The Fast Moving Career
Few industries are bomb proof but some are more resilient than others. Take the fmcg sector, for example. While some sectors have been hit badly by consumers reining in expenditure, people still need to buy the staples regardless of the economic climate.
The grocery industry has weathered the financial storm well and the downturn seems to have had little impact on the hunger of graduates looking to find employment with fmcgs. “Fmcg is an enduring industry that is central to everyone’s lives,” explains Simon Whittington managing director at retail recruitment specialist Quest Search and Selection. “There have been booms and busts in IT, finance and the internet yet fmcg prevails and is very reliable. Additionally it’s very attractive to be in fmcg as it opens doors into other sectors.”
While to outsiders fmcg may not seem as sexy as other industry sectors, as its name suggests, it’s a fast-paced sector that’s exciting and varied and offers plenty of scope for career development. In how many other business sectors can employees be tasked with the responsibility of handling accounts in excess of £100m? That’s the challenge that a graduate entering the fmcg industry might ultimately face if they land a post as an account manager dealing with a grocery multiple. Or how about shouldering the responsibility for the sales or marketing of household brands, such as Kit-Kat or Bovril?
The good news for graduates whose appetite is whetted by these challenges is that there are always jobs up for grabs in the industry. Posts in sales, marketing and buying, have historically proven particularly attractive to graduates and each discipline demands its own dedicated skill-set. Successful salespeople need to know as much about their customer’s business as they do about their own brand; marketing requires individuals with mathematical brains that can measure the effectiveness of campaigns, just as much as it requires creative types to devise those campaigns, and as for buyers excellent negotiating skills are key. Some requirements are the same regardless of the role, such as the ability to form relationships and a willingness to knuckle down and work hard. Hard graft is a given in the current climate with many existing fmcg employees taking on more responsibility but perhaps not receiving the financial rewards that their enlarged role deserves.
“When they win a new customer businesses are not really recruiting someone to manage that new customer - they’re just bolting it onto an existing job,” says Andy Preston, director at recruitment company Penman Executive. “So people with jobs in the sector are probably working harder for their money because they’ve been given additional responsibilities.” The flipside of this is that as we come out of the recession these people are more likely to get itchy feet and look to move further up the food chain.
Steve Livesey, director at the specialist sales and marketing consultancy Veritas Partners, says that signs of churn are slowly starting to emerge. He says: “Individuals who have been given additional responsibilities and workload through team downsizing, possibly covering two jobs but with the same job title and on the same money, have now started to passively seek alternative employment through trusted recruitment partners – this puts additional pressure on our clients to effectively manage staff retention.”
Churn is good news for graduates as it frees up more junior positions meaning more jobs for them to choose from as long as they’re realistic about their salary expectations. Inevitably there has been less salary inflation with pay freezes commonplace across the board in the industry and annual salary reviews delayed or postponed.
GLOWING PROSPECTS
But it’s not all doom and gloom, according to Whittington. “Fmcg has not gone backwards whereas in other sectors such as finance and fashion we’ve seen lower salaries being offered,” he says. General levels of pay at fmcg businesses fair well when compared with other industry sectors, with starting salaries for junior posts averaging out at a respectable £18,000. However, if you’re eyeing roles in buying or brand management then you could be looking at a starting salary of as much as £25,000 and if you work your way to the top of the tree in your preferred discipline then wages of £100,000 plus are commonplace.
As always the best in class can still demand a premium for their services, a position that’s further strengthened by a severe shortage of talent in the fmcg sector. “There are a number of reasons for this talent shortage,” says Mark Smith, formerly of the Ilingworth Partnership and now managing director at recruitment agency SmithCarey. “There has also been a significant reduction in large field sales teams where historically people who’ve come into sales and marketing have done their square bashing for 18 months before moving up. Those field sales posts used to give them the grounding that you need.”
Good pay, a steady supply of jobs and opportunities for career progression – it all sounds too good to be true, but there are a number of caveats that graduates considering a career in the fmcg sector should bear in mind. For starters, places on graduate recruitment schemes, the traditional route for many graduates entering the job market for the first time, are not as bountiful in the fmcg sector as they are in other business sectors. While the major fmcg manufacturers, such as Unilever, P&G and Nestlé, might only offer 50 to 100 graduate posts per year, their brands and companies are as big as the major banks or consulting companies who take as many as 500 to 1,000 candidates a year.
Although the sector hasn’t been hit anywhere near as badly as other business areas, many fmcgs still cut back intake numbers on their graduate recruitment schemes in 2009 and 2010. The upshot of all of this is that there are more graduates chasing slightly fewer positions making it an increasingly competitive job marketplace. And if you think that getting onto a graduate scheme is tough then getting a foot in the door, even on the bottom rung of the ladder, is just as challenging, if not more so.
“One recent trend due to the economic downturn is that high quality sales and marketing professionals who have found themselves in the unfortunate position of redundancy are willing to take a cut both in salary and responsibilities to remain in employment even if this is on a contract basis,” says Livesey “This squeeze has ultimately led to increased pressure on salaries and a lack of development opportunities for individuals looking to progress into a more senior position. Similarly, this has affected graduates looking for their first career break into fmcg sales – competition at interviews is at a peak.”
JUST THE JOB
So how can graduates make themselves more attractive to potential employers? Having letters recognising academic achievements after your name is definitely a good starting point for graduates looking to get a job with an fmcg, but it’s not the be all and end all. In today’s job market employers are doing their best Jerry Maguire impression and demanding that candidates “Show me the other stuff!” According to Simon Reichwald, director of Bright Futures Resourcing, which specializes in the recruitment of graduates.
He says that with 63% of UK graduates achieving a degree of 2.1 or better, academic achievements give you the right to apply but they are no longer a differential. “Employers are looking for drive, motivation and ambition but what they’re also looking for is evidence that graduates have got initiative and that they’re prepared to get off their backsides and make things happen,” explains Reichwald. “When I left university the extra curricular part of my CV was tiny and insignificant and no one was interested. Today it’s massively significant. If you play sport, they want to know to what extent have you achieved in that sport, if you play music, to what extent have you achieved in music, if you’ve done the Duke of Edinburgh, was it gold or just bronze, have you done volunteering and if so what kind of volunteering was it, have you got involved in societies or committees?
References are also important and have become more so in the current economic climate, according to Penman Executive’s Preston. “The amount of reference taking has doubled in the last 12 months because people are saying ‘I know that person can do the job, I know they’ve got the right skill-set, but if I’m going to invest and employ somebody then I need to be 110% sure that it’s the right decision.”
Another way of making a CV shine is to gain relevant experience. This could be achieved through a work placement. Placements give the candidate an insight into their chosen profession and while there are no guarantees of a job at the end of the placement it gives them a chance to show potential employers that they are capable of dealing with the rigours of the job.
A further option is to lower your sights to gain a foothold on the fmcg careers ladder. One recruitment expert who wished to remain nameless says that his company has taken this tact when dealing with enquiries from graduates. “We’re suggesting that raw graduates go for a job with a wholesaler or a field marketing company to get a grounding in fmcg rather than going straight to one of the blue-chip manufacturers,” he explains. If you’re not put off by the prospect of hard work and you still fancy a career in the fmcg sector, by following the expert’s advice you could well find yourself in a job for life because the outlook for the future is particularly rosy.
“The food industry is still doing well and the majority of the clients that we speak to are performing well and talking about future growth,” says Preston. “There’s still a big industry out there for people to join as a graduate and progress to a life-long career.”
First published in The Grocer 23rd January 2010 edition
