Fiona Lamont
Field Operations Executive
Sales Graduate Programme
I joined Nestle in September 2006 after
studying Marketing BSc Hons at Lancaster
University. I knew I wanted to take on a
Marketing and Sales role within FMCG as I
felt the dynamic, competitive and aggressive
nature of the industry could offer me a
challenging and exciting career.
Through visiting career fairs, websites
and employment publications, I gained an
understanding of which opportunities were
open to me. The Nestle Sales graduate scheme
stood out from the rest. Not only tailored to my
individual needs, it also offered continuous
support in my career development. I felt that
I'd benefit greatly from a scheme offering
experience in a number of roles. Theirs
consisted of three different placements: one
in Field Sales, one in a Head Office-based
Sales role, and the third, either another Sales
role or a role in Customer Marketing.
I began my life with Nestle Rowntree in
Sheffield, as a Business Development
Executive (BDE). As part of a regional
team, I was responsible for managing my
own territory and the accounts within it.
These ranged from small Co-ops to massive
Tesco Extras. Each call involved ensuring
stores were compliant with Head Officeagreed
activity, influencing additional orders
and negotiating discretionary space for
incremental displays. As you can imagine,
a huge part of my role involved building great
customer relationships.
I followed this with a role as a Field Operations
Executive - the role I'm currently in. It's here
at York Head Office, where I originally came
to take on a six-month placement within Field
Operations. Unlike the BDE role, this role
involves working within the impulse channel
- an area that I previously knew nothing
about. I'm responsible for ensuring account
priorities and activities are achievable,
and communicated accurately to the Sales
Development Executive (SDE) team.
When you first join the company, there's a
jam-packed training programme in place to
ensure you feel confident and capable when
you're first let loose in your own territory.
After this initial training, there are a number
of courses to attend as part of your regional
team. Along with these team courses, you
also receive accompanied visits whilst on call
so your trainer can identify your strengths and
weaknesses and help you build on them.
Having recently started my second placement
in Field Operations I quickly realised that I
would benefit from an introductory finance
course. I broached the subject with my line
manager and I am now booked in on one! If
you can justify your need for training and how
it will be beneficial, Nestle is wholeheartedly
supportive in aiding your career development.
I've had Excel training and completed courses
in Finance and Presenting with Impact.
When you're field based, being a Business
Development Executive can be a lonely role,
so I'm really enjoying working in an office
environment in my second placement. The
offices are open plan so interaction with other
colleagues is easy and the culture here means
it doesn't take long to make lots of friends.
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