Spring Programme Participant Review

I took part in the Spring Week Programme for the Research and Development business function. On the first day, we spent time in the Leatherhead office networking with current employees and having talks from several different people about schemes going on within Unilever and what we could get involved with if we were to work there permanently in future. On the second day, we were set a challenge to improve and market a product, culminating in a presentation. The final day was an assessment centre for the 2018 Summer Internship programme.

During the "challenge" day, I learned how to pick up useful information about products and how to then use this when selling the product. I also became more confident with my presentation skills and found it very useful to have feedback on this as that was helpful for the final day assessments.

I thoroughly enjoyed the programme. It was made clear at the start that no one was in competition with anyone else, which made for a much nicer atmosphere as the first two days weren't assessed. I also enjoyed learning about the other business functions and how they are interlinked, which is not something I understood in as much detail from the website.

I felt very valued and that I was there based purely on merit. I also really enjoyed being able to get to know Unilever staff from Research and Development in order to build my personal network.

The programme was very well structured. It was residential and the hotel was extremely pleasant and a short bus ride to the head office (the bus was provided). There was also a good balance of time doing fun activities (such as experiencing the food solutions kitchens) and socialising with each other and having more educational talks.

In this instance I did not have a training provider as such, however the experience I gained from this with extremely valuable as a type of "training" for the assessment centre.

In this instance was not employed by Unilever at the time, however I felt like I was fully supported throughout the programme and any queries were swiftly answered or dealt with.

For the Spring Programme I did not receive a salary, however I hope to work there in future and am aware that the salary will be very sufficient, particularly when living outside of London for Research and Development.

I was lead to believe there are sports teams that any employee is free to partake in, and they run friendly matches against other teams. There is also the on-site gym, which employees are encouraged to use as they please in lunch hours or before/after work.

Yes

The culture was extremely friendly and somewhere I would feel very comfortable working. Everyone I met (at any seniority level) was very happy to answer and questions I may have.

Be yourself! I have never been surrounded by a group of such genuine people who all want to help you to achieve your career goals. For the interview have several examples from university, societies, previous jobs etc which demonstrate different skills to the interviewer and have these prepared in advance. Also there is a group task where you should make sure you listen and make valuable contributions. It's not always the loudest person who is the best!