‘Jump’ shouted a fraught voice from behind me. ‘Quickly! There’s a crocodile coming.’ I focused on the step in front of me, took a deep breath, jumped… and missed completely.’
Luckily I survived. The crocodile in question was Adam, a research scientist, and this was my first day of P&G Intern College. Along with 116 other interns, I was jumping across an imaginary river on the lawn of a hotel in Surrey.
College involved an introduction to the Company’s Purpose, Values & Principles (PVPs) and talks from senior management, interspersed with some slightly more light-hearted activities and a great BBQ.
Two days passed quickly and it was soon time to head to the office and start work on my first project, which was, as is only natural in July, a Christmas campaign featuring a well-known celebrity.
I’d heard a lot about being given real responsibility from the very start and, sure enough, on my second day I was off to an Agency's office to run through the campaign’s details.
Having studied History at university, I was unfamiliar with many of the marketing concepts that now surrounded me. Additionally, there seemed to be an acronym for everything at P&G. My first few meetings were a daze - what was this strange language everyone was speaking?!
Luckily the level of responsibility interns are given is matched by P&G’s commitment to training. Everyone had time to answer my many questions and, to my utmost relief, I soon discovered the Company has an extensive acronym dictionary!
My first week went in a flash. It was great fun and absolutely exhausting. But with so much more to learn about this intriguing new world, I couldn’t wait for week two.