Finance Analyst Review

I would highly recommend the Unilever Summer Finance Placement to any University student who has a passion for Finance and working for an FMCG company. It was a highly enjoyable and intense experience where I have learnt life long lessons and grown as a person over the past 12 weeks inside the business.

Joining a company as a new employee is never easy as there is a steep learning curve. However, the culture and people at Unilever really made by settling in process as smooth and as easy as it could be. They really follow the motto that no question is a silly question and every single person is willing to help you to develop your learning. The learning curve has been extremely steep but it has really made me get the most out of it.

My line manager was also relatively new within the company which meant he could really understand how I was feeling and address these problems. I had weekly meetings with him to catch-up on the previous weeks tasks and to set new objectives and work plans to follow for the following week.

A placement for 12 weeks is still a relatively short amount of time and therefore you may not be on a massive project every week. However, it is really about what you make of your time within a company. I found it fascinating to explore all the different roles and connecting with different people on a daily basis made my days exciting and different.

Initially you have to be shown the ropes before you can fully take on responsibility. As my training and learning developed I was given more tasks to lead on and had calls on a one to one basis. Throughout the placement I was always made to feel that my opinion mattered by being asked my opinion on a frequent basis.

The training I have received will be totally invaluable for my future degree studies. I have had access to high class trainings to fully develop my skills and then being able to put them into practice in the workplace meant that I could really refine these skills to a high quality.

The office atmosphere was always fun and friendly. We had weekly events that included the entire team that varied from Yoga on the rooftop to weekly baking competitions which brought the team together and allowed us all to have a laugh and bond over some competitive spirits. It was great fun!

The Placement work plans were well communicated. HR ensured that we were given an initial timetable with key dates that we needed to be aware of as well as plus 1 objectives which gave us an added focus. Weekly reviews with line managers also allowed for feedback to be shared in both directions.

I have grown and developed as a person to more than I ever thought I would. The experience has broadened my horizons to the opportunities available whilst also equipping me with basic business skills that will provide invaluable for future career experience. The investment in training and personal growth was great.

The future graduate programmes are fully set up and developed to allow for progression from summer internship schemes and industrial placement schemes to get a head start onto these programmes. The varied and diverse roles available allows for a broad depth of opportunities and employees have career plans to ensure they develop in their chosen career paths. I'm yet to find out what the result for my future employment is.

The large number of summer and industrial interns led to a really great social scene. There was an initial bonding event before the internship started to allow for everyone to meet before the placement began. During the placement there would often be post work events and at lunch we would often catch up with various people to find out what everyone is doing.

London is expensive and the cost of going out and drinking is definitely not cheap. However, often there is student nights and there are cheaper places if you can find them! Cost of living is very dependent on how close you live to the office and how many people you share with. Some people also lived with family that they knew in London.

The Nightlife in London has endless possibilities. There are a whole mix of places that you could go to that suits everyone and that you could go to on any night of the week. As I was in London for the Summer it meant that there was also a lot of extra festivals and events occurring by the river which was great fun!

There are plenty of opportunities. These often included sporting teams that would be run within the organisation and stimulated competition within different sub teams. There's also plenty of charity work that anyone can get involved in and commit as many hours or as little hours as you could. There are probably opportunities I haven't even found out about!