Communications Assistant Review

My role was to assist the External Engagement team with different types of administration tasks, these included planning our team meetings, taking minutes, planning guest lists for events we ran and more. I was also given my own project to create a weekly newsletter which I sent out to the team.

I have gained a qualification in business administration whilst also developing many new skills such as working on excel spreadsheets,learning more about Unilever as a company and their ambitions. I have also really developed on my written English as this was an important skill to have when writing emails to senior colleagues.

The program was a great way to help adjust into the working world, it really helped me to build on my confidence in a work place environment whilst also gaining valuable experience and learning new skills. Everyone was very supportive and welcoming and overall exceeded my expectations of completing an apprenticeship.

The induction was very well organised and I felt very welcomed. I didn't have contact with my training provider until a month in and only received good support with my studying when I had around 3 months left, however it was very good once I did receive it. The organisation of my team could have been a little bit better as there was times where I had no tasks to do.

My manager was very supportive at the beginning and towards the end of my apprenticeship when it came to finding my next role which was very helpful. I did not have a mentor however there was colleagues in my team who I was able to go to if I had a problem and they was more than happy to help.

I had a session around once a month where we would go through my next task and I was able to ask any questions if I had any, I would also always get a response if I emailed with any questions. I had a lot of support when it came to my end point assessments however I wasn't fully clear on what they would be until around 3/2 months before.

The qualification helped me to learn more about Unilever as a company and its aim and vision which was very useful to know in general but also particularly for the role I was in. It also helped me to identify my strengths and weaknesses which then allowed me to develop on those further.

I was part of the apprentice influencers which meant we planned for all of the apprentices based in our office to go out after work around once a month. However I was only able to do this for the first six months of my apprenticeship as we then began working from home. I believe there would have been more social / networking events to attend if we was in the office.

Yes

Its a great company to work for as you gain valuable experience and it opens the door to many great opportunities for after. I have now been able to move to a different area of the business and gain new skills which is an amazing opportunity to have. All employees are very friendly and helpful and its a great environment to be in.

Research Unilever as much as possible and prepare for all types of questions which could be asked with different work examples to use, preparation is key! It's also really important that you want to learn new skills and work well in a team, this will open up many opportunities. Take all of the experience which is offered to you and make the most of it.