Hi there, this is Maithri, a fourth-year ChemE student who recently completed a summer internship at Hindustan Unilever Limited (popularly known as HUL) under the prestigious Unilever Leadership Internship Programme (ULIP). You’re likely here to decide whether or not to apply to HUL this intern season based on a senior’s experience from the application stage to the internship completion stage at HUL. A year ago (as I write this) I was in your place and I know how insightful these blogposts can be. I’ll try to be just as helpful, and I hope this provides you with some clarity to make your decision and an idea of what to expect in the supply chain management role at HUL.
Woes of Intern Season
Unlike most of my peers, I hadn’t really given a lot of thought to “intern szn prep” in the summer before my third year. I was working a 10-week internship in a field of my interest and my résumé was replete with points related to said field of interest (which is quite niche). I was targeting selected companies rather than domains; as my interests in the core chemical domain are very specific, I was looking for profiles that aligned with my strengths. With these self imposed restrictions already playing to my disadvantage, I ended up in the running for Goldman Sachs, HUL, ITC and (by some mysterious miracle) Sony Japan.
They say “don’t put all your eggs in one basket;” naturally that’s exactly what I did. The immense pressure of having to score HUL because I 1) refused to fill other company IAFs due to lack of interest in those profiles and 2) kept getting selected for further rounds for a company I realised mid-process that I absolutely did not want (despite my most ardent efforts to tank each round) – that pressure is a nightmare I would never wish upon anyone. More than that, I really wanted to secure a position as a ULIP intern because of HUL’s high standards and quality of work, their expertise in the supply chain domain and the opportunity to contribute to a project that would impact millions of people on a daily basis. It’s easier said than done, but it is paramount to be patient and keep working with faith – shortlists will come and go and things do get very toxic in intern season, hence it’s a good idea to work on building your resilience and maintain focus like a racehorse.
The selection process for HUL comprised three stages: an application form, a Hirevue interview round, and the final interview. The first shortlist is based on both your résumé and responses to the application form questions. The Hirevue round involved answering three questions (supply chain related, one of which was calculative in my case) on camera in three minutes per question while the software recorded you, and later a reviewer made the final shortlist based on all the responses. The final interview is arguably the least stressful round; it is essentially a conversation between you and your interviewer which begins with your résuméand can go anywhere from there. In my case, it went from my résuméto cyber security to minimising leakage in shampoo sachets on the production line in a factory. When it comes to preparation, as aforementioned I honestly did not do much, except go through the HUL website to understand their principles and values as well as stay up to date with the company’s business decisions. In hindsight, I can say that the whole selection process is structured in a way to test whether you, as a person, will be able to fit into Unilever’s (not just HUL’s) output-oriented and fast-paced work environment of high expectations.
The Internship Ride
After being spoiled with a generous care-package containing products by beloved HUL brands, we interns assembled for our induction day. It was enriching to connect with interns from other top IITs, NUS and NTU in our first proper introduction to the corporate world. My co-interns were instrumental in helping me survive some very hard days and in sharing crumbs of data from their projects that proved useful in mine. I was located at the Head Office in Mumbai, while some of the other interns were situated at various factories across the country. All of us were provided accommodation at the HUL guesthouses in each location, but as I live in Mumbai I opted to commute from home.
Each intern was allotted a different project based on their résumé, a tutor to guide them, a coach (who was at a higher work level) and a buddy for additional help throughout the internship. I was appointed to the Central Manufacturing Excellence team. After my project statement was revised thrice, I began working on a nascent high-impact project which I was told no one in the industry had cracked yet. I was blessed with the best of both worlds; though I was stationed at the Head Office, my project required me to travel to three factory locations through which I gained valuable knowledge about the on-ground activities and a practical viewpoint of my ideas. I got to interact with multiple stakeholders, contribute to cross-functional discussions, and create something that will actually be used by the company to improve their efficiency. As a part of my stint, I received the incredible opportunity to organise and lead a formal workshop where we invited factory managers of six major sites from across the nation. This was definitely an extremely insightful event with a treasure trove of learnings and exposure.
I had a 5-day work week at Head Office, though in factory locations it was usually a 6-day work week which applied to me when I visited them. The timings were flexible (and in some cases depended on your tutor), though there were days I stayed back late to meet my tutor as they were extremely busy throughout the day. The initial couple of weeks were slow, but the pace picked up as the internship progressed and soon I was even working over the weekends. I travelled to Silvassa and Kolkata during my stint, which excited the travel enthusiast in me.
A curious observation I made during my experience was that no amount of prior knowledge can really prepare you completely for what you’ll be doing in your internship. Domain knowledge can only take you so far, but you always need to be ready to learn if you want to make it far in the industry. Excel is preferred over python, Power BI is preferred over MATLAB, and PowerPoint is preferred over LaTeX. Making attractive presentations is a herculean yet vital task in itself. You’re expected to know business jargon, or at least pick it up quickly. In a nutshell and as directly as possible; if you want to thrive in the workplace, you need to be prepared to go in admitting that you know nothing, and learn from everyone and everything around you as fast as you can. People in HUL are extremely busy and very difficult to catch, so was my tutor, but if you have something interesting and new to discuss then they’ll be more than willing to give you time. A major challenge interns constantly face in HUL is trying to come up with ideas that people with ten years of experience haven’t heard of or seen before; they’ve seen it all, and this is a challenge you can choose to make the most out of.
Final Thoughts
There’s arguably no one better in the business for supply chain management than HUL, but even from the perspective of personal growth I would say this is one of the best places to be. You’re constantly challenged by high expectations and standards of work, which pushes you to work and think in ways you never thought was possible, and they encourage you to take full ownership of your project. My experience at HUL was transformative and wholesome in numerous ways. Prior to this I didn’t even know what ManEx was, let alone think that I would enjoy working in this subdomain as much as I did. I connected with wonderful people from various walks of life, and made some very close friends. I strongly believe that my learnings and takeaways from HUL will have a positive impact on all my future decisions and endeavours. It was definitely an adventure of a lifetime.
Wishing you fair winds and following seas for your intern season and voyage ahead!
