We aim to achieve strong, sustainable leadership positions in markets that offer potential for profitable growth. Consequently our businesses are always looking to recruit people who can actively contribute towards helping us deliver quality products and services that are central to people’s lives.
According to the graduates TheJobCrowd surveyed, Associated British Foods is among the ten best Consumer Goods companies to work for. Employees praise the fantastic opportunities for training this company provides, rating it 4.5/5 in this regard. Its well-structured development programme and opportunities for high levels of individual responsibility are frequently mentioned by graduates as making Associated British Foods a standout employer.
Click below to see a two-minute report on Associated British Foods’ recent successes…
1. The Best and Worst things about working for Associated British Foods
Best: You are given a large amount of responsibility from an early stage, as well as opportunities to travel and work internationally, flexible working hours and a great work-life balance. You are part of a large multinational company, but as you are working in a smaller business within that you are able to take on big projects and roles pretty quickly.
Worst: Locations are near factories, so you are likely to be based outside of city centres. You can live in London, but you’d have a long, pricey commute.
Brand Management at Associated British Foods
Best: The best thing about the company is having the opportunities to work with big brands. The job is extremely varied and offers lots of rotations, allowing you to gain a broad understanding of how the business operates across different sites, teams and functions. This is a perfect platform to start a career in the business because it opens doors to so many potential future career paths. You learn a lot about your strengths and areas to improve and receive fantastic training throughout.
Worst: The worst thing is having to relocate fairly frequently, however this is a necessity if you wish to make the most of the variation in the job. It requires flexibility, dynamism and an open mind and attitude.
Rotational Graduate Scheme at Associated British Foods
Best: The variety of roles covered on the graduate scheme is fantastic. Moving between businesses within Associated British Foods means that experiences are truly varied and personal development is aided massively. Having open-plan offices means that management is flat and all conversations are open. Working with successful brands has been a great way to kick-start my career. Great benefits, great salary, down-to-earth people in the office.
Worst: You have to be mobile on this scheme and placements are not always fixed at the prescribed lengths. With the graduate scheme being centrally organised at Associate British Food level, at times there is not enough personal focus on the gradates in each business. However, at business level the graduates are always treated with care and attention; all development is noted and facilitated.
National Account and Online Executive at Associated British Foods
2. Average Working Hours
8:00am – 5:00pm
3. Average Graduate Salary
£25, 000 – £27, 000
4. Interview Tips
Application Advice: Get to know the culture of Associated British Foods as a whole as well as the specific the business units you are applying for. The graduate website has information about each company and the types of roles that are available.
Brand Management at Associated British Foods
Application Advice: Demonstrate that you have something different about you over everyone else. Be passionate about the food industry and show it by becoming a student member of a relevant professional organisation or by keeping up to date with current trends in the industry. Be aware of your strengths and areas for improvement and be able to demonstrate that you are already doing something to work on those areas.
Interview Advice: Do your research on Associated British Foods and what we stand for. What is our position in the market and who are our competitors? Where would you like to be in ten years time? How do you know this is the right career path for you? Show your personality and keep your honesty, integrity and humility.
Rotational Graduate Scheme at Associated British Foods
Application Advice: Be prepared to be mobile. Be yourself at interview. Ask lots of questions and seem truly interested in Associated British Foods, rather than just FMCG as a whole – at the end of the day, the company structure is so different to the structure of companies like Unilever or P&G. In my view this makes the whole experience much more exciting and interesting; really embrace this difference. Be someone who is down-to-earth, want to improve, embrace opportunities for training and development and enjoy working with other people.
Interview Advice: You should ask yourself several questions. Why Associated British Foods? Why not Unilever or P&G? Why this graduate scheme? Why did you choose your degree subject? If you are asked a ‘Tell me about a time when’ style of question, always use the STAR model in your response (i.e. Situation, Task, Action, Result).
National Account and Online Executive at Associated British Foods
Interested in finding out more about graduate life at Associated British Foods? Click here for their full range of graduate reviews.
