Olly Russell

Why did you choose to work at Philips?

The company goal of improving 2.5 billion lives a year by 2030 was what initially drew me to applying for a role at Philips. For me personally, it is so important to work at a company where you can be sure that the work you do has such a positive impact. Additionally, the Philips values align closely to my personal values, especially the focus on sustainability and working collaboratively towards a common goal.

What does your role involve?

Throughout my first year I worked on running a monthly forecast, which gave me great visibility to senior members of the business, with a strong focus on collaborating with project managers and other teams to ensure that we could realize sales in line with our targets. I was given a great level of responsibility from the very beginning, so there was never a feeling of being bored or feeling like I was being given tasks for the sake of it. I have recently transitioned into a new role within Philips and I now work in the Personal Health sales function, assisting the online sales team with a range of activities with a more customer-facing viewpoint. This is ideal for me as it allows me to see a completely different side of the business than I saw in my first year, and I now have much better visibility of Philips UKI as a whole.

What makes Philips a great place to work?

The people! It is clear when you talk to colleagues that people are passionate about the work we do and have a real drive to do the best work they can. Everyone is really open to collaboration which makes for an open environment, and there is no judgment, which is ideal when starting your career as you really can ask anyone about anything.

What is one piece of advice you would offer an applicant?

Do your research on Philips as an organization as well as the role you are applying for. Be clear on why you want to work for Philips and get to know the company values. Also don’t be afraid to reach out to current Philips graduates on LinkedIn as we’re all very open to providing advice.