Robert De Piano

Sales Placement

"...the responsibility and freedom I enjoy at Heinz makes my placement truly rewarding and challenging experience."

Upon joining university I had always considered a placement, as I believe it is seminal to differentiate oneself in a competitive working situation.  With the increasing volume of university graduates, the need to position yourself as a unique candidate is becoming more relevant. 

Within my Heinz placement I feel valued as a result of the duties that I have received; therefore feeling that I am part of a company that appreciates my input and efforts.  This is further reflected by the valuable months training that I gained upon arriving.  This included meeting brand managers, visiting stores and going out with National Account Managers.

My role as an Account Executive means that I am involved with projects across wholesale and retail.  This has enabled me to gain knowledge and understanding from two diverse aspects of the market.  Tasks I have undertaken this year has included re-laying stores (wholesaler & retailer), ordering stock for customers, presenting new products and running trade shows.

As mentioned, the responsibility and freedom I enjoy at Heinz makes my placement truly rewarding and challenging experience.  One is always encouraged to be innovative and creative, which gives me more confidence in my abilities to be pragmatic and react to circumstance.  The empiricism that I have gained has truly been invaluable, as I fundamentally believe that the skills I have acquired could only have been learnt from the working environment.

Working for a company that operate on such a scale as Heinz has increased my maturity, opening me to the trials of working life.  Consequently, I would thoroughly recommend anyone looking to take part in a placement to apply here.