PROCTER & GAMBLE (P&G) may not be involved with EastEnders or Coronation Street, but it is credited with inventing the soap opera genre that dominates our TV schedules.

The company produced radio dramas in the US in the 1930s to promote its range of laundry and cleaning products and the soap opera nickname stuck when the serials transferred to television. Many of those family favourites are long forgotten but P&G still produces its own shows in the US as well as sponsoring TV programmes the world over.

Whatever you do today as part of your domestic routine — scrub your teeth, wash your clothes or shampoo your hair — there’s a good chance you’ll use one of P&G’s products. After last year’s merger with Gillette, the company is now the world’s biggest single producer of consumer goods.

For graduates, there are two main routes into P&G: via the company’s work experience programme; or by applying direct for a graduate vacancy. “About 60 per cent of our new graduates have had internships with us,” says Andy Sharman, P&G’s corporate recruitment manager. “This mutual trial is one of the best ways for us to recruit — students have the chance to work for us on a paid summer placement and we can see if they are a good fit for the organisation.”

More than half of all applicants to P&G’s graduate programmes are for marketing positions, but there are actually more opportunities in sales and commercial and manufacturing. For most functions a specific degree subject is not required but competition for places is tough. “A good degree . . . is critical but we’re really interested in rounded individuals with a strong set of skills,” Sharman says. “We recruit graduates who can show how well they’ ve performed in the past, whether it’s in university clubs or in sporting achievements.”

P&G is a familiar recruiter at several top universities. “One of the strengths of our recruitment programme is our approach to campus promotions,” he says. “We have relatively few full-time recruiters but for each of the universities we target in the UK and Ireland, we have teams of 15 to 20 alumni and recent graduates who return to their old universities for recruitment events.

“Students know they’re talking to graduates from their own university who can give an inside track on what the job involves and how their careers are developing.” This strategy seems to have paid off — P&G is the only manufacturer ranked in the top ten in the new edition of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers.

Recruitment for the 2007 graduate intake and summer internships has already begun. “Don’t hang about with your application,” Sharman says. “We recruit on a year-round basis, but the sooner you apply the better.”

www.pg.com

Martin Birchall is editor of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers Find out more about the best places to work in The Times Top 100 interactive table — www.timesonline.co.uk/top100grad

No 9: PROCTER & GAMBLE

What does it do?
Procter & Gamble (P&G) is one of the world’s largest and best-known fast moving consumer goods companies. It boasts a portfolio of popular brands including Ariel, Lacoste, Pringles, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Duracell, Hugo Boss, Pampers and Crest and employs more than 140,000 people in 80 countries.





What does it employ graduates for?
There are about 80 graduate vacancies a year in sales and commercial, finance, engineering, manufacturing, IT, supply chain management, human resources, marketing and research and development.





Where are the graduate jobs?
P&G’s UK headquarters is at Weybridge in Surrey; there are six manufacturing plants across the country and two technical centres in Egham, Surrey, and Newcastle. The latter is also home to one of the company’s five global business services centres.





What will the pay be like in 2007?
Salaries for graduates will be £27,000.







What’s the competition like?
Last year more than 12,000 applied for Procter & Gamble’s graduate vacancies.







How do you apply?
A two-stage online application at www.pgcareers.com. The company recruits year-round on a first-come first-served basis.





How has P&G done in the Top 100?
2002: 8
2003: 8
2004: 8
2005: 10
2006: 9

The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers is based on research with more than 16,000 final-year university students. Order the new 2006-07 edition from Times Books First for only £13.49 (rrp £14.99). Call 0870 1608080 or visit www.timesonline.co.uk/booksfirstbuy

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