Unilever Apprentice Review

I have worked in many different areas currently within the work site here. My current role within Unilever is involved in building rapport with the IT Admins across Europe and liaising with them on a daily basis to ensure that reporting and forecasting was in line. My daily tasks often involved ad hoc queries from the team and I also led several clean-up projects for Europe to aid in our reporting process.

From my day to day tasks and interactions I have learnt interpersonal skills, presentation skills, negotiation techniques and leadership in meeting skills. Being in an office environment you also pick up the etiquette from your colleagues, such as appropriate email and phone speak, and different ways of approaching situations which will show in the way I present myself in future. I have also engaged in training courses run by Unilever for Excel and Microsoft Office with skills i carry through to my daily tasks allowing me to be more efficient. And of course I am achieving a Level 3 Business Admin Diploma alongside, but that's just a bonus!

The entire company culture at Unilever is extremely friendly and accommodating to everyone, my team especially are so easy to get along with and we have team dinners every 5/6 weeks along with team days every 3 months, which is great getting to be together outside of the working office environment and I have already made such great friends. The other people doing the apprenticeship with you will also become very good friends, you can relate to each other and its so exciting hearing what everyone else is doing after spending induction week together- we all still meet up and have nights out together after work - its a great community! The apprenticeship with Unilever has exceeded my expectations, I am not seen as an apprentice and am not tasked with the mundane jobs, I have real responsibilities and if something goes wrong it could have a big effect - which is scary but is fantastic and its great to know how much I am trusted here.

Extremely! As i mentioned before my tasks are very real and that shows that I must be trusted by my colleagues to represent and make decisions inside the company and for Unilever. Recognition can come from anyone, my line manager may express her gratitude in our weekly 1-1's, or I may get a message from a project manager thanking me for my input.

The coursework that you have to complete over the 18 months is given to you all at once when you start and you can work your way through the tasks completing which ever ones you please whenever you want. It is then up to you to decide how structured you are in this - for example i set aside Friday afternoons to do a piece of coursework and submit it online, but you could type something up as and when you want when in the office. Its entirely up to you.

My assessor was good and marked my coursework in adequate time, she was very helpful with any questions and if she wasn't around I was able to contact the other assessor. We also had support from a dedicated contact who regularly visited the office and was able to help with any employer related issues or general support.

I think all-in-all at Unilever I received a lot of support from my manager, we had regular catch ups to discuss progress and opportunities as well as feedback sessions. Both of the line managers I had, used the same approach and it proved to be very effective. Overall I like the support I get and I know I can get more if i ask.

I feel that the salary is extremely generous for an apprenticeship scheme and going from wasting a copious amount of money at University (I attended Durham for 1 term) to earning a good wage alongside enjoying myself thoroughly at work is better than you could imagine. Getting London waiting of £1750 also covers the travel cost of my apprenticeship oyster which I worried about at first. The food is decently priced here so you can always enjoy a good meal in the restaurant without worrying about spending. All in all I am never out of pocket or worrying about my finances.

Unilever is a keen supporter of sustainable living and volunteering. As a business they have a dedicated volunteer day where employees dedicate their time to the local community in a variety of ways such as; gardening, school workshops, food drives etc. We send emails to each other in certain areas/departments of the company and occasionally we get together outside of work too.

Yes

I had a brilliant time at Unilever as an apprentice, I gained vital experience in the workplace while getting a salary and learning new skills. I also made lots of good friends along the way. I would definitely recommend Unilever to a friend as they offer many benefits and can also set you on the right path for a great future career with excellent prospects and education.

At the interview process just be yourself, and the assessment day seemed extremely daunting to me but I actually thoroughly enjoyed it and it felt like more of a bonding session with the other apprentices than an assessment and you soon forget you are even being watched. Just be yourself and let your personality shine through- this is what a perspective line manager will be looking for. When you get into the company networking will give you a great way to get involved in many opportunities and allows you to create connections with people you may not usually interact with.