The scheme typically lasts three years before graduates find a position within the organisation, although this is flexible depending on your individual career path.
New vacancies can be viewed through this website. Visit the "Current Jobs" section for any new opportunities within Cadbury.
Location depends entirely on the business area chosen: whilst some graduate streams (such as IT) are initially based in Bournville, careers in the other business areas can begin in any one of our UK or Irish sites. This year we have graduates based in Bournville, Sheffield, Uxbridge, Dublin and Exeter). Opportunities in Cadbury are international so in order to maximise career potential we encourage our graduate recruits to be fully mobile.
Our primary focus is to recruit people locally for our local business unit needs. People can develop a local, regional or international career. Throughout your career with us you will be able to take advantage of our international career and development opportunities that can take you to other countries and businesses.
Yes. Graduate roles in Cadbury are initially based in the UK and Ireland, but the future international possibilities are limitless.
This depends on the role that you are applying for. In the case of a graduate, we are looking for people who have excelled academically - but not just academically, who stand out from their peers as an overachiever, who display exceptional talent, enthusiasm and drive, and who thrive on hard work. People who love a challenge and aren't fazed by ambiguity and change.
For roles other than those requiring a graduate, we are looking for similar qualities, but with some prior work experience.
Straight from day 1, graduates are given high levels of autonomy and responsibility combined with great support and guidance. This should give you the visibility to get noticed, a voice that is listened to, and the ability to get things done.
If you'd like to hear it from the graduates themselves, please take a look at our graduate blogs.
Your career progression at Cadbury depends upon you and your career plans. You are able to progress in your career through the work you do, and your performance and impact upon the business. You have the choice of progressing your career in a local, regional or international area of the business. Regular meetings with your manager mean you will be able to discuss the next career opportunity for you.
We take on between 10 and 20 graduates in total each year.
Each employee with Cadbury will have the opportunity to discuss their career path with their manager, and design a suitable development plan based on future ambitions. Regular meetings and reviews with your manager will ensure you are gaining the development you need to embark upon this career path. Our learning and development activities range from self-managed study, coaching and courses to language skills and progression towards personal qualifications.
UK & Ireland graduate recruitment begins in autumn each year. Applications can be made in the UK & Ireland graduate recruitment area of this site. Please check the website for closing dates, as they may be different for each business area. Non UK/Ireland regions recruit graduates for vacancies as they arise through the year. Take a look at career contacts for further contact information.
For the UK, any opportunities will be advertised in the careers area under the UK & Ireland graduate section, with details of how to apply online.
Individual business units will manage their placement or internship programmes locally. Please contact the business unit of your choice for further information.
Yes. You will receive support from your graduate peer network who will form invaluable contacts with departments outside your own. Before you join, you will be assigned a buddy who will answer any questions or concerns you may be have prior to your first day.
You will meet the other new starters in your first week as part of your induction, giving you a chance to get to know one another and form ties that you will use to build your career with Cadbury.
Our graduates tend to form close knit social groups and as such, other more informal social events are usually organised by the graduates themselves. We have also launched an intranet section especially designed for graduates in the company.
If you are not an EEA or Swiss national you will need a work permit in order to work in the UK. EEA and Swiss nationals do not need an employment permit, except for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals to work in Ireland. In order for us to support applications for work permits we must prove that the required skills cannot be sourced from those who are eligible to work in the UK or Ireland. Therefore, if you do not have a work permit but believe you are an exceptional candidate, please go ahead and apply.
Absolutely not! We have never operated an age restriction on our graduate scheme and welcome applications regardless of your age. Being older than other candidates will not put you at any disadvantage, in fact we really appreciate the range of expertise this offers us.
Each country has its own intake of graduates for their business unit. To find out about the graduate intake in your country of choice, please refer to the career contacts section on this website to get in touch with the local Human Resources team.
Our application is divided into five stages;
1. Complete our online application form (please see website for dates).
2. Successful applicants will then be invited to sit on-line verbal/numerical tests.
3. The next stage will be a telephone interview with a recruiter for Cadbury.
4. Upon a successful telephone interview you will be invited to a face to face interview with a recruiter or a line manager from the recruiting department.
5. The final stage assessment centre will involve further psychometric testing, followed by an informal dinner with managers and current graduates. The main assessment centre on the following day is designed to be challenging but fun. Candidates will usually be informed of a decision within a week.
Although your application form will always be read by a person rather than processed using a computer system, on-line applications allow us to be able to constantly track your application, accurately record what you have told us and double check our decision concerning your progress. For this reason we suggest that you apply on-line using a computer at home, university, at a library or at an internet café.
If you cannot apply using any of these methods then we will accept paper copies in exceptional circumstances. If this applies to you please contact us on 0121 787 2437 to discuss further.
Any applicant invited to interview will have access via email to all of this year's graduates. Questions will be dealt with within five working days, and any queries on a specific business function will be responded to by a graduate based in that area.
Local business units manage their own requirements for internships or summer placement schemes, so please contact the local business area direct to enquire about opportunities.
For internships or summer placements in the UK, please see the UK graduate recruitment section of the website - where all current opportunities will be advertised with details of how to apply. Please note, we have limited opportunities and do not offer any placements in our Marketing department.
We will not be recruiting a graduate into the HR or IT teams for 2010. We are taking a time out to ensure that we can continue to offer a level of career progression that matches the expectations and capacity of our current graduates.
We only ask for the information we need at the initial stage of the process. We don't want to waste applicant's time by requesting anything that we may not need until a much later date, which is why we have designed our online application form to be as succinct as possible.
You can upload your CV if you wish, but it won't be used in the initial selection process unless you are applying for an industrial placement.