Research and Development Scientist Review

Meetings with teams, formulation in the lab, use of various analytical equipment. Community, wellbeing and outreach activities/organisation meetings.

I have developed my scientific skills, such as different methods of working in the lab, learning how to operate new equipment and data presentation skills. I have also learnt workplace skills such as team working, communication, presenting and gained new confidence.

I really enjoy working, and theres a good community, however the university side of things brings the score down. I find the work that I am doing at Unilever very fulfilling and rewarding. Honestly the pay isnt great - with other apprentices on the university course being paid significantly more, however their job roles seem to not give them nearly as much experience and has them doing repetitive or boring work.

There is a rotation system, so apprentices will experience 4 different roles which allows you to gain a wide experience of the business. However there seems to be a lack of communication between managers and those who oversee the apprenticeships, along with the uni, resulting in a lot of information being unclear. This probably varies depending on how much experience a manager has with an apprentice, so may not always be a problem. Theres a lack of structure in the first few months of the apprenticeship, as team members still have their normal roles to do, along with onboarding a new apprentice, which led to a lot of time spent not doing anything. They could maybe benefit from a clearer onboarding process, however this does improve as you progress through the course.

There is adequate support from Unilever. The people who run the programme are kind and approachable. I have had a really helpful team and manager this year as well. There are various support networks available, but I havent used them as have not had the need. There is not much of an apprentice community, with monthly apprentice lunches not ever happening. Most older apprentices are kind and supportive with work and uni, so if any problems occur, there is always someone to get advice from.

There is some support - my skills coach is very helpful and kind, however I have not required much support. The teaching is hit and miss so far, with some lecturers being fantastic, and others being hard to contact and poor communicators. There are residential weeks once per year, and these are often poorly organised, however it is nice to spend time with other apprentices at different companies to see how their roles compare.

So far, there is very little correlation between university content and my role. However, it does help to build general skills such as report writing, communication, learning and independent working. Some concepts in chemistry will be relevant to work I am carrying out, but from what I have experienced, there will not be anything that will directly help with my role. I would say I learn more day to day in my role than at university. The university (MMU) could do with reviewing how their residentials work, as we have had multiple referencing classes, when we have already been taught how to reference, and a maths skills class from someone who didnt understand what they were teaching. A lot of these activities that the university put on feel like a waste of time - especially when we have taken time and spent money on travel to and from, when these sessions could have been online

There are a range of social activities after work, but I dont attend these. You can also join development teams which means you can get involved in event planning, outreach and social media.

Yes

I enjoy working here, and have made many friends. Its been good to gain experience working in a large company, and obviously good to have no student debt. I feel like Ive learnt a lot in the past few months that will help my career in the future.

Be confident and ask lots of questions. Try and get some relevant work experience and do research on the company beforehand to see what their goals are.