Apprentice Assistant Brand Manager Review

I am a Unilever Food Solutions Apprentice working in the Portfolio Marketing team. Unilever Food Solutions is a section of Unilever which uses our brands for food service. This means we work with wholesalers and chefs to provide them with the products they need! My daily tasks include working on the day to day management of our brands with the team as well as managing my own brands including Meadowland DCA and Carte D'or desserts. There are 4 of us in the Portfolio Marketing Team who I work very closely with and an additional 30+ people that work in the Unilever Food Solutions Marketing team that I interact with regularly. I also work with the retail brand teams and the rest of the Unilever Food Solutions team. Externally, I work closely with our operator and trade marketing team to support them with marketing activities they do with our customers. Some customers would be wholesalers, chains and any other out of home food service. My responsibilities include: briefing and leading campaigns, leading internal activation's, creating pack designs, supporting the rest of the team and managing brands for the UK & Ireland market. On top of my day to day activities, I also get involved in a lot of outreach work for the Apprenticeship - you may have seen me at the event we held in March at our Leatherhead office and in case you haven't, check out our social media channels that are run by the Unilever Apprentices across the UK (I work on the YouTube channel!). I don't, really, have 'day to day' tasks as every day is so different with new and exciting things to take on. It can range from days where I do admin to others where I am visiting agencies, briefing campaigns and creating artworks! The only definitive thing I will do every day is check my emails... and have a Ben and Jerry's ice cream!

Since joining the Apprenticeship scheme, I have developed so much, from being a 1st year University Student who wasn’t happy, to a confident and driven Unilever employee. I have learnt a lot from watching my colleagues and seeing the processes happening in front of my eyes. Shadowing people has been my most valuable form of training because I learn well from seeing things happen and being able to ask questions whilst it is happening. I have great mentors who push me to ask questions even if I think they're silly, and want me to understand my role. I am working towards my Level 3 Business Administration qualification, but throughout this I have achieved other qualifications in IT, food safety, food hygiene and many more. Unilever and the Apprenticeship scheme have provided me with opportunities to take part in training sessions in presentation skills, excel, project management and trends workshops. These workshops have been so valuable to me and have helped me develop into the role I am in now. I have learnt a lot of new skills that I use every day in the business, such as communication, presentation skills and even being able to brand yourself - one of Unilever's best qualities is that there are endless opportunities to learn. The most important thing I have learnt throughout my course is how important it is to network well - it's fine to come in and do your day to day tasks, but to really gain opportunities it's important to be personable, get to know people and to be friendly!

I am so happy with my apprenticeship programme. Every day my work is different and I love that. My team are so supportive and kind, no matter what questions I have they always have an answer or a way to help me find the answer. The company really cares about the value young people bring to the company and I am keen to continue that perception. I underestimated what work life would have been like before joining Unilever - I thought working would be boring but it's not. Unilever has such a great atmosphere; everyone is friendly and happy to help. The Apprentice network is amazing; everywhere I go I will see an Apprentice and if I need help with something they will always be able to help me too! It's so nice joining a company and having a bunch of other people in the same boat as you. Joining the Unilever Apprenticeship Community was the best decision I could have made!

Unilever highly values young people in the workplace. They offer opportunities for a range of people including work experience, the Apprenticeship Scheme, the Industrial Programme and the Graduate Programme (Unilever Future Leaders Program) as well as many other things. In my experience, I have felt highly valued here. My manager and team value my thoughts and opinions and give me real responsibility in my role and I have high involvement in a lot of projects (I even have some projects of my own!). When I have done something well I get recognised for my efforts, whether that be through an email or through face to face feedback.

The Apprenticeship programme was very well structured. We started off in a two-day course getting to know the other Apprentices and understanding more about the apprenticeship qualification we were studying for. Then we moved into our teams and got to know who we would be working with. I had a full induction plan that was ran through with me to get to know everyone and who I would need to speak to for what. They explained to me how Unilever Food Solutions works and how my mentoring system is structured as well as what I should expect from my role.

I have a great deal of support from the training provider. We meet regularly to discuss the next steps to complete my coursework and what targets I need to hit to make my work as good as possible. Whenever I have an issue it is easy to talk to her over the phone or sometimes in person. She has a very positive attitude and is very supportive and understanding.

The support network in Unilever is incredible. You are assigned a line manager who is your main contact for support, and you are also assigned a mentor to help you specifically with your role. My manager and mentor are very supportive and friendly - they help me excel in my role but also encourage me to do above and beyond what my role asks of me. This means that I get involved in a lot of exciting projects that may not have been assigned to me!

I live at home so the salary I am getting allows me to save a large amount of it without having to restrict my spending. I travel by car which is the cheaper option for me and only spend money when I go out for drinks, buy myself something or contribute to food spend. In fact, most of my money is spent on food... Of course, the salary could always be nicer but for an Apprenticeship working for such a major company - you are gaining so much and so it's worthwhile!

Unilever supports socialising both inside and outside of work. We have internal events going on all the time such as: classes in our gym, health and well-being activities, charity events and sometimes company events! We often socialise outside of work too, whether that be for drinks after work or meals and sometimes even a night out!

Yes

Joining Unilever is the best thing I ever did. Before I joined, I was at University not feeling as though I was accomplishing enough but joining the team has changed that. I feel like the work I do here makes a difference. I am much happier and much more motivated to work hard because of it.

The application process can sometimes seem difficult, but it is important to remember that every acceptance onto the next process is a huge victory. I thought that as a drop out from University, that there was no chance they would take me on but I succeeded and now I am moving onto the degree programme in September! You could do that too! I would say the best advice I could give someone going through the application process is to be yourself and enjoy the process because you are more likely to be accepted onto the scheme but also you will be put into a role that you thoroughly enjoy!