Assistant innovation (marketing) manager Review

I really enjoyed my placement year, I never thought I would have so much responsability and have the chance to learn so much. It has been a hugely insightful year giving me lots of experience within and outside my role.

My Colleagues value me a lot, you don't get treated like a placement student as they really want to encourage you to have ownership within your role.

My manager was great, incredibly support for times where I struggled to understand but also let me have a lot of independence with me running my own projects a few weeks in to my role.

I would say it's quite a good balance although at times you will be extremely busy.

I ran all of my own projects with quite a lot of support at the start.

I have learnt a lot of soft and hard skills which I will be able to take back to university. Main ones being organisation, time management, accountability and Ownership. I have learnt a lot about myself and the way I manage which will really help me in my future.

There is a really good company culture within Unilever. Everyone is always wanting to support and help and can be lots of fun. We have had some great virtual activities during C-19.

The placement is very well organised, I have never been paid late, you gain a lot of support from your manager and there is good support from HR. However, I think it would be better if we had more events organised for IPs.

I had a lot of personal development at Unilever, with there being access to so many great courses through our internal learning space but also through my experiences.

I think this is one part where I would challenge the way Unilever is set out. They not longer fast track straight to a job from the placement scheme whereas a lot of other companies do. Your manager and team can think you have done a great job but you can only be fast tracked to an assessment day where it is very competitive and all your hard work over a year is not accounted for on the day but rather your performance in Business challenges and interviews. However, saying this I was one of the few who got fast tracked so I am grateful for that opportunity.

Yes there is a good social scene amongst placement students so you have good opportunity to meet everyone and get to know them. I just wished HR did more to make sure everyone gets the chance to meet people.

It was expensive as I lived in London to be closer to the social side of things.

The Nightlife within leatherhead is non exsitent however most IPs and work collegues arrange things in areas like Clapham and more central which has a good nightlife.

There was a lot of activities you could get involved in outside work especially to do with the Purpose of our brands such as voulenteering days etc.