Global Laundry Catergory Fragrance Apprentice Review

Job title: Global Laundry Category fragrance apprentice Daily tasks involve managing/co-ordinating projects and olfactively assessing developing or on market products. Daily interacted are needed with formulation/ consumer insights teams so ensure that projects run smoothly as well as alignment with the wider fragrance team and line manager. External communication is essential for my job, feeding back to external companies and also guiding them on how to improve going forward in terms of fragrance. Evaluation of product provided along with the wider fragrance team to come to a valuable conclusion is essential for my job role. Responsibilities: Ensure that timings are met under my projects, external companies know the job to be done and getting involvement from the fragrance team to help with olfactive evaluation of products/fragrances. My everyday job is to keep in contact with consumer insights, R&D formulation and further global teams to get alignment on jobs to be done under my projects. As well as ensuring fragrance houses meet deadline and provide quality products that myself and the fragrance team can evaluate.

Qualifications: HNC in chemical science within the first year of my apprenticeship scheme and now I am studying for a BSC in Chemistry (University of Liverpool). Unilever provide internal courses to build self-esteem in young people, management skills and business principals. External courses would be educational such as our HNC and degree courses under the chemistry apprenticeship scheme. I have learnt how to manage multiple work streams at once and organise my time in a more of effective way. I have developed a better olfactive palette and feel more confident within myself talking to internal and external colleagues.

I do enjoy the work I do as it feels worthwhile and rewarding when something you have worked on is put into market. Also, the work I am doing currently makes me feel equally recognised and acknowledged to everyone else on the team. My team is very supportive of the work I do and when I have any questions they help me with any queries. The company culture around community and participation in activities is good, there are many sports/art clubs that you can get involved in with your work friends. This is above and beyond my expectations in terms of social activities and also Unilever are very supportive of their staff going above and beyond what I expected when joining the company. I am thoroughly enjoying my apprenticeship scheme, within the first 2 years I have gathered business skills from work and scientific knowledge from university studies which I feel gives a good balance for when I come to work full time after the apprenticeship.

I feel valued on the same level as any other employee within team, the equality within the fragrance team is incredible and makes me feel like I am making a difference. My manager shows appreciation for the work I do on a day to day basis, the external recognition that I achieve from working with external companies is above and beyond any other apprenticeship in Unilever in my opinion as well as the internal recognition as I have been asked to give open house presentations on work I have completed within my fragrance apprenticeship. I have had involvement in projects in year one of the apprenticeship scheme advancing on to more co-ordination based roles as the apprenticeship has gone on developing my skills.

From day one the fragrance Unilever fragrance apprenticeship has been very well organised with clear objectives have been highlighted to me along with targets every year. Inductions into each of my teams have been clear and gives a good description to the job role as well as where I fit in within the team. Supportive teams and line managers have been the highlight of the apprenticeship... there is always someone I can ask if I am unsure. Studying is to be done out of work hours as with all Unilever apprenticeships but support has been given internally if any college/university topics are appearing to be misunderstood. Team hierarchy is clear in terms of titles within my team, fragrance expert, category managers etc. but we all work well as a team and when decisions are made or discussions as a team are taking place an equal playing field is set.

My tutors are very supportive as they aware of the intense apprenticeship scheme we are pursue. We are still treated equally in terms of deadlines and work to be done versus university students within the University of Liverpool. Support is provided within course tutorials and also tutors in my experience are willing to help if you come to them personally with a question or through a online forum. I enjoy the lectures provided and the knowledge that I gain from attending university rather than online courses I feel is definitely worthwhile.

As much support as needed, the team are global and work on many project but as a team we support each other if their are any olfactive assessments needed or questions that we need assistance with. Any problems I have I know I can go to my line-manager directly for help - we sit in an open office a desk away from each other so the whole team including my line manager are very accessible to talk to.

My salary covers all my livings costs. These include bills and buying my own flat as well as travel expenditure to get to and from university and work. Daily costs are also all covered with no additional support, including food, driving and owning my own vehicle. The location where I currently work is Port Sunlight, beautiful scenery and a great place to escape to for walks after work. The best package for a apprenticeship in terms of company ethic, salary and location when I looked at apprenticeship schemes back in 2015!

I have been involved in events outside work with members of the fragrance team - away days and events with global fragrance/Unilever counterparts as well as external partners. There are many Unilever sports/arts clubs that are accessible to employees outside of work as well as an internal gym where Unilever employees can visit after work or midday to get a healthy boost! Location of work is quite stunning, lots of great scenery with some Unilever employees opting to jump in lunch breaks to explore the outdoors! Voluntary initiatives such as charity fundraising are done within work, as an apprenticeship group we have completed many back sales and sporting activities where money was raised as part of Unilever's charity initiative.

Yes

Unilever is a very supportive companies that drives its apprentices to make a difference and accepts as equals (in my experience). The jobs are fulfilling and their many opportunities to try new job roles and activities you may be interested in throughout the 4 year course offers. A big factor for me when choosing this course was that the university educational was offered externally rather than online connection, for me this is the best way for me to learn. Also the offering of a full degree rather than entry level degree is above what other companies are offering in a chemistry related field.

On interview days be calm and collective, if you are overly stressed you may feel anxious for technical based activities within the day. Understand the company and what it stands for, especially Unilever's sustainability initiative they are encouraging recently even through public broadcast. Update your CV, all work experience within a college programme or job is relevant make sure you include this as this will show skills in balancing education with job related activities. If you are accepted onto the course, the onboarding process can be quite daunting as Unilever is a very large company to go to straight from college - but you do settle in don't worry!