A company powered by purpose — what it’s like to work at Unilever

Unilever has been our National Talent Partner for over a decade, and the partnership has grown in the past five years through collaboration on various projects, events, and initiatives. Let’s have a glimpse of what it’s like to work at Unilever.

Get to know Unilever through the eye of one of our prestigious AIESEC alumni:
We introduce you to Keshavi Puswewala, currently working as the Global Employer Brand Manager for Markets and Youth at Unilever. Within AIESEC, Keshavi was in the:

• Executive Board member of AIESEC in University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
• National Committee of AIESEC in Sri Lanka during 2010/11, managing the Incoming Exchange programs.
• National Committee of AIESEC in Sri Lanka during 2011/12, responsible for Talent Management.
• Global Education Team — AIESEC International (2011)

We want to share with you a short interview with her about her experience.

1. What was your first impression of Unilever?

When I was a kid, my father used to talk about Unilever because he would go for some projects and bring product packs along with him.
At this young age, I wouldn’t have known that I want to be a part of the company, but I believe that the love for this company slowly developed, not only because of the brand name but, of course, because of the way that people connected and the way people from Unilever connected with us when I had the opportunity to work with some of the alumni who work for Unilever.

Afterward, when I went to the conference in India (International Congress 2010), there was a Vice President at Unilever who talked about the passion and the engagement they had, so I felt that this is a great place to work. More importantly, it is the culture that attracted me.
At that point, I was from a science background, and for me, there was no interaction in terms of how the management sector would work. So for me, it was everything that I knew from AIESEC when I was in university, and the only place that I felt like it was closer to the culture that I enjoyed at AIESEC was Unilever.
At that time, my first impression was that this place is accepting and it has diversity, so I felt that I could easily settle and get used to this culture.

2. How would you describe the culture at Unilever?

I believe that what makes me stay with this organization is the culture.
There are three things that attract me. The first thing is the learning culture. It is a university for me, and like a university, I always learn something. I learn at least one new thing every single day, and I’m certain that if you ask anyone atUnilever, they would say that they learn something each day. It is a university of its own, and that is what keeps me going because I love learning.

Secondly, I think it is the people. You stay in a place because you love the people.
When it comes to the people we recruit, we look at qualities of leadership and certain behaviors, and we see those behaviors among most of the people that we hire.
This creates a culture where people want to innovate and experiment, and then we also provide that empowerment to do so, which is something that I really enjoy. For most of my projects, if it’s innovative, I can think beyond my boundaries, and we are encouraged to do so.

Thirdly I would say it’s the fact that the company provides us with opportunities to connect with different types of cultures and people since it’s a multinational organization.
When you have different cultures and people, you learn things from your peers, and that is something we really enjoy because the same project will be done by different countries in different ways, and that is massive learning. It makes you understand the approaches that different cultures and markets take toward accomplishing their goals.

3. Reflecting back on your time at AIESEC, which experience are you most fond of?

The AIESEC experience that I am most fond of is the term 2011/12 as the Vice President for Talent Management. I believe that it was an experience that I will never get again in this lifetime, and I will always cherish each and every moment that I had with the team.

4. How was your experience working with AIESEC as a national partner?

I have seen the partnership grow and evolve from 2017 and beyond, and I’m glad that it is continuing. Different terms had different people managing the partnership from AIESEC, and I feel that a partnership's success always depends on how much the team member manages it with the partner.
Overall I would say I’m so proud and happy to see how we have grown together and how more and more AIESECers are getting job and internship opportunities here and being a part of our Sparks Ambassadorship program. We might not be able to give everyone the opportunity to be a permanent employee, but the experience that you would gain from the company is immense.
I’m very happy and proud of the fact that the partnership has continuously developed into different areas such as projects, mentoring, and more importantly, how we are seeing students from AIESEC eventually joining Unilever and building a career that is driven by purpose.

5. What helped you to prepare for success at Unilever, and what are you most proud of achieving?

My first job was at Unilever, and I didn’t have any other experience other than AIESEC and the internship experience that I had in India.
I think that the time that I was part of AIESEC changed my whole perception of a lot of things and uplifted me as a person. Working with various teams, being agile, accepting challenges, and being creative were some of the things that I learned.
There was no better practice ground than AIESEC, so I think there was nothing that prepared me other than that, so I would always be grateful for those experiences, and that is why I have always been in touch with the organization to help as much as I can, and our interests are aligned since Unilever is also an organization that focuses on unlocking the potential of the youth.

6. What is something that inspires you?

What actually inspires me is humanity, especially when I see people helping each other. It is all those moments when people actually bring their best selves out and help each other. This essentially means doing good by giving happiness to people and, at the same time, cultivating positive energy, and that is what inspires me a lot.
The other thing that inspires me is solving a problem. I don’t like it when people live in a problem and suffer, so I like to come up with solutions to problems and help people as much as possible, and this is what I set out to do through my role at Unilever as well.

7. Do you have any advice for future young leaders?

I believe that something that helped me in my life to grow in my career is always being humble. I try my very best to listen and accept feedback and work on it. I always try to take a step back, reflect on something and then figure out whether that’s the right thing to do.

The advice that I can give young leaders is that just be humble and don’t be overconfident about anything because everyone around you has something special to offer. We have to be humble enough to accept that we are not 100% perfect and that there are always areas to improve.
At the same time, you have strengths that are unparalleled. Continue to invest in your strengths because that will make you unique and help you to grow and be resilient.

Follow your passion, find your future role, and kickstart your career with Unilever today!
https://careers.unilever.com/sri-lanka