We’ve got a guest post for you today from Jess Ching from Give A Grad A Go, a London-based graduate recruitment agency. Jess is here to talk about FMCG, and how even if you’re not immediately familiar with the term, it might interest you as a career path…..
Even if you aren’t familiar with the abbreviation FMCG, you’ll almost certainly have come into contact (probably every day) with a variety of FMCG products and brands.
An abbreviation for “Fast Moving Consumer Goods”, the FMCG industry concerns products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost – so things like packaged foods, toiletries, soft drinks, over-the-counter medications, and so on.
Most people will have heard of some of the best-known brand names in FMCG – like Unilever, P&G, PepsiCo and Nestle – but the industry also comprises thousands of other much smaller brands, who produce everything from snack bars and tea bags to pens, toothpaste and shampoo.
Given the huge range of goods covered by the FMCG market, you’ll also find pretty much any role you can think of within the FMCG sector, such as:
- product design
- engineering and branding
- supply chain/logistics
- sales
- the process of designing, creating and distributing
As you can see FMCG goods relies on a range of different roles and responsibilities, so regardless of the kind of role you are interested in, there are a number of reasons to consider a career in the FMCG sector.
There is career stability
Regardless of economic changes or trends, people will always need FMCG products. The quick production and high turnover of these goods means that graduate jobs in FMCG have a level of job security that is virtually unparalleled by any other industry. If you’re concerned about pursuing a career where job stability may be an issue, FMCG is a relatively fail-safe choice.
It’s fast-moving
The clue’s in the name; given the rapid production and distribution of FMCG products, careers in the sector also give graduates exposure to a stimulating and fast-paced working environment, and constant innovation, as companies look to make new products, and find new ways of working. In order to compete with their competitors, FMCG brands are constantly re-branding, creating new packaging, and marketing their products in different ways – so if you want to work in a highly innovative, ever-growing and fast-paced sector, FMCG could be a great choice for you.
There is structured career progression
Often FMCG brands (both big and small) will have structured training programmes and development opportunities in place for their graduate hires. Though there will usually be some scope to carve out your own career path, FMCG often gives graduates more structured career progression and development programmes than entry-level roles in young startups, where getting involved in a range of different tasks and duties is more common.
It’s a diverse industry
Given the range of jobs in the FMCG sector, there’s also likely to be a huge array of personalities, and people with very different skills, backgrounds and experiences. Though this will of course be a positive thing in the workplace, where different skills will come to the fore in individual roles, it also provides graduates with a great opportunity to meet people from all over the world, from a range of different backgrounds.
There are opportunities all over the world
FMCG isn’t just one of the UK’s largest sectors – it is globally, too. As well as the fact that many of the largest FMCG companies are multi-national, this also means that as more economies develop, demand for FMCG products of all kinds will only increase. So if you’re interested in global travel, or even moving abroad to a different country to work, the FMCG sector is likely to be able to offer you these kinds of opportunities.
If you’re looking for a job that is stable, fast-paced and will give you the scope to grow and develop in both the short-term and the long-term, FMCG is a great choice for graduates.
Thanks a lot to Jess for taking the time to write this piece. You can check out graduate jobs in FMCG, as well as a range of other Graduate Jobs on the Give A Grad A Go site.