Marketing Industrial Placement Review

Overall supporting the marketing activities of the designated Unilever brand. Responsibilities and daily tasks include: - Project management - Supporting brand strategy planning - Supporting digital and eCommerce activities - Creative marketing by working alongside designers - Analysing marketing data from large databases - Exposure to brand budgeting. All activities lead to working closely with other functions of the business, providing the opportunity to learn from other expertise and develop skill sets.

The skills I have learned the most: - Budgeting and finance - Use of spreadsheets - Communication - Project management The skills I have developed: - Communication - Creativity - Presenting / public speaking - Writing language - Team work. Along the way I have also learned a lot personally, such as how to be more confident and finding my purpose in my career.

In the first half of my placement, responsibility was at a manageable level whilst I was still learning and finding my feet. Throughout my placement, I gained a lot more responsibility with owning much larger projects, which I was grateful for because it also gave me the opportunity to work with other functions.

Because we were working from home, support and guidance was more challenging, especially with the quality of communication. Also, at the beginning of my placement there were very limited resources in the team so it was just me and my line manager, who also had time off, and therefore I felt quite under supported and stressed. Having said this, as a wider team there were workshops for wellbeing which I really appreciated and found that it personally helped me.

Because my placement was virtual for most of the year, it was difficult to get a feel of the overall atmosphere and be able to socialise with others. However from what I could sense, it was a solid team who are very positive and always happy to help.

I enjoyed my placement to an extent where I found it incredibly useful to learn and develop my skills, network with team members, and help to develop my career plans. To an extent, however, I found the first half of my placement very stressful due to working from home and the team being under resourced, therefore lacking support.

Yes

Just be yourself, because being a good fit in the team is very important. Also it's useful to have an idea of the areas you want to develop in your career, as Unilever has the resources to support your development and therefore get the most out of your placement / internship.