Maria Jackson

Country of origin: United Kingdom

Placement: Mondelēz International

I chose to take a placement year because it offered an opportunity to apply my University learnings in professional environment relevant to my degree and career aspirations. I felt that this experience would help to enhance my future employment prospects and support my studies when returning to Lancaster for my final year.

My role as a Field Sales Development Executive (FSDE) involved visiting over 100 existing Mondelēz independent retailers, who are integral to the business, to develop and strengthen existing relations. I worked with these customers to ensure that their sales were optimised by keeping them updated on promotions, sales incentives and new product launches. In addition to this I provided advice and guidance to customers on effective merchandising, assisting with displays etc. to ensure optimum positioning . I regularly exceeded set targets and key performance indicators which were set on a three weekly basis.

My placement year at Mondelēz was a challenging but truly invaluable and enjoyable experience where I was provided with great responsibilities and networked with a variety of people across the business. With each sales period changing on a three weekly basis it meant that no day was the same; I have been involved in promoting new products such as the Dairy Milk Oat Crunch and driving ‘Big Bets’ (integral to the overall business performance) on the core range such as the No.1 confectionary line, Crème Egg. Whilst meeting sales targets, I was also targeted in other performance indicators such as the share of space that Mondelēz confectionary had on the overall chocolate display; I achieved this through developing relationships with retailers and supporting them with merchandising in order to increase their sales across all categories.

The most enjoyable part of my placement was presenting to Senior Sales Controllers and Coordinators on a project that I was involved in throughout the duration of my placement. As the sales ground that I was allocated had been vacant for 18 months prior to my placement, I studied the impact that this had on Mondelēz as a business; I was amazed to discover the true value that I had contributed to the business as a placement student, not only on a quantitative basis but through the relationships I had built with retailers that had previously been hostile.

After experiencing a true insight into the Sales and Marketing division of a top FMCG Company I feel that this would be a career path that I would like to pursue further in the future. As an FSDE I was on the frontline of promotions and was therefore able to evaluate the successes and difficulties in relation to retailer/customer reactions to help optimise promotional success. I also networked with those in the office who were responsible for planning this delivery. This insight not only exposed me to a key aspect of sales but also developed my competency skills. Managing my own sales region to meet sales targets and support retailers enhanced my time management; relationship building and planning skills. Working in field I didn’t have the face-to-face support of my manager every day so this allowed me to act independently, take initiative and take responsibility for anything that didn’t go as planned. All of which I feel will help me in future endeavours.

The LUMS Careers Team helped me with my placement preparation by providing CV guidance, practice interviews and assessment centres with companies; this provided me with an insight into typical questions which allowed me to better prepare for my application to Mondelēz.