Research and Development Industrial Placement Review

Item: Research and Development Industrial Placement at Unilever
Rating: 4.4
Author: Anonymous

at Unilever

Placement (10 Months+)

Research

Port Sunlight, Wirral

Review Submitted: May 2024

Overall Rating

4.4 /5

The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!

4/5 - Overview of Role

4/5 - Skills Development

4/5 - Support and Guidance

5/5 - Company Culture

5/5 - Overall Experience

4/5 - Future Career Prospects

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.

Day to day really varies. It may be in the lab; testing new formulations or making batches of formulation. Or I could be in the office planning an experiement or gathering my results to feedback to my team.

Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?

Yes I was given lots of responsibility. It was really daunting at the start as I felt I had no idea what I was meant to be doing. But towards the end it felt really satisfying that all the work I was presenting I had completed myself.

Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was

4/5

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?

developed my analysis skills. Also developed my confidence!! This placement has really taught me how a scientific degree fits into the testing of actual products going to the market!

How would you rate the training provided during your experience?

4/5

How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?

5/5

How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?

3/5

Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development

4/5

Support and Guidance

How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?

I received good support. It was not perfect as my team is quite small and they weren't always focused on ensuring I had plenty to do.

How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?

5/5

How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?

3/5

Company Culture

What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?

Company culture is amazing!! Everyone is lovely and willing to help. No one is there to stress you out. Work social evenings were often and really let me relax around my colleagues.

How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?

5/5

How would you rate the social opportunities?

5/5

How would you rate the diversity initiatives?

5/5

How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?

5/5

Overall Experience

To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?

I really enjoyed my placement. I had a varied year with lots of projects varying in size and importance. I only wish I had worked more closely with my team on some projects as the guidance in those first few months would have accelerated my learning more.