Procurement Assistant Review

My role is to support the EU bottles procurement team in sourcing the bottles for Beauty and Personal Care. I update contracts, raise PO's and approve PO's. I support on the tendering of new business and the overall portfolio strategy. We also support on negotiations for the portfolio.

I have learned more about stakeholder management as I work in project teams on a day to day basis. We also talk to the suppliers regularly. I am able to use more systems for example SAP, icat and DCIW. I have learnt about procurement strategy and negotiation strategy. My excel skills have also considerably improved.

I really enjoy my role and my program set up. I am glad tht i chose an apprenticeship over university as i feel more involved in business and my degree seems simpler as i practice everything i learn when i am at work. The others around me are also able to help and support me with my learning.

I think that the academic University modules work well along side my 4 day week. However, I struggle with the workplace evidence modules more as i am not as good at thinking about examples of everything I do at work as it all happens really fast. I am lucky to work in such a flexible organisation so I work every day and take 2 half days for my study, which works a lot better than for me.

My employer is always happy to support if you ask for it. The university will flag if there are issues to your employer and they will usually only get involved if it is likely that you are on track to fail a module. We also have lots of optional learning and development training which supports us further.

I think that we are really well supported on the academic modules. I think that the evidence for the work place modules is less well supported and I definitely find it harder to find examples for that section. I think as i write more reflective pieces this part of the course will become easier.

All the things that I have learnt at University on my degree I have been able to apply in my role or find examples of it around me. This has made it easier to do my job and also given me more perspective on how to do my role and how I and others can improve.

There are a few social activities at work. All apprentices must be involved in Outreach, Onboarding, Social media or Diversity and inclusion teams to give them a wider view of the business. I am also involved in a team who support women empowerment and i create group sessions to develop skillsets for young girls looking for more guidance in the world of business.

Yes

Unilever is an organisation that is all about purpose. I really like the fact that i am able to go to work where the people and the organisation are interested in achieving the goals not just for the KPI's but because they are true values. Furthermore, there are always more opportunities within Unilever and everyone is willing to support you whilst you develop yourself.

Your purpose and identity is important. Its not all about your grades - those things can be taught. Unilever is truly interested in you and how you can help Unilever in its aims but also how Unilever can help you in your aims and ambitions too. I moved away from home for my apprenticeship and I would say if your worried about that just do it because for me it was definitely worth it.