HR talent intern placement at JDE

This is a guest post from Royal Holloway student, Ellie Graziano who is on the BSc Management with Human Resources (with a Year in Business ) pathway. Ellie is currently undertaking an HR talent placement year at JDE, the company famous for coffee brands such as Kenco, L'OR, Tassimo and Douwe Egberts. Currently 8 months into her placement year, Ellie shares an update of what her role has entailed so far.

I had planned on doing a 6 month, halfway there post but I blinked and here we are, nearly 8 months down the line as HR Talent intern at JDE and what an 8 months it’s been. From joining the company in the midst of the Kenco Centenary celebrations and being lucky enough to attend Barcode Festival 2 weeks in (where several FMCG companies support Grocery Aid by showcasing their products and services). A very warm summers day in London, walking around different stalls, being handed freebees left right and centre (I came home with about 4/5 tote bags FULL😂) and ending the day with front row seats to Sam Ryder (I literally couldn’t believe it).

Fast forward a couple of months and I’ve built so much confidence in myself. Screening candidates, arranging 2nd stage interviews, making offers, and then seeing those candidates around the office knowing I had been a huge part of their JDE recruitment process. I was also lucky enough to help organise and then attend our job fair at Banbury last week which was an excellent networking opportunity that gave me some insight into how much planning goes into events like this. 

As well as the day-to-day recruitment for both Banbury and Maidenhead sites, I have also had sole responsibility of the intern recruitment for next year (a weird once considering I started looking for our ‘replacements’ within 2 months of being in the role myself😂). Between arranging briefing calls with hiring managers, working alongside Sanctuary Graduates, running ‘get to know JDE’ sessions for candidates, inviting them to interview and running assessment centres, it’s been full on but I’m glad to say that the end is within reach! With just a couple of roles left to hire for, I can start looking ahead at planning the first few weeks for our new interns and ensuring that they have an enjoyable onboarding experience.

Alongside all this, I have also been lucky enough to be part of student charity, something that I am glad JDE allow us to do. We started the 1st half of the year raising money for Alzheimer’s Society with endless bake sales and activities in Banbury and more recently, our sparkly new Maidenhead office and now have started the 2nd half of our year fundraising for Grocery Aid – with our first (Valentines’) fundraiser just around the corner!

Its safe to say it’s been an incredible first half (and some) of the placement and I can’t wait to see what the next few months have in store.