Fascinating placements
"This is a scheme that’s really geared towards giving you a broad experience – more so than perhaps any other company, which makes for fascinating placements – the highlight of which for me has been the six months I spent in Packaging.
The department works across all the categories, so straightaway, that means exposure to a whole host of brands. But it’s the issues they have to consider that I found most interesting. We develop all sorts of products that give benefits to consumers – but of course, the consumer doesn’t get to experience those until they’ve actually bought the product. So, how do we get them interested in the product when they see it on the shelf? How can we add to the experience instead of just putting the product in a bottle?
It was a big, big challenge. I worked with Marketing and other departments to get everyone involved up front, so everybody’s working together instead of pulling in different directions. I went on and helped promote a packaging foundation course which is open to all young managers in R&D. I even went to South America and visited some of our other sites to see what their attitude to packaging was. In fact, the whole experience gave me a great insight into the strategic goings-on at Unilever, and it really informed everything I’ve done since.
If there’s one piece of advice I’d give to graduates thinking of applying it’s this: meet people. Go along to the presentations, make contacts and don’t be afraid to follow them up. Unilever would much rather you asked them than sit and worry!"
