Finance Summer Placement Review

I had a really good time at Unilever and got a really good insight into the business from a global perspective

At the beginning, I feel like I wasn't that helpful and could not really contribute but by the end I feel like I was a part of the team and could contribute and so by the end I did feel valued by my colleagues

My manager was very helpful at explaining anything I needed help with

I depended on what week and what work I had been given to do. Sometimes I resorted to reading the news because I had no other work to do but other times I was busy all day although I never had to work much later than 5

I was given two projects that were my own work to complete and so that was a lot of responsibility

I had a very steep learning curve with excel and also being in a business setting and having to communicate in that environment will help me in the future too

The office was a very friendly environment, everyone on my team was willing to help and made me feel very welcome. The office in general is a really nice office and there is free fruit every day, a gym and fitness centre and an amazing view across London from the canteen area.

We found out quite late where we would actually be placed within the business but I liked the fact that on the placement there was not a set timetable as to exactly what I would be doing the whole time, it was more a case of I would do the things that would be most helpful for the team at that time

They invested a lot of time into me, everyone took time out of their day to speak to me about what kind of work they did and if I had any questions they would take time to answer them. There were opportunities to get more training if you looked for it so the company had tools that would allow you to get more training

I think it is a really good company to work for and everyone that works here does get given responsibility and so the employment prospects are very appealing but they do not give any grad jobs out after a placement, they only give out a fast track to the assessment centre if you are good enough

There were not as many placement students in the London office compare to the leatherhead office but there were enough people around between the two offices that social things were always been organised and everyone was really lovely and friendly through the internship;. Within my team we went out for dinner but there wasn't as much done socially.

London is expensive and always will be, the office in London is right by st Pauls and so most the bars and restaurant are expensive around there. The tube is not cheap but there are other ways of making it cheaper like cycling to work or walking or taking the bus

There is not much affordable nightlife near were we worked but a lot of people lived in the same area so we could go elsewhere to go out if we wanted to all go out

Not organised by Unilever