Founded in 1929, Unilever is a British consumer goods company that employs over 90,000 people worldwide, with headquarters in London. The competitive application process consists of tests, games and interviews, all designed to get a clearer idea of your strengths and weaknesses as a candidate.
For the UK and Ireland Future Leaders Programme, the Profile Assessment includes a portrait personality test and an online assessment, followed by a digital interview and face-to-face Discovery Centre.
Use the route that matches your vacancy. The guidance below identifies the programme or location it covers.
Profile Assessment, digital interview and Discovery Centre
The current UK and Ireland guide lists a portrait personality test plus an online assessment. The digital interview has three short questions and a business case. The Discovery Centre is a face-to-face day with project meetings, business challenges, a team meeting and an interview.
Process sources checked 11 September 2026 · Your invitation takes priority for role and location details.
Choose an accountable response to a client affected by a service delay. This is independent practice from Practice Aptitude Tests, not an actual Unilever assessment question.
Practise with our independent preparation tests, then review the working behind each answer.
Starting out at Unilever involves joining the Future Leaders Programme: a three-year initiative designed to prepare graduates for positions of leadership in the business.
Within the programme there are a number of placements, including sales and general business training. The idea is to equip graduates with the skills and knowledge they’ll need to progress through the company and become Unilever’s leaders of the future.
Whatever role or scheme you’re applying for at Unilever, it’s essential you show evidence of its four key competencies in the recruitment process:
Showing evidence of these competencies in your answers is really important if you want to work at Unilever.
Although the application process is competitive, the wealth of opportunity that exists at Unilever makes it really worth putting in the time and effort to prepare for the assessments ahead of you.
Whether it’s a role in sales, marketing, human resources, finance or anything else you have your sights set on, practice and preparation for the tests is the best way to set yourself up for success.
The UK and Ireland Future Leaders Programme currently has four application steps:
1) Online application
This is your first chance to make a good impression by sharing your academic success, interests and passions. Follow the questions in the application for your chosen function.
2) Profile assessment
This stage combines a portrait personality test with an online assessment, exploring cognitive, emotional and social traits.
3) Video interview
You’ll have to record and upload your answers to some pre-set questions.
4) Discovery Centre
A face-to-face assessment centre which is designed to prepare you for the challenges you’re likely to face on the Unilever Future Leaders Programme.
While a few of these sections don’t require any preparation, we always recommend reading up on Unilever – everything from its core brands, to competitors and target audiences.
Familiarising yourself with the company will help you to tailor your answers and ensure you come across as diligent and focused.
In this initial stage, you’ll be required to share your academic achievements, including your university details, A-level results and anything else of note.
Unilever aims to hire a range of different people with varied hobbies and interests. The next section of the application form will ask you to share your extracurricular activities, interests and passions, to build a clearer picture of you as a person.
If the application asks for examples of your experience, choose clear examples that show why you are suited to the function.
Use Unilever’s leadership values and the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answers.
The Profile Assessment combines a portrait personality test and an online assessment. These explore cognitive, emotional and social traits, with personalised feedback after each stage.
Follow the instructions for each part. Respond honestly to personality questions and use any examples provided to learn the format; the current UK and Ireland guide does not give a fixed overall duration.
The digital interview has three short questions followed by a business case based on Unilever scenarios. Your recorded responses are reviewed by a person.
This can be daunting, so it’s worth practising recording yourself beforehand so you feel more comfortable when it matters. The digital interview often includes a few practice questions to help you, so make sure you take advantage of these.
The questions are hypothetical challenges you could expect to come up against at Unilever.
You’ll need to showcase:
Researching as much as you can about Unilever will help you with these questions.
As well as business points such as Unilever’s core brands and competitors, you’ll also need to look at the company’s values, objectives and social stance.
This is the final stage of the recruitment process.
This face-to-face assessment day is designed to prepare you for a role at Unilever, while evaluating whether you have what it takes to join the company.
You can expect to take part in the following exercises:
The emphasis on meetings in the Discovery Centre is designed to familiarise you with life at Unilever, but also to give potential employers a chance to assess your professionalism, ability to work as a team and what personal strengths you might bring to the team.
As a result, it’s important to dress professionally and to keep your language clean and respectful.
Here are some other points to consider when it comes to making the best impression on the day:
Be proactive
Whether that’s by taking notes, asking questions or raising relevant points.
Be attentive
Show you’re engaged by nodding, asking a relevant question or agreeing with good points.
Be gracious
You might be given constructive criticism. It’s important to consider the points and take them on board.
Be punctual
It’s something that’s important in every interview, and each part of the Discovery Centre.
Be inquisitive
This is as much an opportunity for you to decide whether you’re a good fit for Unilever, as it is for Unilever.
What candidates ask us most often
While Unilever’s tests are challenging, they’re designed to measure candidates’ true capabilities. With the right preparation, you can perform well. The difficulty level will often depend on your readiness and the specific skills being assessed.
Start with the employer’s own guidance and examples in your invitation. Our independent practice questions help you build relevant reasoning skills; they are not copies of the employer’s assessment.
The duration of Unilever’s recruitment process varies, depending on the role and other factors. It’s a thorough process involving several steps, designed to assess candidates comprehensively, so be prepared for it to take some time.
Unilever’s core values revolve around integrity, respect, responsibility and pioneering. As a global company, they emphasize diversity, sustainability, and innovation, aligning their business practices with these principles.
Rated 4.9 out of 5 across 60 reviews. A selection:
it was not difficult but requires you to think and calculate fast, there will be many numbers and data to distract your concentration
Some of the questions in the car accident section were tough, not sure if we were supposed to do the without a calculator.
It's interesting, stimulating, and exciting, even though my first language is not English thus I need quite some time to understand some questions.
Unilever is a trademark of its respective owner. Practice Aptitude Tests is not affiliated with Unilever and our practice tests are not endorsed by them. Visit Unilever careers.
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