A few weeks back Allan gave an insight from a summer placement student he worked with in Supply at the RB Nottingham site.
I thought I would follow suit and asked our current R&D Aircare student, Mandi, to give you an insight into what it is like to work for RB as an R&D ‘Year in Industry’ placement.

Generally we look for high achieving students who have completed their first two years in a relevant degree specialism and have a keen interested into working in a FMCG R&D role following university.
Mandi is the perfect example of this and as you will read below, she is thoroughly enjoying developing valuable experience through her time with RB.
If you are currently at university and considering a completing an industrial placement this may provide a very useful insight to the experience you could gain:

“A little about me – My name is Mandeep, I am a student of Aston University and will graduate in 2011 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. I am currently taking a Year in Industry in R+D for the Airwick brand.

While searching through year in industry opportunities, I wanted to be part of a company that offered something different from the usual, and it was for this reason that Reckitt Benckiser stood out for me. I was enticed by the variety of different areas and categories of research that RB is involved with and was excited to become part of a team working on cutting edge product technologies.

The main reason I chose to be a part of Reckitt Benckiser is that I wanted to be where things are growing, developing and progressing and I wanted the chance to make a meaningful contribution to that process.
So far RB hasn’t failed to meet my expectations.
From the beginning of my placement I have been given projects and tasks that allow me to experience all areas of the Airwick new product development process, from developing ideas for new products and sourcing new technologies, to turning ideas into working models and enhancing a developed product further.
I have also worked with consumers and an internal panel to gain insight into how we can improve and make our products the best on the market!

It’s surprising how “RB infatuated” you become – two weeks into the placement I remember selling the benefits of Freshmatic to my dad – and there is still something exciting about walking down the household isle in the supermarket and seeing all of the wonderful Airwick brand creations!
All of this is an indication of the sense of pride you feel to be a part of the RB community, and how passionate you become about the products you are developing.

Aircare is an extraordinary category to work in, and provides a fantastic learning experience. I am part of the innovation team which is right at the front end of product development. The puzzle starts with a concept for a new consumer desired product and we then turn to science and technology to bring the product to life.
I am six months into my placement and haven’t yet had two identical days. It is a challenging and fun experience and has provided an opportunity not only to apply things I have learnt at university to real world problems, but also to learn a lot about the work environment of a global company.

The range of product formats (from candles to plug-ins to auto sprays) means there is a wide range of projects underway at any one time. During your placement you will be given the chance to work alongside a number of people with varying expertise from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds, who are all friendly and willing to offer advice.

If you are a creative problem solver, and you dare to be part of the best – a position with RB is the position for you.”

After Mandi completes her year with us at RB she will return to finish her degree in Chemical Engineering and we hope that following this experience she will be eager to apply for the RB Graduate Programme.
A ‘Year in Industry’ placement can be a rewarding and valuable opportunity to get a taste of what working for a company is like, and in many cases once placement students have spent this year with RB they are keen to quickly finish university so they can return to work for us as soon as possible!

Whilst at university you are constantly looking for ways to stand out, to build on your skills and to make sure you have the best chance possible of getting the job you really want at the end of it.

Recruiters are looking for the most proactive candidates, ones that show they can produce results – both in and outside the classroom. It’s not enough to just be qualified for the job you want, you need to demonstrate you have gone above and beyond the rest. You want to get potential employer’s attention from the minute they see your CV, but how do you do that in such a crowded market?

RB has launched a fantastic opportunity for 5 ambitious graduates in the UK to really make a mark for themselves. It’s a chance to build on your marketing and communication skills and gain valuable experience to really boost your CV.

RB is looking for Campus Brand Ambassadors to raise awareness of the company.
We’re a global success story – number 12 in the FTSE 100 and a world leader in household, health and personal care. In fact, RB is probably the biggest name you’ve never heard of! And as one of our new Campus Brand Ambassadors you will help to change that.

So who are we looking for?
You need to love a challenge and like to win.
You should already have a good network of friends and fellow students.
You enjoy coming up with creative new ideas to achieve your goals and be successful.
You’re determined, persistent and a bit of an entrepreneur.
You’re probably already starting to think about what career you want to go into after graduation.
You can dedicate around 20 hours a month to promoting RB.

And what’s in it for you, you’re asking?
You get a unique opportunity work with a world leading consumer goods company.
There’ll be an award for the most successful Campus Brand Ambassador over the year – as well as a cash bonus, you’ll get a fast-track onto the 2nd stage of our graduate programme.
From the experience you’ll gain useful stuff for your job interview portfolio, including references from a global FMCG company, not many new graduates will have that on their CV!
It’ll give you a great chance to further build on your network within the student community and develop different relationships with tutors, other students, clubs and societies.
And you will get paid. A base salary of £400 per term, and a stepped bonus is offered against achieving agreed targets.

This could be the perfect opportunity to ensure your professional career is kicked off to an amazing start!

For full details of what the job entails and which UK universities are involved, visit the Career Opportunities page of this blog.

Or you can chat with myself or others at RB via commenting on any of the blogs on myrbopportunity.com

To apply: Download the application form and email it along with your CV to learnwithrb@rb.com by February 10, 2010.

And good luck!

If Eddie Izzard ever fancied a new career direction, I’m sure he would fit in perfectly at RB!
And here is why…

In December 2009 British comedian Eddie Izzard was awarded a special prize in the UK Sports Personality of the Year Award for his outstanding commitment to raising money through running 43 - yes 43 – marathons in 51 days!

Eddie’s marathons took him all around the UK, clocking up more than 1,160 miles. This must have taken tremendous determination and focus, as he endured dramatic situations such as losing toenails and having to eat more than 6,000 calories a day in order to keep up his energy levels.

As I watched the awards show and heard about Eddie’s tremendous ambition and achievement, it made me think how perfectly he would fit into the culture here at RB.
We always strive to achieve the most far reaching goals possible.
If something is a standard goal for the masses, for example running one marathon, then, like Eddie, RB people aren’t interested.

Like him we want to push the boundaries further and achieve greater successes, and do things that people never thought possible.

I’m sure there were plenty of sceptics who did not believed a middle-aged man would be able to achieve what Eddie has accomplished, but he kept his determination and wasn’t afraid to stand up and give the challenge a go.
Even if he had failed to complete all the marathons he originally set out to do, at least he would know he had pushed himself to his absolute best, and this is an achievement to be proud of.

When I first began working for RB I remember some wise words told me by one of our directors. He told me that I should constantly strive to push myself to face new challenges every day at work and never to be afraid if occasionally you don’t reach the far-off goal which may have been set, as it is only through these minor failures that you are reminded that you are stretching the boundaries.
This way you achieve far greater than if you had kept within comfortable safe limitations all along.

It is only through constantly trying new and innovative solutions that RB manages to repeatedly achieve pioneering successes, such as our new innovative Finish launch – the Quantumatic!
This clever new gadget automatically releases a new dose of Finish product each time you use the dishwasher so you don’t have to worry about putting a tablet in each time you wash the dishes.
This is an example of how, like Eddie, here at RB we are prepared to be inventive and do something new and different from the rest.

To date Eddie has raised over £250,000 for his efforts and although he has made a tremendous achievement, he is still determined to do more to help raise money for worthy causes. It’s this quality which really makes Eddie stand out to me – he can be proud of his outstanding achievements yet still strives to achieve even more!

If this has got you thinking about the qualities you possess and you feel, like Eddie, you might be up to the RB challenge, then why not have a look at our graduate recruitment programme which has been designed to achieve the very best results from the very best people.

Hello and welcome to my first blog post since joining RB!
I started the graduate scheme in Global R&D at the Hull, UK site in September and in the few months I’ve been here I have already become a fully integrated part of the team.

I will be following in the footsteps off Edd, who blogged on here about working in R&D and about being one of the faces of our Twitter page.
So here is a brief insight into my career with RB so far…

I am currently working on developing new and exciting products for the Air Wick brand, which is a very prestigious role for my first graduate placement.
Air Wick is currently in 85 countries and we offer consumers a large and growing range of fragrances and formats, including plug ins, battery operated devices, candles, gels and aerosols.
I feel excited and privileged to be working on such a high profile, globally recognised brand and developing new products to add to the range is something I am thoroughly enjoying so far.

To initially get a feel for the brand I tried out lot of the current Air Wick products in my own home - now I probably have the best smelling flat in Hull!

I was assigned a specific project to manage right from day one of starting the placement – talk about taking ownership!
And I’ve thrived since then and have built the beginnings of some successful business relationships around the globe, especially with some of my RB colleagues in Asia.
I am currently getting my first prototypes constructed which I will receive to begin testing early in the new year. I’m very excited to see the fruition of my work so far – working prototypes which I have personally designed!

Working for RB has been everything I could have hoped for so far. Every day has brought a new challenge and the degree of personal ownership I have been given right from the start has allowed me to constantly stretch myself towards achieving my full potential. 
I’ve learnt that working for RB is about pushing yourself outside the comfort zone and being prepared to take calculated risks.

This culture of constantly striving to achieve the best in combination with the strong core values of ownership, team spirit, entrepreneurship and achievement are what makes RB so successful at producing the best consumer-focused solutions year upon year.
But don’t just take my word for it! Listen to Hannah, an R&D graduate, talk about her experience of working at RB.

 I look forward to sharing more blogs about my day to day life as part of the RB R&D team.
And I have also joined the Reckitt Benckiser Twitter team, so make sure you are following to keep updated!