Digital Marketing Degree Apprentice Review

My days are varied and encompass a lot of different tasks. This ranges from large-scale campaigns and project planning to smaller, ad-hoc requests. I focus on digital marketing related responsibilities, such as website ownership, paid social media posts, e-commerce content optimisation, and organic search rankings across the brands I work on.

I have learnt many new skills - as an apprentice who started working straight from leaving school, I had no pre-existing marketing related skills so in a short time, my team at Unilever upskilled me in a broad range of marketing skills. These include data analytics, campaign planning, project leadership, consumer buying behaviour and how to effectively use social media to advertise.

I hugely enjoy my programme. The ability to work on such big brands makes work so much more exciting as it is easier to visualise what it is you are marketing. The team and people also make up a large part of why the programme is enjoyable, as everyone is extremely friendly and always willing to teach you and extend your skills.

The beginning of the programme is extremely well structured with an extensive onboarding process that prepares you for starting work and also gives you the chance to network with fellow Unilever employees. However the process of rotating roles halfway through the apprenticeship is less structured and we are not given much advance information about the rotations.

The onboarding process for the programme is very well organised and I felt very supported in my first few months coming into the role. In terms of our off-the-job training, the University also provides support to new joiners. The Unilever Future Careers team has always been available to us apprentices for support.

I found the process to be less efficient and there were some difficulties with getting everyone signed up to the University platform. However the professors are usually quick at replying to emails and will support in seminars. Our course leader is very supportive in any problems the apprentices have with the training provider.

The information I am learning in my course is very well suited to my role, especially during first year when you are learning more broader principles of marketing which apply to any facet of a marketing role. When the course becomes more specific, it does not always directly link to what you are currently working on, but there are always useful soft skills being learnt.

Yes there is a large range of social activities and team building events that take place within teams and business units, and there is also many extra curricular activities and networks to be part of, like the LGBT Society, Empower, and other groups for different interests. There are sporting activities, like a netball team and a yearly Great Walk for charity.

Yes

Unilever has a good support system in place for apprentices and creates a lot of opportunities for them. It does an excellent job in giving apprentices tasks and responsibilities relevant to their courses and long-term professional development. If you are ambitious and keen to learn new skills, then definitely go for it.

Make sure you are passionate about Unilever and learn about the company before applying. It is a very big company so you could end up on working on a lot of different brands, so do not apply with one specific brand in mind as it will limit your ability to enjoy the programme.