Shopper Marketing Apprentices Review

Shopper Marketing Apprentice - My role is to help the shopper marketing team in day to day activities, liaising with brand teams internally and suppliers externally, raising invoices, helping keep budgets up to date on the system, carry out store visits to ensure point of sale material is landing in store correctly.

There are a lot of internal training courses on offer to staff. I have already attended a number of them to help get a better understanding of the business and how it is run. There are also technical courses available to teach you how to use programs such as Excel. This is all available during the working day. I have also learnt a huge amount in relation to marketing and specifically shopper marketing.

I enjoy working with my team, they have been very welcoming and understanding when you know nothing! They are on hand to answer any questions I have and always take the time to explain if there is something I don't understand. I enjoy learning and even though it can be quite tough at time, it's easy to look back and see how much you have taken on since starting.

Unilever are very passionate about their apprentices succeeding. There is a good support network in place and they are quick to sort any issues that an apprentice might be having. They embrace candidates from all walks of life and seem to understand the importance of giving opportunities to those without degrees or higher education.

I can only speak from my personal experience as everyone has different managers. My manager has a very structured plan which she shared with me on my first week. It is designed to show how she expects my skills and ability to develop, to support the requirements of the apprenticeship and also to help me when I come to apply for jobs within FMCG in the future. The qualification is also structured and we have timetables letting us know when each module is due and when the exams will be taking place over the next 18 months.

You are allocated a person who you can speak to at any time. They are there to guide you and pick up on any issues you may be facing.

As mentioned previously, there is a large support network in place and always someone available to speak to if there are any issues. Within my team, they are always making sure that my work load is suitable to go alongside the qualification to ensure I don't feel overworked or stressed.

The salary offered is higher than some of the other apprenticeships I looked into. For me, it isn't enough to cover my costs as I have moved out and have bills etc to pay however if I was living at home it would be plenty. I think its important to budget and I knew I would be having to cut some costs so I save up money before starting the apprenticeship. The work experience with Unilever far outweighs any costs and you mustn't loose sight of that.

There is a free gym available on site which also runs classes throughout the day and evening. There are staff incentive days which are great for both team building and learning what other people get up to in their roles. The apprentices try and get together and go out at the weekend from time to time.

Yes

It offers a great opportunity to learn and grow your skills while in a pleasant work environment

My only tip is to be yourself in your application and on the assessment day. They are looking to see your personality and your natural abilities to decide which role would suit you best. If you pretend you are really good a something and find yourself in a role which requires that skill, you will end up feeling really stressed! Just be yourself and let them decide what might suit you best!