R&D Apprentice Review

As an R&D apprentice my day to day role can vary quite alot which provides me with different experiences. Mainly it consists of carrying out experiments, analysis the data and presenting back to stakeholders. It can also involve more mundane tasks such as sample processing and handling. I often get asked for my opnion on how tasks should be carried out.

During my time in the apprenticeship the skills I learn day to day have increased drastically since my time at school. I have developed my interpersonal skills as you are in a sittuation where you work with adults that treat you as an adult, I have gained new skills in carrying out scientific work, report writing, presentations and overall have gained alot more confidence.

Overall I do enjoy the programme, the combination of university weeks as well as work works extrmeley well. The work although not in a topic i am passionate about is rewarding and interesting and so is the university work. The programme also allows you to rotate to different areas each year which is great for keeping it fresh and interesting.

Overall the programme is structured extremeley well. It consists of 4 roations into different categories that are 1 year long apart from the first one which is 2 years to allow time to get used to the working world. As part of the first roation you also complete a 4 month secondment into the pilot plant allowing you to gain a large range of new skills. University is also sturctured well into the programme by having 4, 1 week long blocks spread out over course of the year.

Unilever as an employer is excelent at proving support. They are very good at ensuring everything is good with our mental health and health in general. They support with any university work we may be struggling with and also provide plenty of drop in sessions for help in general life for example one on being smart with money

During the week long blocks there are plenty of contact hours with the lecturers. Some lecturers arent that good though however they do try. When away from university again some lecturers are good at replying to you quicly however others can take a long time. The quality seems to be more down to the person.

Although interesting so far there havent been many topics i have learnt at university that i can relate directly over to work. The university course seems to be more tailored to people working in manufacturing of food products as appose to R&D sites however there are some topics that do relate.

Our site and i belive Unilever as a whole is excellent for providing extre-curricular activities. Every week i play football on a wednesday and attend a trim trail club on monday and friday. There is also an option to attend tough rugby on a thursday which i sometimes go to but overall i belive there at least 15 different clubs that you can attend on site. These are all shown to you when you join.

Yes

Unilever as an empolyer offeres are large range of apprenticeships which i belive are the best option post school. They offer competitive salaries along with other great benefits. They are a huge organisation meaning you can gain an extremely large amount of experience and theres is so much space to grow. They are also extrmeley passioante about caring for their employees and ensuring you are happy.

Be yourself. Unilever believe that their main asset is their people and this is because of the hige diveristy of people that work for unilever all bringing their own ideas and personal experiences. On a more practical point i would suggest doing research on the company and current topics the company is dealing with that you can discuss during the application process.