Communications Apprentice Review

As a communications apprentice, it was my responsibility to support the team with tasks like monitoring our press office, monitoring our twitter handle and supporting with all internal communications. My internal communications responsibilities included managing our plasma screens in the coffee hubs in the office, sending leadership emails and writing stories to go onto our intranet site. As the communications team, we were also responsible for organising and coordinating quarterly town hall events for ~400 employees in the office, as well as a whole UK & Ireland off site event annually for ~800 employees. My responsibilities in this included organising ice creams for the break, supporting with the collation and creation slides and video content for the presentation and organising many of the logistical elements of the events.

I learnt so many new skills on my apprenticeship. I learnt all about writing for an internal audience verse an external audience and the different tone of voice you need to use. I became much more confident in stakeholder management and how to work with senior leaders. Throughout my apprenticeship, my confidence also grew massively and this also lead me to apply for a permanent role at the end of my programme.

I loved being on my programme at Unilever and found it useful to learn about some of the basic theories about file management and storage and effective communication skills, even though I was learning a lot of this just from being immersed in a corporate communications team. Being on an apprenticeship programme always made me feel part of a great community.

My programme at Unilever was very well structured. Our provider shared a calendar of all the different workshops we would be attending so that we could plan our diaries ahead. This also meant we were able to manage workload to allow for our apprenticeship work. I also really valued all of the additional learning sessions that the Unilever Apprenticeship Delivery team organised for us e.g. sleep workshops, wellbeing workshops, managing time effectively sessions etc. When it came to the end of my apprenticeship, there was also clear communication about next steps and there was lots of support in place with whatever I chose to do next.

There was always lots of support from the Unilever side of things. Firstly from my direct line manager and the wider team. My line manager really helped guide me from the very basics at the beginning of my apprenticeship including writing emails to different stakeholders and holding a successful meeting. She then went onto support me in developing extensive skills in writing for an internal and external audience. I was also heavily supported at the end of my apprenticeship by the wider team, who put me in contact with their network so that I could learn more about different functions and decide where I wanted to take my career. From the apprenticeship delivery team, there were always useful workshops to join, and again, at the end of my programme, there was lots of help on offer including CV workshops, practise interviews and general support from the team on next steps.

I received a sufficient amount of support from BPP to get me through my business administration qualification. I feel that the programme was very much in my capability and so I didn't not need any extra support from BPP. I found that their online resources and catch ups with my mentor were enough to get me through the programme.

My business administration qualification helps me perform better because it has helped me to be more organised and efficient with my time. I am also confident with creating well structured and organised documents and I am also confident in deciding which documents to create for which instances, which saves time deliberating!

There are LOADS of social activities not just in the apprenticeship space, but also in the wider Unilever community. My team have been part of a Unilever netball league which has been a lot of fun and taught employees who have never played the sport to learn it, but also network with other employees at the same time. There are also monthly drinks at our office in our 'Terrace Bar' which is another great way to network with other colleagues. In the apprenticeship community there are lots of things to get involved with, nights out, Tough Mudder runs, and meals out to name a few!

Yes

Unilever are such a fantastic company to work for. Firstly you get the most incredible experiences, no matter what team you are in. Being part of a huge fast moving consumer goods company provides you with invaluable experience about how business works. You are also exposed to all the different challenges that business faces and how to overcome these. At Unilever, you are also empowered (no matter what your work level is) to make change for good, whether that be in sustainability, or cost saving or creating new and innovative ideas. I also feel incredibly looked after at Unilever. There is incredible training available, wellbeing support of all kinds, a gym on site and the opportunity to do lots of volunteering.

I would advise someone who wants to work at Unilever to do their research on the history of the business, but also on the values of the business at this is at the heart of what we do in the business! Unilever like people who have a passion to learn, so always bring that to an interview or application!