Key Account Manager Review

My placement was a fantastic experience; from day one you are given real responsibility with brilliant support to help you learn and develop. Additionally the culture really helps you to settle quickly and actually be a part of the team from the start.

Danone has an extremely open culture, with a big emphasis on ensuring that everyone is recognised; be that through formal activities or just a talk by the coffee machine. For certain you are given the responsibility, which, also helps.

Management is always a personal preference and can differ from person to person; I personally found my managers excellent in supporting me in the day to day and in always taking the time to help me develop personally and professionally.

Really it's up to you how much you want to put in....personally I like being busy and there is always a new challenge or project to explore....however there is still plenty of time for you to socialise, have a nice lunch break and have a good work/life balance (Danone focus a lot on ensuring people have a good balance).

Danone is a SME, so everyone there is needed to help achieve the company objectives; not only does this mean that you have real responsibilities it really helps you feel part of the team.

There is no substitute for practical experience and for sure it helped to improve my time management skills, communication, leadership and analytical skills (amongst others). It also taught me what is needed to work and succeed in an FMCG

There is a great atmosphere in Danone; people are extremely collaborative, friendly and willing to have a joke, but at the same time there is a really good work ethic and willingness to achieve. There is not a moment when you cannot grab lunch/ a coffee / or an after work beer with someone, if you so wish.

A big part of Danone is self development and self drive, however you are going into a real job where you managers want you to succeed, grow and hopefully improve the business; therefore there are plenty of trainings and support for you.

Day to day my managers would really help me to grow and develop, and we would specifically spend time focusing on what areas I would like to improve. Then we would see what trainings were possible, both externally and internally; for example to learn more about each function I spent over a week with sales....this was arranged through me and my manager looking to develop me.

There are plenty of opportunities with Danone and the four business units in the UK. I have been luckily enough to stay within Danone since my placement, and more recently move abroad within Danone.

Danone is an very young company with the culture to reflect it, there are events for the placements as well as encouraging you to socialise with the wider business.

I worked in the London office, so it is not the cheapest, but I never found myself unable to see friends or socialise, when I wanted.

There are lots of social events, plus adhoc things such as Tennis or Squash. Also there is free five-a-side football every week; all of these are great ways to meet people and have fun/do some exercise!