R&D apprentice Review

Currently working on brands such as PG Tips in the UK and Lipton in Europe as well as many more. Daily tasks and responsibilities include; producing prototype samples, running product tastings, specification creation, presentations, portfolio complexity reduction, product quality improvement and competitor monitoring. Daily interactions are with a varied team of people working in supply chain, consumer technical insights, marketing, packaging and regulatory.

Professional skills - Outlook, organizing projects and meetings, presenting etc. -Scientific Skills - Operating analytical instruments, writing reports, contributing to scientific papers, attending seminars and workshops -Time management - Balancing work/ studies/ social/ sleep can be hard and is always something I try to improve at.

I'm not going to lie and say every day is fantastic; it is hard work and it takes a great deal of self discipline to study the Uni course after work at home in evenings and weekends. Admittedly I occasionally regret not going to university full time, joining clubs and societies and making friends with more people my age- but on the flipside I can feel grateful for having no student debt and a good salary which helped me acquire a mortgage on a house 2 years ago. The working environment is comfortable, my colleagues are friendly and the apprenticeship is a worthwhile opportunity that has given me a headstart in life.

As a company Unilever treat their apprentices like the rest of their employees. We tend to see the majority of benefits and opportunities that everyone else see's. As a team I feel very valued. The whole team treat apprentices as they would any other team member. So much that we actually do work at the same level as many technicians, technologists and even work stream leaders. My manager is often trying to put me in new areas of work to help me further develop. They don't simply put easy tasks in front of you that nobody else wants to do. They ensure that the work I will be doing is challenging, interesting for me and is going to develop me further into an asset for the company.

In my particular work unit the apprentices were recruited into gaps in departments and thats where we will stay for the course of the programme. Other apprentices have had the opportunity and flexibility to rotate around but given the highly technical and specific nature of each department in my work unit that wouldnt make sense. I sometimes feel bad about that but there are sometimes other opportunities to learn about other departments and my work sometimes crosses over but always stays firmly within safety science.

I have a one to one review with my course tutor every term at university to ensure I am on track with my work, if I have any questions or queries I am able to contact my lecturers at any time. The course is only run part time, so they understand we all have pressures from both university and work and are flexible when they need to be.

I have a brilliant support network from my line manager, supervisor, buddy and apprentice scheme leader. I have a buddy who is able to answer any questions regarding the scheme or Unilever in general. There is always somebody who is willing to help if I ever need it or need advice with my work.

Our salary is competitive and increases each year dependent on performance. Unilever fully covers all our university costs, including travel and expenses. I would love to have a slightly better salary however I understand that apprentice minimum wage is quite low compared to full time employee pay.

There is a big team culture within Unilever and because of this there is always a lot going on outside of work. Whether this be - - Team events (Marathons/Tough mudder) - Weekly sports matches (Football/squash/running) - Team meals after workshops/events - Wider team events such as the entire site (Summer and end of year ball) - In our team we have a team which tries to organise activities to bring the team together and have fun together. Through walks, go karting, fishing trips) Because of all these different events, the team gets brought closer together.

Yes

I think this is a great opportunity for anyone to kick start their career. whether its them getting another qualification or just having the experience of working for a company like Unilever. You receive great training and new skills when being part of the company and the employees and supervisors are really nice and friendly too.

Don't be too fussy about your expectations of science careers- before you go into a professional workplace you can't really tell how interesting it really can be to work in any particular field. Having a context to apply science to can completely change things. Also remember to be yourself.