Unilever Graduate Management Trainee Recruitment 2011

We’re one of the largest consumer goods companies in the world, in one of the fastest-moving and demanding industries around. Our brands are a familiar part of daily life for millions. And each and every one of them brings bigger, more complicated challenges. How can our products make people healthier? How can we help people feel better about themselves? How do we enhance the environment and communities around us? How can we improve the lives of people everywhere? As a graduate trainee, this will mean challenge, freedom and responsibility like you’d never believe.
Unilever Future Leaders Programme (UFLP) 2011

Reference: FJA-Uni-UFLP


Description
Our brands are among the most successful in the fast moving consumer goods industry because the people behind them understand their enormous potential and impact. At Unilever, we work to create a better future everyday and we are sure you will feel the same if you join our Future Leaders’ Programme (Graduate Trainee Programme).
Unilever Graduate Trainee Management Programme 2011

In our Unilever Future Leaders Programme (Graduate Trainee Programme), we don’t just employ fresh graduates; we offer them world-changing work and international exposure. We give young graduates exciting projects that develop them into managers in just three years. If you make it through our intense recruitment process, you will be exposed to variety of scenarios that will test your skills from the outset. (Just ask our undergraduate interns or participants at our recently concluded Ideatrophy Championships!).

You will also have talented, exceptional colleagues around you; and as a management trainee, this means challenge, freedom and responsibility like you’d never believe!


The Unilever Future Leaders Programme is all about harnessing your potential.
You’ll come into an organisation where you can make a measurable difference to our business performance.
You’ll be encouraged to lead, to suggest, to challenge how we work.
You’ll join an environment where you can be creative and be yourself.
Our graduate programme recruits the people who will see this business into the future, developing into leaders with a difference.




Supply Chain
Our Supply Chain function manages all stages of our supply process. Starting with sourcing raw materials and ending with timely delivery, whether it’s face soap or laundry soap, this business area is responsible for making sure our products are on the shelves when consumers want them and at a good price. All three areas – Supply Management,
Manufacturing and Logistics – call for clear thinkers with good strategic and logistical skills. Over at least three rotations, you’ll get an inside look at several production sites and head office operations, which may include projects within supply management, logistics, planning and a factory team leadership role. You will also have the opportunity to work with diverse teams, so an open mind or willingness to learn would be an advantage.


Human Resources
Can you imagine the incredible variety of talent we have coming through our doors?
We employ people to work in a range of different roles and all of them bring their own unique strengths and career goals. It takes all kinds of talented and committed individuals to make Unilever’s world go round, and it’ll be up to you to help create an environment where our people can strive to be their best.
To work in HR, you need to be insightful and inspired to make a difference in developing our people, organization skills and capabilities required to be a winning business. You’ll undertake rotations to get a well-rounded view of our people, including time at Service Delivery, Business Partnering and Expertise teams. Beyond your usual rotations, there’s also scope for you take on crucial projects and shape future HR practices.
Wherever in the business you work, you’ll be building up experience of culture change, employee relations, leadership development and much more, getting an up-close and personal view of HR at Unilever.


Customer Development
Our products have to be on the shelves for them to sell. Focusing on the customers who stock our products, from little corner shops to major supermarkets, the Customer Development team works to make our brands available to anyone who wants them. Any work in this area demands a lot of motivation and an ability to tackle tough situations. After all, you’ll be on the front lines, working as an ambassador for our products, making sure people forget the competition and think of Unilever first.
You will experience this in at least three rotations. In Trade Category Management, you will work with customers and/or within trade channels to develop appropriate assortments, shelf- layouts, promotional strategies & price positions, based on shopper, customer & channel insights.
In Customer Marketing: you will be expected to develop & execute fully integrated, insight based brand/category solutions & activities for customers / channels based on shopper, customer & channel insights.
Another exciting area in our Customer Development function is the Account Management & Field Execution (CD Operation). You will be expected to develop a customer strategy and business plan jointly with our customers, gain commitment from both the customer and the organisation, resource it appropriately, and follow up on execution. You will also ensure a smooth and cost-effective operation between the company, customers, and specific third parties.

Finance
Finance at Unilever is about a lot more than numbers. It’s a craft that requires you to get to the heart of multi-million Naira brands. It’s a discipline that influences the development of our products and the growth of our business, helping our teams make a real success of their work. People will seek your advice on brand development, pricing strategy and more – and they’ll trust you to see past the figures to the bigger picture. You’ll be involved in evaluating the benefits of innovation on major brands like Close-Up and Omo, and be in the thick of pricing strategy and investment decisions. Over two rotations, you’ll get up to speed with our operations, processes and risks. You’ll get a chance to work in cross-functional teams with other business functions, including Marketing, Supply Chain and Customer Development. By getting involved with financial accounting, management reporting and analysis, you’ll experience real work straight away.


Brand Building
Unilever is the destination for outstanding marketers and we attract the very best. In an organization that values creativity, plays to individual's strengths and allows people to be themselves, our aim is to maintain highly-skilled teams with a wealth of experience.
Marketing at Unilever offers many opportunities to engage closely with consumers, understanding their preferences and needs as well as operate at a global, regional and local level across a broad range of products. Function is divided into two broad areas.


Research & Development
This is about creating exciting and compelling visions for our brands and developing plans across the full marketing mix. It includes brand communications, innovation and renovation as well as channel-specific propositions.
Brand Building
Here we translate those visions into a local market context, plan practical activity and make sure those plans are executed flawlessly. Through operations, this team’s job is to deliver optimal market share and revenue.
Your Development
Excel, impress, and prove yourself – and there will be nothing you can’t do here. To start you off, there’s a comprehensive business introduction, which will give you the ins and outs of Unilever and an overview of business in general. For each particular career area, there’s a special Professional Skills programme which combines local, on-the-job training with national events: this will help you gain all the particular skills you need for your placement. We also provide some of the most in-depth personal development around: this gives you an amazing opportunity to work with experienced trainers and develop an acute awareness of your strengths and weaknesses. Regular feedback goes without saying, and you’ll have an individually-tailored personal development programme to chart your progress.


Support
As well as being assigned a fellow trainee in the year ahead of you as a ‘buddy’, you’ll have a ‘mentor’ to turn to – usually an experienced manager. Then, of course, there’s our HR team, who are always on hand to solve any issues you might have, who’ll help you improve your performance. However, our culture is such that virtually anyone you approach will be more than willing to offer advice, give you guidance or act as a sounding board for those wackier ideas.


What are we looking for in you? (Requirements)
Potential. Academic achievement is important, of course: you’ll need a good degree in any discipline; but you’ll also need other qualities: creative thinking, leadership, a love of working in teams, and above all passion – to push yourself, question our methods and take things on that you aren’t necessarily comfortable with.
How To Apply
Click here to apply online