Meet Hayley from IT
Hayley joined PepsiCo on a 12 month placement from UWE in Bristol, where she's studying Business Information Systems (BIS). Hayley is part of the IT team at PepsiCo, based in Theale.
Why did you decide to apply for a placement at PepsiCo?
PepsiCo's a big company and looked like a great place to work, the recruitment area on the website looked easier to fill out and PepsiCo was one of the first companies I looked at. My University also recommended the company!
How well do you get on with your fellow students, and how important have they been to you settling in at PepsiCo?
Really well actually, we've all got a little group!
What does your typical day at PepsiCo involve?
I do daily checks on all of our supported systems in the morning; that can run from around half an hour to the entire morning (depending on any problems we find) and then I typically help out with other incidences. Two days at PepsiCo are never the same! My day depends entirely on what's going on within the systems we support in BIS.
What's the best thing about working at PepsiCo?
The people and the support is really good. It's really nice to work in a big team with lots of stuff going on. There's always someone that you can turn to!
What's the worst thing about working at PepsiCo?
The amount of free food we get is unbelievable! But that's it; I haven't found anything really bad yet!
Had you heard of PepsiCo before you applied for a student placement?
Yes, but I didn't know they had so many brands and were so big in the UK. I literally thought they were just the soft drinks brands!
What was the application process like?
Quite straightforward actually, the initial application itself was quite long and the interviews were a bit stressful – but fine. It was all quite long and had a few different stages but that's all to be expected!
Have you got any advice for potential applicants for next year's student placements?
Just go for it – it's quite a daunting process but once you go for it and do it then you get a placement like this. And it's amazing!
How would you sum up working at PepsiCo?
Fun and exciting! I'm really enjoying it – and it's everything I wanted and it really relates to what I'm doing at Uni.