Supply chain innovation analyst Review

I am only 4 months into my placement, and in all honesty, I have not enjoyed my placement to as much of an extent as I would have liked to. This is largely due to the fact that I am in a role which does not suit my skill set, meaning I can't have the impact I would have liked to have around the business. I am in a very excel intensive role, which although I'm not inept at and have improved hugely since the start of my placement, does not reflect how the placement was sold to me in the first place. Out of all the placements in my function, I am the only one who has a role requiring so much analytical work behind a computer screen, which distresses me, as over time in the placement it has become clear that many of the others would have been much more suited to my role and me to theirs, which makes me question the way in which successful applicants are placed in their specific roles.

My colleagues have been extremely welcoming, and have always been around to help when needed. I do feel part of the team despite a reasonable age gap between me and the others in my team.

My line manager has been good around setting my goals and checks up on my progress fairly regularly. At the start, I probably didn't schedule catch ups as much as I should of and also didn't explain the problems I was having with my role. I have now done so, and felt that my manager took it on board what I said, and reacted very professionally, and made some good suggestions of how I can reduce my work behind a computer and be more active in meeting people around the business.

It varies from day to day, some days I can be extremely busy, working solidly all day, which I prefer. However, on other days, due to my role being more of a support function and as I'm not a specialist on excel, meaning I can't undertake huge projects like my team members do, I can find myself being very bored with little to do. I offer to help people from all areas of the business, but often I receive no reply or am told no help is needed. I also have no real targets to aim for, unlike other placement students, who have set figures to hit, or meeting to prepare for, meaning it's hard to motivate myself.

I have been given a fair amount of responsibility, but once again, to be brutally honest, I feel that other Unilever placement students are given much more in their roles. I often feel as though work I do and send on a weekly basis is not used by people, which is hugely demotivating. However, certain aspects of my work, in particular being part of project teams gives me a good level of responsibility, meaning I am very motivated to work for this. I work well to targets and deadlines, which I haven't been given, which makes me feel like the work I do isn't massively important.

I will have developed great computer skills by the end of my placement, in particular excel, which in this day and age is vital to the majority of jobs. I would have liked/ like to gain experience in other areas on a more face to face/ on the phone basis. As I said I work well to targets, and that is hugely motivating to me. For this reason I would like to have built experience in an area which meant I needed to work with others to hit targets.

Fantastic. A really fun, relaxed environment, which inspires people to work comfortably yet efficiently. Everyone is friendly and always more than happy to help.

The application process was very well put together from start to finish. Once accepted we were introduced to the company brilliantly and given sufficient time to settle in, as this for many of us, was our first real step into a big business. However, the way in which we were suited to our roles has to be questioned. It seems no logic was used, and no preferences were taken into account. To me, it seems as though the matching to roles within functions was completely random. Through speaking to other placement students and discussing their roles with them, it has become very evident that I would be very suited to their roles, and them to mine, however the way it has turned out has put me in a role, which although I will get great experience in analysis and excel and I cannot complain about my manager and team, will mean I wont be gaining the all round experience I was hoping for when I applied, and realistically will lessen my chances of getting on the graduate scheme. I feel this process has left me disadvantaged, as I am in a specialist role without specialist experience or training in this area.

Not only placement students, but all in the business are given endless opportunities to get training and develop in areas they want. Something I have been extremely impressed with, is Unilevers drive to be constantly improving all employees. I think this area is unrivalled by most other placements.

Within the role I currently hold, employment past this placement is not in my best interest, as its not what I want to pursue. However, I speak to other placement students in my function (but not role) who tell me of what they do, which sounds brilliant, and something I would really enjoy. I know on the graduate scheme I would get an opportunity to do rotations in these roles. However, the year thus far has put me off working within the organisation past this placement.

It is what you make of it. At the start all placement students bond and will meet up regularly. This dies off for the majority of students, who start to do more things on their own, or make friends outside the placement students. However, some stay very close and have a great social life among themselves.

It is very expensive in London, but that is expected. You can live closer to the office (Leatherhead) which will be less expensive, but most people live around the Wimbledon/ Clapham area which is expensive. However, I would strongly advise placement students to fulfil their placement in London, as it gives you a great overall experience.

Fantastic. There is always something going on, and travelling around London is fairly easy and quick, meaning you are never short of things to do.

There are some things set up by employees, such as football, but there isn't great participation in this.