You need to make mistakes
"The great thing is, you get to work closely with so many other departments – like Marketing and Brand teams – that you build up a fascinating view of how all the business fits together. It also offers you a kind of ready-made set of contacts that’s invaluable in bouncing ideas around.
In my second placement on the programme, I was working on the Safeway account, and got involved in the launch of Dove shampoo. We had to work closely with the supermarket and find the best ways to motivate shoppers, and address their behaviour – and part of that involved coming up with exciting things to catch their eye. So, we set up point of sale displays; we started sampling campaigns; we even made a Dove airship and sent it on tour.
A lot of sales roles are about building a long-term relationship with our customers (the shops, supermarkets and so on) – so I spent a year, rather than six months, on our Sainsbury’s account. This was quite a nerve-wracking experience for me, going into a big retailer and suddenly realising that what you do has a large impact on what happens in their stores. I looked at margins, pricing, even helped plan Christmas promotions.
It’s something that’s true of the graduate programme, whichever function you join: your work can and does have big business consequences. The reality is, even though there’s masses of support for you, you will make some mistakes. And you need to. No one’s going to let you go horribly wrong, but it’s important to have that confidence in yourself to go out and try things. You can’t be afraid to stand up for your own viewpoint, because Unilever really want to hear new ideas. That’s the challenge here, I suppose. But it’s also what makes the company so much fun."
