The past six months flew by. Being a part of the Communications & Corporate Affairs department at Unilever is an incredibly exciting internship position to be in. Starting my journey by studying communication science and then having to look for an internship made me quite nervous. Towards the end of my studies, I still wasn’t sure which direction I wanted to go into. Hesitating between the persuasive and corporate communication master’s tracks, I was very grateful when I found this internal communications internship at Unilever – and it didn’t disappoint! Let me tell you…
Since the start of my internship, I was given a lot of responsibility. I was involved in projects and contacted by colleagues who wanted my help and advice regarding projects or communication strategies right from the start. This is something that I did not expect to happen within my first week, given the lack of my practical experience in the field of internal communications. Yet, receiving so much responsibility turned out to be one of my favourite aspects of the internship. Within no time, you are integrated into the office life. Colleagues treated me as one of them, trusted me with projects, and made me feel comfortable to ask questions. I also felt that it was recognized whenever I put in a bit of extra effort or did something well.
Another one of my favourite aspects of the internship was engaging with so many different departments. Especially by being responsible for the internal communication, you become aware of what is happening within different branches of the company, which gives you a really good overview of the company. You are also encouraged to meet up with fellow colleagues, through coffee breaks for instance, and to develop a healthy work-life balance. Connecting with fellow colleagues, allows you to network and learn about other existing job roles. Something that I found particularly interesting as this internship really served as an orientation period for me.
Overall, it is difficult to describe a typical day as I was constantly involved with organizing different projects. From time to time, I was also required to go outside of the office with regard to these projects/events. For instance, when visiting the Unox factory, the location of the yearly Food Bank Action, or a food rescue centre to see how food waste is combated around the Netherlands.
In conclusion, I was very grateful for this internship opportunity. I learned a lot and it gave me a good impression of what it is like to work as an internal communications professional. Do you like corporate communication, or would like to know more about it? Are you interested in global FMCG companies? Then I would strongly recommend applying for this internship position at Unilever!