Landing Your Dream Internship at P&G (+ Testimonials and Tips from P&Gers)
Finding a Good Internship
Internships. Just that one word itself can conjure up to mind an array of different companies, ideas, thoughts and emotions. In a nutshell, finding an internship can make up a significant part of our undergraduate career, especially as students studying in a competitive business school. For many students this journey grows closer to home approaching the beginning of their third year, as recruitment season consists of a large number of companies looking to hire incoming 3rd or 4th year students.
To help prepare, not only is it essential to determine which fields of work you may be interested in working in, it’s also hugely beneficial to consider what exactly are the criteria of a good internship. There can be many companies looking to hire new interns, but it is important to ensure there are opportunities to develop and truly thrive, both as a person and a working professional, within your workplace.
Personal and Career Development
One major criteria of a good internship lies in how the organization promotes both the career and personal development of its employees. It’s important to find a company that understands the correlation between employee motivation and business results, and acts upon it.
P&G does this by offering unique career development curated to each individual, whether it be (1) growth within a function, (2) international expansion, or (3) broadening assignments within different functions. Such individual contributions will be recognized and rewarded within your career at P&G, and you will also be highly empowered to make meaningful impacts both to the business and to your personal growth.
Mentorship
Being willing to learn wherever you are prepares you in facing new situations and overcoming challenges to truly emerge as an expert in any field. Having capable and experienced individuals who can guide you along your journey is an enormous asset in navigating your career and also offers a strong sense of support at work. The benefits of mentorship are most definitely not limited to just when you are at school!
The mantra “Today’s talent are the leaders of tomorrow,” accurately portrays the foundation of P&G’s mentorship system. When you join P&G, you will be assigned a mentor, or a formal “buddy”. These mentors consist of highly talented, reputable individuals who invest into the journeys of “today’s talent” and help fulfill their potential within the company and possibly beyond to an even wider network.
Company Culture
Strong company culture is an increasingly prominent factor for individuals when deciding where to work. Likewise, sure signs of a good internship include factors such as the vitality of company identity, reputation, and employee life - all of which is determined by the company culture. It is a major ingredient in company sustainability and overall, the cultivation of an exceptional workplace.
P&G is collaborative, lively and enthusiastic. Features depicting this include the company’s open concept office, which means you can work with whoever and wherever you want. This flexibility that the company provides (along with opportunities to work from home and more!) helps grow employee engagement, builds relationships within the company and promotes successful business results.
Focused on using their brands for a “Force for Good”, P&G’s history of building ethical and responsible behaviour in terms of environmental care, business dealings and employee treatment reinforces its strong values as a company. Furthermore, P&G’s external recognition amongst the best, even having been named one of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People (2020), proves it a company committed to excellence - perhaps even a great place to consider doing an internship at!
Hear it from P&Gers
One of the most effective ways to arrive at a better understanding of any company, is to speak with people that belong to the company! By learning about their different experiences, personalities, and responsibilities at the workplace, you can determine if you see yourself working in the same environment. In the following section, P&G’s Athena Chan (BBA 2019), Jessica Lin (BBA 2020) and Andrea Tikhonov (BBA 2021) provide a comprehensive look into the organization’s culture, its focus on developing its members and the company’s recruitment process.
Athena Chan, P&G Account Manager (BBA 2019)
- What’s your favourite aspect about your field of work?
Being an AM at P&G means being a business owner. I manage the budget and strategy for my retailer/categories and I'm always encouraged to think big. I like that I am held accountable for both strong and soft business results, but I know I'll always have the resources to help my business succeed.
- If you can sum up the culture of the company in one sentence, what would it be and why?
People here are efficient and fun.
When I was in undergrad, I used to think culture was about how many fun work events/celebrations a company would host in a year (very naïve of me). Shortly after working a corporate job, I realized corporate culture is what employees live and breathe every day. It's about how people interact with each other during work and outside of work. I love that everyone at P&G works hard and gets stuff done. Everyone is very passionate about driving strong business results, but even with the focus on work, we all still manage to joke around and have fun whether that's at a patio downtown or during our weekly meetings.
Jessica Lin, P&G Account Executive (BBA 2020)
- How has P&G helped you achieve your long term and short term goals?
I’ve always known that I wanted to work in a CPG environment because there’s something about being able to work on products that touch the lives of everyday people that I find really fascinating. I think that P&G has really allowed me to do that by providing the autonomy and responsibility of being a business owner and seeing the full end to end of what it takes to get a product into someone’s hands.
I also wanted a job that was dynamic and I could grow in and being an AE the day to day is always different and requires a lot of critical thinking. Consumer habits and values are always changing and we have to change with them which I find to be very exciting since there’s always something new on the horizon. I’ve learned so much as an intern and am learning so much in my full time role from technical skills to soft skills and this continuous learning is something P&G really drives from when you’re less than 1 year in the company to 20+ years.
- Can you speak to the role that mentorship played in your professional and/or personal development at P&G?
Mentorship is a huge part of the P&G culture and every person you meet is always extremely willing to help out or provide advice. Formally when you start out as an intern or new hire you are paired with a “buddy” who is someone who has been at the company for around 1 year. You are also automatically a part of the “New Hire Network” which is a network of anyone who has been at the company for less than 3 years and works to plan socials, trainings, events and general resources. Aside from formal connections, I’ve found that every person I’ve reached out to throughout my internship and full time has been extremely receptive to helping out even beyond the scope of their responsibilities. I truly do believe that P&G has an incredible culture of working together and ensuring your personal growth and I’ve learned something new from every person I’ve been able to interact with.
Andrea Tikhnov, P&G Market Strategy & Planning Intern (BBA 2021)
- What do you believe stood out about you to P&G during recruitment?
P&G prides itself in its purpose, values, and principles to foster its unique culture. My involvement in case competitions as well as clubs allowed me to highlight my passion for winning as well as my leadership abilities in order to show up as the best fit for the company.
- What was the most difficult component of the recruitment process?
Within the early stages of the recruitment process, there is an online assessment to measure skills and abilities that generally don’t emerge from the interviews. I found this to be the trickier part of the process, as many of the assessments require sustained concentration.
- What have you discovered about working at P&G that you didn’t know while entering recruitment?
Throughout my internship, I discovered the importance of robust data analysis that was embedded into my day to day work. The ability to execute a definite sales strategy starts with understanding data beyond numbers, a skill that will never go away!
Next Steps
P&G is currently hiring for a variety of positions for the 2021 year across Brand Management, Sales, Finance, Product Supply and Information Technology. Want to stand out in your application? Here are some steps to make sure your true self shines in the recruitment process:
- Resume
Your resume is your way of showing off all the experiences and opportunities you have taken to this point. To simply say, it is a story of your professional development. When a recruiter looks at your resume, they want to understand what you bring to the table that might make you an asset to the position that you are applying to. One way, and the most effective way, of listing your experiences is using the C.A.R (challenge, action and result) method.
In every position, you are employed to solve the challenges that the employer is facing. A common mistake is to list the day-to-day activities that are insignificant and common between experiences. Instead, think of the problems that need a variety of skills. Don’t oversell the problem that you face by using complex or shiny words – be realistic and showcase the reality of the tasks that you faced.
After facing a challenge, you will need to explain the actions you took to solve it. This might take more than one tries when writing out to find the right words. With the limited amount of space given in a resume, keep this to a sentence maximum. A prompt to use when writing out this sentence is “what was your strategy when faced with the problem”.
The result portion is where you should put your attention most at. Quantify your results, as it helps the recruiter understand how you improved or solved the issue at hand. This is where you are showing off your work, so make sure you are putting as much information as you can that can say you brought successes to your previous roles.
- Interview
Preparing for interviews is a skill you will need as long as you stay in the workforce. Resources like Handshake (accessible to all Schulich students) makes it easier to understand how the interview process has gone for other interviewees. By searching up P&G in the search bar and clicking on the interview tab, you can see the experiences of students from other universities.
- Upcoming Events
- P&G Application Preparation Workshop: Schulich’s Career Development Centre is offering a custom application preparation workshop concerning P&G on Friday, September 25th from 12 pm – 1 pm. Following that week, there will be one – on – one resume review sessions where Darren Farmar (CPG/Retail Career Advisor) and Elana Markus (Corporate Relations) will help refine your resume. RSVP on Handshake as well as send in your resume and cover letter by the 24th of September.
- P&G Information Session: Want to learn more about the internships at P&G? This information session can answer your last-minute questions about anything related to P&G. On September 30th from 5:30 – 7, bring your questions and find out if the company is for you. RSVP on Handshake ASAP as spaces are running out quickly.
Sources
https://ca.topresume.com/career-advice/how-to-get-more-results-with-a-car-resume