Customer Executive Review

I loved my time at Unilever. I worked in the sales department, and was immediately put in charge of single impulse ice cream for one of our key convenience customers. Daily challenges and customer interaction definitely made my time here enjoyable and stimulating. The company itself has an excellent culture of kindness, sociability and shared responsibility, and I was made to feel right at home.

I was surrounded by a wise team of professionals of varying ages, but all of whom had experience that I was able to learn from. The colleagues I worked with were very welcoming and friendly. Indeed, during my tenure we had a few work socials and team building days that strengthened the bonds between all of us. The openness that was clearly inherent in the company meant that everyone I worked with was very much approachable and willing to help. I felt highly valued by my colleagues.

My line manager was incredibly supportive, and I was able to tailor my workload to my strengths, as well as have the liberty to pursue projects that fell outside of my specific role. We caught up regularly, and she let me aid her in her key projects which gave me a greater sense of responsibility. Overall, I felt well supported and learnt a lot from my manager.

During my placement, I usually always had a project to be getting on with. In the rare cases where I had a reduced workload, I was able to pick up more tasks from my manager and from other areas of the business. I worked a 9-5 day, and felt occupied and never bored.

I was given responsibility for a key portfolio in the ice cream sector of Unilever from day one. I was able to run it in my own style, whilst being coached by my manager in effective business action. To put this in perspective, one day on the placement through my negotiation my team ended up saving £150k. This meant I was firmly invested in the company as they relied upon me.

The soft skills picked up on my placement included, but were not limited to: time management, negotiation, presentational skills, interpersonal skills and teamwork. In terms of business skills, I learned about the details of the FMCG industry, how the overall business functioned, about the value of brands and some industry specific skills such as promotional planning, shopper marketing and how to work collaboratively with customers.

The general atmosphere in the office was open and friendly. You could always ask questions, and people were always willing to chat. Discussion and shared learning through engaging multiple people definitely helped my learning experience and I think it is something that the company do exceptionally well. You were able to get your head down and crack on with work whenever necessary.

The internship was 12 weeks long, with a clear halfway and final performance review. The structure was not rigid, due to the tailored nature of each job role. I was given an individual work plan at the start of my placement, which definitely helped me better understand the nature of what I was doing. At the start there were many opportunities for interns to get to know one another, which was useful.

I undertook as many self-development opportunities as I could during my SP, so as to build my own capabilities for growth and understanding, and be better than the competition. The training sessions I attended included: CD impact on Unilever P+L – where I learnt the relevance of my function and how my specific day to day actions could impact the business; Understanding Shopper Missions – which usefully tied in with helping me understand Co-Ops new G3 ranging; Channel – which taught me how convenience and supermarket channels overlapped in some ways but were completely dissimilar in others; Category Promotional Planning – which helped me renegotiate promotions; CiiC capabilities; Perfect Store Training and Excel training. these definitely aided my personal development.

I have found my experience at Unilever very rewarding in exposing me to many different aspects of a high-performing global business. I am particularly interested in furthering a career at Unilever for 3 main reasons: - because my experience this summer has shown me that Unilever has a comprehensive and systematic approach to building talent and developing the skills of its people -because Unilever is at the forefront of global companies in recognizing the importance of sustainability in how it does business. I find the combination of commercial profit with social value an exciting and motivating environment in which to work - because the global nature and diversity of products would give me an excellent grounding in all aspects of a business I hope to work with them in the future.

There was a good social scene amongst both colleagues and placements students. Of my twelve weeks, I ended up going out for drinks with work colleagues 8 times. Some of these were company events organised to help us to get to know one another, other times it was with fellow interns for a large one on the town.

I worked from home during my internship, so I did not have to pay any rent. Other interns I know paid various rents depending on how close they were to London. In terms of socialising, London is the priciest place in the UK, so if I went on a night out/ dinner it would usually be between £20-£35. However, some of the company organised events I went to had free bars, which was decent!

I worked in Leatherhead, which is south west of London and is basically a big corporate park. There is nothing there at all. However, I tended to go out in south west London (Clapham/ Brixton/ Putney/ Wimbledon etc.) which has a good quality of night life. There is a good range of diverse clubs, ranging from grubby + dinghy to well dressed + posh.

In terms of activities outside of work, I played football every Monday with colleagues which was sociable and enjoyable. Otherwise there is there are a few other activities outside of work – I know that there are other sports teams in the company, and there is also the well-equipped company gym. There is also a volunteering day, which lets you get involved in the local community.