Posts Tagged ‘graduate’

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4 Steps to become a RB’ler

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

After finishing university every graduate asks himself: how do I get the job I really want? Within this blog entry I will try to give you some insights how my way to RB looked like. Maybe this can become your way, too.

 

1st step: the application.

Find your own style but be aware of the local formalities.

Formalities: The first look is always at the form. Take a look at letters you got from serious companies. You will realize that the format is serious as well. Take this as an example. Colleagues from the HR department get hundreds of applications. So be aware that there are no bigger mistakes within your formalities. Here is a good website for all you German readers. It gives very good insights of the formalities of applications in Germany.

Your own style: Be unique. Take care of the formalities but within those – find your own way. When I was younger sport was a big part of my life. In every application you will find something about this part of me. In addition I love other countries, other cultures. Find a way to express yourself. E.g. I always mentioned that I am a son of the sailor and that this might the reason for my passion for different cultures. Take a look at your life – what makes your heart beat faster?

 

2nd step: the telephone interview.

Be prepared but be yourself – do never prepare whole sentences or words for the talk.

The preparation: Take a look at the website of the company. I found a lot of information about RB and thought how I could fit in this culture. Search for press releases. Go to Youtube and watch some adds:

Waterfall

After that I made a list of things which might be important. Strengths, weaknesses, goals in 5 years, goals in 10 years, why do I want to join RB, why should RB pick me, questions.

The call: Wiebke, the Senior Human Resources Advisor, of our business in Germany called me that day. From the very first beginning I had a very good feeling. I was in the city that day where Wiebke grew up. A good start. Something like this is good to stay in mind. Maybe Wiebke had ten calls that day – but I am sure she remembered that I was the one who was in her home town when we talked. Ask the interviewer personal things. If the topic is sports or hobbies. Why shouldn’t you ask the interviewer about his passions? Maybe there is a connection. The BCG offers some good interview tips as well.

 

3rd and 4th Step: the personal interviews.

At RB I had two personal talks. The first one was with Wiebke and Benno, our Head of Field Sales and Head of Trade Marketing. The second one was with two Marketing Managers. That first day we had two topics: a case study with an analysis and the personal talk. The second day included “only” a personal interview.

The case: Again the preparation comes first. It was my first case study ever. So I searched the web and found this very good site by McKinsey where you are able to practices cases. Take your time and go through the steps. It helped me a lot to understand what a case study is all about. In my case the study had a lot of numbers about market shares, turnover, net revenue and so on. My first thought after my first look – ok, I will leave NOW. In this situation, stay cool. I read it again, made notes. The topic can be about everything. E.g. the company want to join a new market or want to launch a new product. How are the action steps? So, I made my analysis. I focused on the things I understood and I put my action plan up the flip chart but: I was too late. Five minutes before I finished Wiebke and Benno entered the room. My thought: it is over now. And again: stay cool. No one will cut your head off. I finished my paintings and presented my ideas. I am sure not everything was correct but I had my plan and answers to the questions. If I did not understand everything – no problem. Benno explained it to me. Everything was very fair.

The personal talk: the tips and tricks are almost the same as I wrote above within the part about the telephone interview. Most important thing again: be yourself! Benno told me afterwards that after the talk he had the feeling that he really knew who I am.

 

When I take a look back at the whole application process I recommend one most important thing: be yourself and always start the talk with a big…

 

…smile.

Smile

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Choose a Career, not a Job…

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
One of the most daunting decisions I had to make at the end of university was choosing which career path to take…

I knew I wanted to do something marketing related in FMCG, but there was a myriad of companies promoting marketing and sales graduate programs – which one was going to help me achieve my goals of having a fulfilling marketing career?

Having been in the Commercial Graduate Program for more than a year, I have no doubt that I have made the right decision to work at RB. Here are some of the reasons why:

 

1. Strong Portfolio of Brands – Whilst most students are familiar with the P&G, Unilever and L’Oreal’s of the world, the truth is, most of them have probably never heard of RB. Don’t worry, even our stakeholders have trouble figuring our who we are!

However, one thing is for certain, people know our brands – Nurofen, Strepsils, Veet and Dettol to name a few – and at the end of the day, its all about the brands, isn’t it?

At RB, you’ll be working with brands which are ranked 1 or 2 in the marketplace. Walking into a pharmacy as a Sales Representative in my first rotation, I was always able to get the buyer’s attention and respect because they knew our portfolio of market-leading products would help drive customers into their stores and grow their business.

Did you know that at RB, 40% of revenue is generated from new products launched within the past 3 years? So you can be reassured that there will be a plethora of resources and talent readily available to accommodate innovation and growth of our brands and being part of that process, whether it be marketing or sales, is so rewarding for your career.

 

2. Real Ownership and Responsibility – I don’t think any student comes out of a marketing degree wanting a career in sales; I certainly didn’t… which is why I can understand why many students are hesitant to consider a graduate program which incorporates time in the field or in sales.

It was a case of sink or swim when I was handed over a territory of over 120 stores to manage – and while it was certainly a challenge, I also had a ball of a time doing it!

I felt a great sense of ownership and achievement in being able to negotiate and implement a planogram, sell in a promotional program and be able to resolve difficult situations – you learn a lot about responsibility, task prioritisation and demonstrating entrepreneurship.

Most importantly, I felt like I was a valued member of my team and that we all shared the same company core values which allowed us to achieve our goals and deliver results. Do you also share the same passion and drive like we do? See if you have what it takes to thrive at RB.

My time on the field has allowed me to build a strong foundation and thorough understanding of how RB brands are perceived in the market place – perfect preparation for my upcoming marketing rotation. After all, how can you truly understand a brand if you don’t know what customers want?

 

3. The Aussie Graduates! – Since the Commercial Graduate Program started in RB Australia/New Zealand 4 years ago, the pool of graduates has grown into a small family of nearly 20!

 

RB Graduates at Sales Awards Gala

RB Graduates at Sales Awards Gala

 

So when you find yourself in a difficult situation, you know you can always seek help and guidance from another graduate who has been through it all and knows what you’re going through.

As Eva mentioned in one of her posts, we have an annual graduate development day where the New Zealand graduates come over to Australia we get to see what kinds of mischief our neighbours get up to! It truly reinforces the international element of working for a global FMCG company.

We graduates work hard but play harder and whilst it’s great to catch up and let your hair down during official work functions to down, we also socialise outside of work – most recently having Italian cuisine in Darling Harbour!

 

RB Graduates at Christmas Party

RB Graduates at Christmas Party

 

Until my next blog post, I leave you with some recent photos of the RB Australia graduates partying it up at our Hollywood character themed Christmas Party and Sales Awards Gala in Circular Quay, Sydney!

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The differences between marketing and sales departments

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

My name is Nicole. I have been working as a trainee here at Reckitt Benckiser in Brazil since July 2009. Being a trainee at RB is something really different from any other job I had before and completely different from the trainee programs in other big companies. This is mainly because our graduate program gives you exposure to two departments: marketing and sales/trade. Right from the start of your assignment you have responsibility and ownership of complex projects.

I have started in the sales department where I had to deliver 3 main projects in a period of six months:
1) build stronger partnership with golden stores attended by the indirect channel,
2) develop a tool to measure clients sell out and stock and finally
3) the Pharma GTM (Go To Market plan), for the brands which are not launched, yet.
Three strategically very important projects which had to be attractive for our sales team as well as our clients, but of course the client is always the king. 

Last month I started working in the marketing department and I am responsible for future launches of RB products. Also strategically important but in this case what matters most are our consumers and what they think or feel about our products. In the marketing department you are also responsible for the financials of your brand: the product GM (Gross Margin) and everything that impacts the cost of the product needs to be managed and tracked. 

Besides these differences both departments have also other specific characteristics. For example: the results in sales are very short term driven and you have monthly targets to achieve and are constantly evaluated. In marketing you tend to have longer term targets and in some cases you start to see first results after one year. Another clear difference between both areas is that most of decisions in marketing are made based on researches and official reports such as Nielsen, whereas in sales sometimes – because it is so difficult to measure results in the trade (one of the main reasons for it is that the market is too big, in Brazil we have more than 400.00 stores) – some decisions are made based on not only quantitative data (Nielsen), but also on more qualitative data delivered from our field team.

Clearly, there are much more differences between both areas but I believe those are the most important ones. All in all, having the opportunity to work on both sides is really good and important for one’s career. At the end of the program you will get a 360° view of the commercial area and the most important parts of the business. I can only recommend to joining Reckitt Benckiser´s trainee program.

Find out more about our graduate programs on http://www.reckittbenckiser.jobs/graduates

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Graduates. Do you know what HR managers really want?

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

When you’re just about to finish university or college and start out on the career ladder, everything can seem pretty daunting.
Where do you start, what does all the jargon mean, and you’re probably thinking ‘how can I improve my chances of getting the job I WANT?’

 

I came across a blog post called What HR managers want on the career advice site Secrets of the Job Hunt and thought I would share some of its advice with you because this is an aspect that we usually don’t think about.
The post itself links to an interview with Libby Sartain, from Yahoo who answers questions like “How can a candidate break through the noise?” or “What makes a cover email and resume ‘pop’ for you?”.

This last question highlights one thing that all candidates should be focusing on from the very first moment: showing a unique personality.
If you watch the following video you’ll see why personality is a key driver when recruiting someone:

 

 

Nevertheless, Libby Sartain goes a step further saying that a candidate should be able to show their personality even through the cover e-mail (otherwise, how would an employer differenciatte between you and others?).
She suggests candidates do a self-discovery experience based on writing a 50 to 75-word “elevator pitch” for an imaginary listener, while answering the following questions:

Who are you?
What do you stand for?
What is your next big personal objective?
How would you like to contribute in your next role.

She says that being able “to boil down your entire existence into such a short package is one way to discover your essential personal statement to the world. At least, what you’d like your essential personal statement to be”.

Of course, help is also at hand at RB.
We have our own excellent Student Tool Kit which has been pulled together using tips and advice from RB’s graduates, interns and trainees from all over the world.
It’s all aimed at giving you that head start in your career. To make sure you have all the information you need to go out and get the job you want.

Hope it helps!

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Do you have what it takes to be an RB Brand Ambassador?

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

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?Curriculum Vitae

 

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!

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