Associate Project Manager Apprentice Review

On a day to day basis I assist my line manager (the senior brand manager) with marketing projects we are working on in the Global Marketing team. These types of projects include working on brand strategy documents for senior leaders, global brand guidelines documents, competitor research of other brands and supporting on new product launches. On occasion, I will also assist with admin tasks such as raising PO orders.

Yes I have developed soft and hard skills from working on the job. I have learnt soft skills such as communication and how to manage different stakeholders. I have also developed my confidence and leadership abilities and project management skills through my work. I have also learnt specific marketing knowledge and skills, including working on marketing platforms such as Mintel.

I enjoy my programme to a large extent. Unilever has a great company culture, they are very flexible and really focus on your own development and learning. I enjoy my role and my team. My apprenticeship training programme has not always been the most structured from the training provider. I do enjoy my programme but as my role is not project management based, my Line manager and I have had some difficulty setting up me with some projects so that I can evidence project management skills e.g. contract management and schedule management, as I am in a marketing role and not a project management role.

The induction into the programme did not commence until 2 months into the programme. I now have weekly meetings with my training provider but at the beginning of the programme, we did not have much support on the coursework side of the course. They offered great support on the studying side as I passed my exam and the tutor assigned to my group was great. However, my mentor from the training programme is not the most clear with explaining what we need to do and how we can achieve higher marks.

Unilever HR is very supportive, especially during COVID-19. They provide employability, working from home, mental health and future learning/development support resources. I have also started a mentorship programme run by Unilever apprentices, which connects Unilever apprentices with a Unilever FLP for support, which I think will be a great programme.

I received great support from GK apprenticeships for studying/preparing for my exam, with the textbook provided to us for free, great responsive tutor and an online learning platform. They have a good attitude towards supporting us but it is not always executed in the best way. We now have monthly connects but sometimes the information they provide us on what we can do next is very general and not very specific for the apprentice individually.

As my role is not specifically project management based, I do not feel that it helps me perform better in my role to a high degree. The soft skills I have learnt have helped me perform better but I have not used the theory I have learnt to a great extent.

Unilever apprentices organise all the extra curricular activities. There were more of these when not all employees were working at home, such as nights out at pubs and apprentices organising to go bowling etc. In virtual working, events are still organised such as quizzes and competitions around Easter, where groups can win prizes etc. Once your further into the programme, most events and social activities are likely to be organised by apprentices as they form friendship groups rather than one big apprentice social activity, although there will still be large apprentice social events organised.

Yes

Unilever is a huge company and is great to work in as the apprentice team really try's to support you and you can really focus on your development as there are many people you can network with and different areas of the business you can gain exposure to. They also really care and focus on the wellbeing of their apprentices.

During the application process, make sure you mention why you want to work at Unilever and include the company values and work they are doing, eg their sustainable living plan. At assessment days just make sure you are authentic and don't get too nervous and focus on being your best self but also enjoying yourself as they are not trying to catch you out.