Supply Chain Apprentice Review
at Unilever
Level 3 Apprenticeship
Engineering
Gloucester
Review Submitted: May 2024
Overall Rating
2.1 /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!
2.5/5
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Overview of Role
2/5
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Skills Development
1.6/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
3/5
My role is to learn from the experienced engineers on site and apply my amrc training to the work environment. I am given maintenance tasks and asked to work independently to complete tasks to the best of my ability.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
2/5
I wish I could enjoy my programme more but find the factory focus on Apprentices to be lacking at best and this leads to difficulties with motivation. I definitely don't enjoy the apprenticeship as much as I thought I would.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
2/5
I have learnt some electrical skills that I didn't have before and have had some opportunities to develop my mechanical work through fabrication tasks and other maintenance activities. My problem solving and fault diagnosis have been a big personal focus, also.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
1/5
The structure sometimes feels very loose, most of the staff on site don't understand our programme or what we are actually meant to be learning. The more regimented aspects in the amrc are marginally better but could still benefit from review.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
1/5
We receive really quite little as our apprenticeship liason spends a lot of time off site and unavailable to us, and my direct management don't know what is expected of us or what we should be doing.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
2/5
This is a bit better than the "support" from our factory, however the infrequent contact with our training provider can make knowing exactly what I am working towards quite difficult.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
2/5
I think the knowledge and more theory based side is very beneficial when I apply my own personal learning with it to my job role. The qualification covers a wide range of general engineering knowledge but could maybe be more directly linked to my role itself.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
2/5
Not that I am aware of.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Unilever to a friend?
No
Why?
The upper management structure is messy at best and this has a knock-on effect of lack of motivation and understanding of expectations. The people who you are meant to be able to rely upon don't seem to be able to fulfill that role.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Unilever?
Be absolutely sure that this is what you want, take time and read the contract carefully, talk to others about their experience at the company and invest in the history of you would be site.
