The Unilever Leadership Internship Programme (also known an ULIP), hosted by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), is one of the most coveted internship programmes for b-school students across the country. At the same time, being a part of this programme is not easy. As one of my fellow batchmates rightly described “ULIP is a dream for many but a reality for few”. This year, it’s no different. With more than 4000 applicants across 12 top campuses in the country, only 92 could make it to Unilever House, Mumbai. Yet, for the record, this is the largest ULIP batch ever.
The journey started almost 8 months ago. There were celebrations all around. Sixteen knowledge-hungry souls had made it to ULIP 2017 from IIM Lucknow – a hard earned victory. We did acknowledge that the war is yet to begin and the summers were far, but I guess the hard work we did, did deserve some appreciation.
Months passed and the eagerness of being a part of HUL always kept us excited. A lot of people started believing that we are subject experts and knew a lot about the industry. We knew the truth, we were no experts, but we will soon have the exposure to get in touch, be tutored and mentored by the best in the game. Soon it was February and the offers started rolling out. Exotic international locations like UK, Russia, Vietnam, Sri-Lanka were all up for grabs. Seats were limited and the talent pool was huge. Not everybody could get their passport stamped. Whether it’s fortunate or unfortunate remains a debate I’ll like to address some other day. For me, it was Unilever House, Mumbai – the building from which people reach out to 2 out of every 3 Indians and help make their lives better each day.
Then came April the 4th – a typical sunny sticky day in Mumbai. The mail we received told us to come directly to our office, we will be stationed there for about a week. I wondered how do we take a bath at the office or where do we sleep! Oh wait, there is a 5-star hotel inside the campus with each room customised to welcome interns! I googled just to ensure that we don’t own a hotel chain. No, we don’t. We just have one in our campus for our employees and guest. Wow!
Through the next three days, the brand team engaged us via various engagement activities to introduce us to the Unilever way of doing things. Another thing that happened automatically, all 92 interns became family. Which college they belong to didn’t even matter, they were equals. CAT aspirants can’t even imagine this to be true, but let me tell you - when you have made it this far, you have something special in you, not just your alma-mater. (It is something I can relate to the military, where they drop their badges before going to war). These three days were a combination serious business and fun. We went to consumer home visits, interacted with industry veterans, ran around in the huge campus (check UnileverDiaries on Facebook and see for yourself) and yes, partied at HRC – had the whole space for ourselves – after all we are ULIP interns!
From next Monday, for the following six weeks, it was time to capitalise on an opportunity of a lifetime. It wasn’t a PPI/PPO race, it was a race to learn the most. No matter which department, which category, which sub-function we were a part of, we always had the pleasure of sitting amongst talented and experienced individuals. Each day we were overwhelmed with the amount of impact these people make, both in the lives of the people and the business in all. We definitely were convinced that besides learning, we are here to make an impact, maybe small, maybe in our own little way.
The work here is structured and detailed. Your opinion is valued and appreciated. Cubicles are just a thing of the past. Unilever has revolutionised the way (well I don’t know if you worked at Google, I didn’t, hence this is applicable for me) you work. The emphasis given on ideation, innovation and collaboration is huge. I still remember my HR professor explaining to the class a few months back, how an organisation can take care of its employees so that they can take care of its customers. Well, some theories are real!
Also, for all those of you who believe that Marketing is globe (gas/faf/etc.), well here interns are given exposure to millions of rows of consumer data. They are taught not just to regress or project (these you will learn in b-schools anyways) but how to draw insights from the data and how to make them actionable. I still remember the torture my excel went through when I opened excel files as huge as 250MB containing some 8 lakh rows and 35 columns of data, just to ensure that the hypothesis I make is not just wild allegations.
Now that the stint is almost coming to closure (yes this is my last week here), there is a sense of urgency among us all. It is just about time for us to complete our deliverables, ensure that our learnings are implemented and the impact that I was talking about, is made.
If the last few paragraphs make you believe that working at Unilever is all serious stuff, I will certainly disagree. It's work hard to party harder. To cite some personal examples, I had a night-out at Marine Drive with few other interns over a weekend, drove to Mahabaleshwar the weekend after, partied at Pune the next, clicked a few selfies at Goa sometime later and the list just goes on.
Now, if I look back from where I started, I believe I have come a long way. It is not just subject knowledge that I have gained, but the practical aspects of the market, soft-skills and an impressive network of talented individuals across campuses that have made a difference. And now that I have experienced it I understand why “ULIP is a dream for many”.
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About the Author:
Amit Datta,
Batch of 2018,
IIM Lucknow
