My Internship In Unilever

I know this is long overdue but it is timely because it is exactly one year after my 12 months internship with Unilever Nigeria.

I will try my best possible to answer similar questions that I have had to answer previously from intending interns, on how I got to work with one of the best FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods)  companies in the world as well as what to expect by working with the amazing cross-functional teams in Unilever Nigeria.

Well, nothing works outside the Grace of God who brings out the best in us when all our human efforts may seem to have failed. My special appreciation will also go to Mechell Chetty (referred to as the ‘’People’s escalator’’ in the Unilever world) who recommended me for the internship and has remained my mentor over the years.

I started my internship on 4th June, 2018 after going through 3 days onboarding process where the various heads/representatives took us through functions in their respective departments. It was one of the most exciting 3 days of my life as I got to see and interacted with workers handling the global brands of Unilever. I was also opportune (during the induction period) to meet with highly experienced personnel who moved from other companies (like Friesland, Guinness, Cadbury, Nestle, Ranbaxy, etc,) and joined Unilever. I must say that the 365 days of my internship enhanced my career development and growth in my endeavours thereafter.

 My First Day at Work After the 3 Days Induction

I met with the HR Business Partner who introduced me to my team members and showed me my workstation. Every business has its own culture and ethics as well as assigned Workplan given to every intern. But I shall use this avenue to dwell more on the experience garnered during my one-year internship. This I believe will be worthwhile for persons at some point in their lives who may which to undergo the internship programme.

Always go for what you want

I have always had the flair/interest in marketing functions so I requested to be posted to the Marketing Department where I showed keen interest in Digital Marketing that was just evolving in very few companies at the time. Digital marketing has a great capacity/spread to reach out to more people online using various channels (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, etc) with a very prudent Marketing budget.

This was put effectively into practice as most of my day to day activities revolved around reviewing and executing the Marketing activities and campaign to meet the objectives/goals.

Have the CEO Mindset

The CEO mindset is to fit into the corporate goals/objectives of the company and take ownership (as a stakeholder). Bring out the best of every task assigned to you and be proactive. Look for creative ways of doing things and most importantly know your numbers at the back of your hand.

Know the week you are in; know if you are meeting the marketing forecast for the week; month or quarter; Judge it against the previous year;  call the Field Sales Manager and ask what is going on in the field; ask if you could provide any support and relay this to your Line Manager by providing possible marketing activities to drive sales and deplete the stocks in the Key Distributors outlets. Ask the Digital Agencies why they are optimizing for Impression and not the Reach; why your CTR rate is less than the recommended CTR?

Why thinking like a CEO, there are internal and external functions you would need to harness together to make your job a success irrespective of the department you are in. There are times you will be faced with the decision to help the company cut cost and still meet the business goals. 

Make Connections outside your Team

During my interview chat with my Line Manager, I asked her expectation of me on my job. ’The ability to take a bold decision and work with little or no supervision’’ was her response.

She said further that I should have a cross-fertilization of ideas with other units within the Marketing Department for a broader scope/horizon. According to her, my team maybe be faced with new challenges that other teams would have overcome. So, it is okay to reach out to them. Most times they are more than happy to help.

Till date my relationship with most of my colleagues on the team is very cordial.

Speak up

You may just have that suggestion/idea that will make the difference. So, be bold and speak up as it is important to share knowledge with others and jointly grow the business. People actually want to hear you out and the team is always ready to support any laudable idea.

You are here to learn

You maybe given a workplan (3+1) scheduling your work to be done over the course of your internship like I was given. You should therefore acquaint yourself with the necessary soft skills and have a basic knowledge of the Microsoft package such as Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc you will need in your various departments.

Do not be afraid to ask a question. There are terms you may not understand. I remember having a jotter for all the marketing terms some of which were strange to me. It will take some time before you master some of them though just like it happened in my case.

If your date to submit a task is pretty close, you can always reach out to other intern(s) for support.

Do things that will stretch you beyond your supposed limit.

I recall a challenging task giving to Unilever Nigeria by the Lagos state government requesting of 2,000 pieces each of the 5 SKUs of Pears. Which was passed to my team (responsible for the branded products repacking and distribution) They were eager to get the products delivered to them two days before the new administration come on board. My team successfully delivered the products using our accredited distributor and was paid within the 48 hours deadline and the key distributor confirmed the payment thereafter.

If given the opportunity to intern once more. I do choose Unilever again, but this time not as an intern, but as a brand manager.

For those looking forward to working at Unilever, I recommend the  Unilever Future Leaders Programme is a great place to start. Believe in yourself.

Always go for what you want!

Cheers.

CaLeb BaaLe.