Name: Jessica Umpleby
Age: 24
Job title: Customer business manager
Company & location: Nestlé UK & Ireland, York
Education: Sheffield Hallam University, Professional Practice in Management, funded as part of the Degree Apprenticeship with Nestlé UK & Ireland
Why did you decide to go for a career in food? I love food! Especially confectionery, it’s such an exciting and emotional category. I grew up in a farming family, so I have always been interested in the farm to fork journey and where our food comes from, therefore it felt right to continue working in this fascinating industry. Working for Nestlé seemed a great way to do that, with such a breadth of brands and roles – anything from working with confectionery, coffee or petfood through to water and much more.
Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): My job involves ensuring our products get on to shelves in retail stores across the country. This encompasses the management of the full account, involving everything from planning promotions and forecasting, to presenting our new products to the customer. Ultimately, the aim is striving to have a collaborative relationship to drive growth.
What does a typical day look like for you? It really varies! I could be pulling together presentations to showcase new product ranges, tracking our performance or looking at how we bring it all to life on shelf. It keeps it really exciting as no two days are ever the same. I tend to spend a couple of days a week in our newly refurbished office in York as well as some of the week at home, allowing time for both collaboration and more detailed work without distractions.
“I was surprised at how complex the process of bringing a new product to market is, and how long it can take”
Tell us how you went about applying for your job. I applied to Nestlé through the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship scheme, which meant I joined straight from A Level and completed my degree whilst working for Nestlé. I got to experience a breadth of roles in marketing, HR, supply chain and sales, letting me see how the business functions and understand what I enjoy. There were a few stages to the application process. It involved applying online in the first instance, then being invited to an assessment centre where I took part in a group task, had an interview and delivered a presentation to a panel. It was a full-on day, but a great way to showcase my skills and for the interviewers to get to know me.
What’s the best part about working for a food company? The samples! Being part of getting new confectionery products, that you know will delight consumers, into stores is an incredibly exciting thing to do – and trying them is a great perk.
Nestlé also offers a brilliant work-life balance, with flexible hours and hybrid working, which is really important to me. Being able to work some of the week at home, as well as connecting with people in the office, gives me more flexibility in my home life. This is coupled with the flex days we get from Nestlé, giving us an extra day’s holiday each month for a long weekend, or a day to spend with family.
Also, with a big company like Nestlé, there’s the opportunity to step into a wide range of roles further in my career. The opportunities for future development are brilliant and there is great support to help you reach these.
And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? I was surprised at how complex the process of bringing a new product to market is, and how long it can take. It involves a huge amount of people and time before it gets close to being produced.
What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? Go for it! There’s such a huge breadth of roles out there – many of which you’ll never have thought of, so there’s really something for everyone.
What’s your ultimate career dream? I’m not sure yet – I’m very much enjoying a new challenge in this role and will continue to look for roles where I can broaden my knowledge and try new areas that excite me. Nestlé has a whole range of brands and businesses I’ve never been involved in, so there’s a whole host of opportunities to take advantage of.
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