“Right from #Day1, I was taught to make the internship what I wanted, meaning I could develop in areas that excited me most.”
Michaela Wombwell – R&D – Intern Associate Researcher – Gillette - Greater London Innovation Centre (Reading)
As an 18 year old school leaver, I was fortunate enough to accept an internship within R&D for P&G working on the Gillette brand. Right from ‘Day 1’ I was taught to make the internship what I wanted, meaning I could develop in areas that excited me most. A lot of trust is placed in you on the internship program, where you have the opportunity to learn and grow in areas which interest you, while being fully embedded into a project team.
Within the first 6 months of my internship, I was travelling to different P&G sites to learn directly from P&G consumers. After this, I had the opportunity to present my findings to the rest of the Research & Development team. Being able to present my findings to an experienced organization meant I was treated as equal, with everyone willing to listen, contribute and collaborate to build my own skills based on the knowledge I had shared, as well as grow their own consumer understanding.
The P&G culture means that everyone is happy to help and offer advice. On reflection, I can see how challenging the tasks were at the time, but I had the support given to allow me to grow from these opportunities. I also now have the confidence to build on these skills with the ambition to build my career and progress within the business.