and I was encouraged to take part in Purpose workshops. There is also Degreed, the learning platform, that you are always encouraged to utilise which helps with development. During Covid and working from home there are more frequent calls to support learning & development as well.

For the grad scheme you have to be geographically mobile which for most people is the main thing to consider. They also are based on rotations in different areas of the function so you get a rounded idea of the project. If you don't go the grad scheme route there is also opportunity for getting a job in the company or going back as a contractor which is definitely appealing based on the experience I have had so far.

Yes. Unilever add you to a Facebook group of fellow placement students, and there are chats made site by site. You are likely to live with or near the other students so there is natural socialising there and on the commute to work. I always ate lunch with my colleagues but I know that other placement students sat and ate together. In the first few weeks and months when you are settling in, you bond with the other students and socialise with them after work.

I lived in the nearest big city to my site - I was based in the North so it was definitely a lot cheaper than if I was in London. Drinks at the pub or a bar were reasonably cheap unless you went somewhere fancy, and rent was also reasonable, similar to what I paid in my uni house last year. In the summer time going for drinks or a meal was the usual method of socialising and it was always affordable.

It was good - it was a Uni city so there were plenty of people my age also going out and I would say it was very similar to going out in my own university. Drinks would be a little pricey and some places were a bit dodgy but after going out a few times you knew which places were good and which to give a miss.

Not really - it was my first 9-5 job so I only really had weekend to get involved in activities. There weren't any sports clubs or anything near where I lived. I also lived quite far away from my family and friends so usually I saved my weekends for seeing them.