Shibh Lee, Research & Development Graduate at PepsiCo

What course did you do in college? And what was it about that course that interested you?

I studied Physics and Astrophysics in UCC, and graduated in 2022. I chose the course because I have a great interest in space so it seemed like a fit. Also, the fact that physics is so applicable to everything, you can’t go too wrong.

When I saw the modules I realised that I would also be gaining some skills in other subjects like Mathematics and Computer Science. So I thought even if I don’t end up in a Physics based career, I’ll have a lot of transferrable skills built up

Why did you decide to apply for a Graduate role with PepsiCo?

I was coming to the end of my final year and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next. I was looking at the Graduate Programmes and as there were no roles that directly mentioned Physicists, I decided to look at the skills required for other roles and I came across a role in PepsiCo in Data Analytics.

While I don’t have a degree in Data Analytics, I looked at the skills and I saw that I had a lot of them – and I had also done some of that in my course, so it just seemed to fit perfectly.

What was the recruitment process like?

It was pretty simple, I had my interview and an online assessment. The actual interview process was nice because I got to chat to the interviewers and find out a bit about their backgrounds as well.

What does a typical day at work look like for you?

I’m in the Research & Development section, and our team is a bit different as we’re not based in the labs, a lot of my work is more computer based. I would usually put in an hour checking my emails in the morning, and then catch up with the other Graduate.

My day gets quite busy after lunch as I’m working a lot with the American team, so we would have a lot of meetings and that after lunch.

What do you enjoy about working for PepsiCo?

I really like the atmosphere, everyone in Research and Development is really nice. There’s a lot of scope for learning on the job. I will usually put aside an hour a day to upskill myself on our internal Learning Platform PepU.

I like that education and upskilling is seen as a constant process. I also like the work that I’m doing, it’s really interesting and the fact that there seems to be a lot of opportunity throughout the company.

What advice would you give a graduate who is thinking about working for PepsiCo?

Apply, honestly. When you’re looking at these big lists of roles, it can be easy to think “Oh I won’t apply for that because that’s not my job title” but the worst thing that can happen is that you don’t get the role.

What you do in college might not be the exact job title that you are looking for, but you will get a lot of transferrable skills that will make you suitable for these roles. You can also reach out to Grad Programmes and ask if you have any questions too.

What's your favourite Pepsi product?

I like a good cold Pepsi Max, I live on the stuff!