Interns
2006 - Adam
2006 - Charlotte
Adam Womersley
10-week Summer Internship followed by
SALES GRADUATE PROGRAMME
“The summer before my third year at uni, I had the urge to gain some real commercial experience. I looked at range of internships. The exact sector wasn’t important; what I was looking for was real responsibility (no coffee making), my own challenging project, a team environment, commercial exposure and the opportunity to prove myself. The Nestlé internship programme offered all the above.
To be honest, I knew little about FMCG and account management at that time but after the resulting ten-week internship in Summer 2005, I was convinced a customer-facing role within Nestlé was for me. So, after completing BSc Economics at the University of Bristol, I joined Nestlé as a fully-fledged Sales Graduate. That led me to where I am now: a Business Executive role in the Food & Beverage Division.
I kicked off the Graduate Sales programme as a Business Development Executive for Rowntrees, North London. My first year in field sales was tough, as that’s where all commercial agreements are made with customers on behalf of Nestlé, but it cemented a lot of market fundamentals in my mind. I then moved on to become Beverages Business Executive for Co-op, Somerfield and Lidl. I now sit within a team assisting in the day-to-day running of these large accounts, so my job is interesting and full of challenges. Everything’s extremely fast paced – sometimes work is going well and you’re on top of it all, but the challenge comes in keeping it that way…
Through talking to my friends on other Graduate schemes I realised a huge differentiating point in the level of support we receive. Nestlé are hugely supportive and that support arises in many forms, so even entering Beverages and being a key component of three accounts worth £50m, I could handle everything thrown at me. I’m drawn not only to the long-term strategic planning element but also to the day-to-day fire fighting. And the people here make such a difference – they’re hard-working, sociable, intelligent and ambitious, but fun with it all too.
In my first year on the scheme, training was centralised and formal. Since becoming a Business Executive, it’s become far more constant, as well as ad hoc. From systems training and information analysis to negotiation courses, I’m now moved from beginner to advanced. Underneath that there’s a more rigid training structure offered to all grads. I’m using that to continue building on the knowledge and skills I’ve gained over the last year or so, working in a similar role as a Business Executive but on bigger accounts too.
Nestlé is an ever-changing company so there are always opportunities to grab. In the future I’d like to take advantage of that and get more involved and aligned with Health & Wellness. The merging of Beverage/ Food/ Confectionery could be amazing too, so I’d love to be involved in that somehow, playing my part and seeing where it takes me.”
Charlotte Green
10-week Summer Internship followed by
SALES GRADUATE PROGRAMME
“You could say my 10-week internship in June 2005 was the start of a pretty good thing; I’m now Executive Assistant to the MD of Nestlé Rowntree. I’d studied Information Management at UCL (University College London) and, when I graduated in June 2006, I was invited back to join Nestlé, starting here permanently in September 2006.
There’s sometimes a misconception that you have to be a wheeler-dealer character to be in sales – but that’s definitely not me! In the specific area of sales that I’m going into, it’s about selling a strategy. It’s a brilliant place to develop, because it requires skills in influencing people internally and externally, as well as strategic business thinking and following through ideas to operational implementation. It’s a great blend of everything!
My intern weeks were spent in our FoodServices division, looking at NHS Wholesale Delivery and Catering Coffee in Booker Cash ‘n’ Carry. I’ve always been interested in what makes consumers tick and how companies respond, so the idea of working in FMCG sounded really appealing. We all experience food and drink every day of lives, so it’s very easy to relate to. Plus I’ve always LOVED chocolate (and I know I’m definitely not alone in that).
The following year, I applied and got a place on Nestlé’s Graduate Sales Programme, getting straight out and working in the field for five months, selling confectionery to giants like Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Morrisons stores.
It can be hard work at times, but that’s offset by support from your team and the satisfaction of achievement. Everyone’s friendly and sociable and you get such a boost from your first internship presentations – the positive feedback I got from my managers blew me away. In my current role for the MD, I got that buzz seeing the first of eight brand websites I was responsible for going live – within the tightest of deadlines! In the next couple of weeks, I’m actually moving into a new role in Category Development – relating to Immediate Consumption (singles confectionery, such as Kit Kat four-finger). This will be another great challenge, integrating the marketing plans of each brand and commercialising them to sell into customers.
All these different projects stretch me in different ways, whether it’s the way I think or the things I do. So far, I’ve had three formal personal assessments with my line manager, but also lots of discussions with my mentor, graduate scheme contacts and people in the business about my strengths and what I need to develop in the future. I’ve also experienced formal Field Training, Selling Skills and Presentation Skills courses, and had specific systems training on Nielson (market/competitor database), GLOBE (financial reporting) and Dunnhumby (Tesco Clubcard data).
Ultimately, I want to be a board director by the age of 30. An ambitious target! Attending board meetings really inspired me to reach that level. It accelerated my understanding; built up my senior management network and gave me insight into previously unfamiliar functions (supply chain, export, finance and HR). My next role will let me put all that ‘rocket fuel’ into action so I can get some more operational experience and really prove myself.”
