Product Developer Review

I feel like I have gained a lot of life experience during my placement, however it was not exactly what I expected. A lot of the time I was desk bound and watched all my colleagues around me rushing around whilst I felt a bit lost. I would have liked to apply the skills which I have been learning in my degree more.

Unilever was a very welcoming atmosphere, and I felt like people were really relying on me to produce good quality work that they would use in the future. People always made sure that I was okay and I did feel as if I was part of a team, however I felt like sometimes they forgot that I was there as they were so busy all the time.

My manager was great and regularly checked up on me to see if I was getting on okay and I didn't have any problems. They were very approachable and always put me in contact with the best people. They were very conscious that I got the most out of my placement and I didn't waste any time.

At the start I was given three projects, which kept me busy. However as time went on I found myself completing things way faster than I thought I would do. This meant that I had a lot of free time on my hands, even after asking for extra work. For me, being bored was the worst part of my placement as it makes the days go extremely slowly. I tried to keep myself busy but this was hard at times.

At Unilever you get given projects which will genuinely affect the business. You know that people give you work because they need it done and not just because no one else wants to do it, or they just give it you for something to do. You are responsible for managing your own time and organising meetings when you see fit.

I have gained a lot of people skills. I came into my placement knowing nothing about business and I feel like this placement has given me a very good insight into the way companies work and how different functions link together. I would have liked to have completed more work to do with my actual degree.

We often had opportunities to socialise, for example over tea and cake. Everyone around me was chatty and happy to help me whenever I needed. However people were often very busy and I felt lonely and bored at times as I was one of the only ones in the office.

The only negative I would say is that it took a long time for me to find out where I would be placed, which meant that it was a rush to find accommodation and was very hard. The induction was very good and made us all socialise and the whole process ran very smoothly from start to finish.

There was not much opportunity to develop essential skills in a structured way. I was only given projects and told them to do it and then it was expected that these key skills would follow. If I had been here for a longer period of time then I'm sure that there would have been more opportunity.

Personally I would not carry on in Unilever in the future as I have realised the FMCG industry is not for me and I would like to do something more closely related to my degree, as I have not enjoyed the business side of things. However I have spoken to many people who would love to carry on and do the grad scheme.

There were not many other placement students however there were a lot of apprentices and graduates so the atmosphere was good in work and we often had lunch togehter. I did not do much socialising with them outside of work which is a shame as most evenings I had nothing to do!

The area I lived in was very poor and I did not feel safe which meant that I did not spend a lot of time in the area and instead I chose to visit friends/relatives at the weekend in order to avoid spending time in the area! It was not good.

I never really experienced the nightlife but the town was small and wasn't full of the nicest people so I tended to avoid it. There were a few nice cocktail bars and restaurants but other than that it was pretty limited. I would not have personally gone out often in the area I lived in.

There were many social and sports clubs on site to join and I wish that I had made the most of these. It was hard as the site is in the middle of nowhere and I do not drive. The buses are very irregular and I didn't want to risk being stuck there with no way back!