Klyde Gamboa, Employer Branding @ Mondelez International

Hey everyone, I'm Ingmar. I'm your today's host for the Graduate Guide podcast, and I'm joined by Clyde from Mondelez.

Yes, thank you, Ingmar, and especially, you know, for getting me here today. But really appreciate it.

It's amazing to have you, and maybe I'll start with the elephant in the room. Mondelēz, I've heard the name somewhere, but I can promise to our listeners that it's a big company. Could you quickly explain what Mondelēz is?

Yes, for sure. That's my job. So while Mondelēz is an international company, we originated in the United States. Our headquarters is in the US also, but we are obviously the home to world's most loved snack brands: Oreo, Cadbury in the UK, Toblerone, Milka, a lot of, you know, brands that you could imagine possibly you grew up with, you know, back in the childhood. And we've been leading the future of snacking for a long time now. We've been, you know, we have different brands across the world, a combination of both international and what we call local jewels in the countries.

And it's Mondelys, not Mondelēz?

Mondelys.

Mondelys, perfect.

Actually, I have a fun fact there. Mondelys means— monde means world and delice means delicious. So it means a delicious world.

That's a great name.

Yes. And we got that name from one of our employees.

Okay.

So when we moved to a different name, So the company opened up a competition for our employees to, you know, do you have a proposed name for our company? And that's the winner.

Nice. I hope that employee got a pay rise after that.

No comment.

And you started at Mondelēz as an intern in HR. And maybe if we go even before that, you're from the Philippines and you studied, and your bachelor's, you picked Human Resources as your subject. What interested you in that and why you make that choice?

I think what really pushed me to take that course was mainly because of the school that I studied. And then aside from that, I took on— I wanted to do a business role or a business course at that point. And in that school, the only, at least the only ones which is closer to heart was the Human Resources. And it was kind of a good school. There's a good scholarship under the course, so why not take it?

Interesting, because many young people that I talk to, they don't know even what human resources is or what you get into, but you knew about it before when you made that choice.

Yes, mainly because I think I'm also surrounded with friends who studied human resources, so pretty much I got an idea of what it is. But then when I'm taking it, I don't know, it's that hard, you know, to complete the course. But it's fun. It's a nice course.

And after that, when you joined Mondelēz as an intern in human resources, you had a quite rapid journey to now becoming the employer branding lead for Europe and only 5 years from intern to that position. How did you do that?

Yes, you could say it's really rapid. I did. I can't even imagine until now that I'm doing this role. But I mean, I started as an intern, obviously, because it was a requirement from the university. It was initially 3 months, if I could remember. And then I just love the culture. I just love the projects that I was working with. I remember on my first week, they were like, Clyde, we need to do something for trick-or-treat. Yeah, it's fine. And then here comes me presenting a plan. And then after the presentation, they told me, did you know that you just presented to our leadership team in the Philippines? I was like, no way. If I knew that before I presented, I wouldn't even dare myself to go there. But yeah, I think it's that opportunity that they gave you, that Mondelēz gives you, especially with, you know, being exposed to different levels of leaders in the organization.

Did they like what you proposed?

Yes, yes, they like it. I think it was the first time also that we, you know, we went ahead with a different theme. So it's a big thing, you know, for the company because literally you could bring your kids into office during those days and everybody doesn't work during those days in the Philippines. But yeah, and then I did my internship, had extended it for another 3 months because I really see value in terms of working for the company. Um, after that, there was an— there was an opportunity to be in the company for another 1.5 years, if I would say it's a fixed-term role. I did a coordinator role, and then after that, pandemic happened.

Okay.

And then here comes my contract, you know, um, finally completing. So I don't know where I'll go, and then they told me there's an open for— there's an open vacancy for a recruiter role. And you know, I, I love recruiters, and hands off to the recruiters because it takes time for you to build relationship with candidates. Yeah. And the other equation to that is how many candidates you're going to manage at one time with different vacancies. I would, I would say it's not my cup of tea, but I tried it like 6 or 8 months, if I can remember it correctly. And then during those times, I had the opportunity to also do like a shadowing for a Southeast Asia role. So during that, it was a time where we wanted to centralize our early careers program. Cool. Yeah. And, you know, took that, um, I think with the right output, you know, they gave me officially the role, um, as early careers and branding lead for Southeast Asia. And then it progressed, you know, working with different people, with different business units in Mondelēz, to where I am now.

At that point, how big was your team?

It's a one-man team, actually. So I'm the only one doing an employer branding and early careers lead role back then. But what I did was partnering with our recruiters on ground in terms of really understanding the market, how could we deliver our campaigns. So sort of collaboration with all the 6 countries in Southeast Asia. And it's the same thing here with, in Europe.

You just recently came to London.

Yes, 4 months ago. Yeah, back in November 2023.

Nice. And I'd be curious, how does a day-to-day, how does a typical day your role look like in employer branding?

Now, if I would say, I think it's more focused on providing support with the team, but it's, it's never the same every day. If I would say, there's, there's always a challenge every day, um, and really providing that support to, to the, to the recruiters that I'm working with, or the TA advisors as we call them. Um, it's, it's the first in, in Europe for us to have an employer branding lead quote-unquote, in the business unit or in the region. So people are trying to get used to it, you know. We try to establish a more cohesive strategy for Europe. How can we localize the global employer branding proposition and really focus on what's relevant to the market, to the country where we are operating with? So yeah, if I would say more on consultation, providing guidance, but also at the same time challenging new ideas. You know, how can we make it better? How could we improve it? Yep.

You talked about your employer value proposition. Maybe specifically for our student listeners, the podcast, what would you say are some kind of key aspects of Mondelez that stand out are different, maybe in terms of the culture, maybe in terms of how you work together with people, maybe in terms of the values?

Yeah, for Mondelēz, if I would say, um, we do have various early career opportunities, um, at various stages of student life. So we have apprenticeship program, internship program, as well as graduate scheme program. Um, it really challenges you to go above and beyond if I would say. So we have a tedious, um, screening process. You apply, you go through behavioral cognitive test. Once you pass that, you go through another situational exam or situational, um, screening testing. You do a recruiter interview, and then after that, um, you, you will need to do another round of assessment center with our business leaders.

So there are 4 stages.

Almost 4 or 5. Yeah, and then you get, you get the offer. Okay, so that's how tedious it is. And as far as I know, um, this year or from, from last year, we almost got between 9,000 to 12,000 applicants across— that's across the segments from the 3 different programs. But that's how big, um, the, the reach in terms of, uh, in terms of the program. If I'd say, um, it challenges you to grow every day, you know, really pushing you beyond your limit. Um, we have a very known and loved brand, so obviously they— the, the Early Careers Taste the Future program of Mondelēz really challenges them to, you know, how could we innovate the product, but also at the same time keeping in mind that it's it has its own heritage. So balancing innovation and the brand legacy of, of each of the products that we have. And last but not the least, if I would say, um, really contributing, um, to the bigger, you know, to the bigger, bigger than you. So the environment, um, to the people that working— we are working with or where we outsource our raw materials. So those are some of the things that we are always proud of with, with Mondelēz, or specifically the early careers.

Amazing. You mentioned this application process. If people were interested in Mondelēz and want to apply, are there any tips, tricks, anything that's maybe not non-standard advice that you could give to people to stand out in that process?

This may sound cliché, as other people may have been saying this already, but it's important that you, you try to be yourself. You, you give your personality, because I think at this point it is always— it's now the talent marketplace, so it's, it's their market. And obviously, um, if, if they try to be as authentic as they are when they are applying, you know, the asset during the assessment center, the recruiter interview, or even the conversation with business leaders, it will really show up, you know, it will really be visible. And it— I, I think it's, it's a favor for our— for the early career talent to just be themselves, because sometimes you may want to be in the company, but if your values doesn't actually sit the same with the company values, it will never work out regardless of how good or how, you know, how great you are as a talent. If you don't see your values aligned with the company, that will never work. So, you know, be yourself, be your authentic self. Um, try to really understand the company that you are applying for. And, um, I guess last but not the least is identify what's your non-negotiables. You know, what are your key principles that, no, this will not work for me, it's not something for me, or if you think you see value in terms of being in the company, go for it.

I like that. We haven't had this piece of advice before, like what are your non-negotiables? But I think it's really powerful, especially for young people, because the job market right now is tough. And so people might say, hey, you know, I'm going to just take this role because I got a role, but actually, this is not for me at all, so I'm just trying to squeeze myself into this. Maybe for you personally, what are your non-negotiables that you've discovered?

For me, my non-negotiable is, you know, not being able to flexibly do my work. Um, when I, when I say flexible, my own definition of that is being able to work at my own time, okay, um, where I want to, and, um, with, with the people also that I, that I need to work. It's very relatable for me. It's mainly because, at least at the moment with Mondelys, we do have a hybrid setup, and I think it must be the same for most of the companies now. But personally, sometimes I feel myself very much productive doing creative stuff at night.

Yeah.

And nobody even calls me out that, hey, why are you still working at night? Because it's fine, you know, um, I manage my time well. Um, the important is you deliver your output, you deliver your work. And one thing also that I remember is because— and as basic as putting something in your email signature, I have that, like, you know, I'm sending this email at the comfort of my time, you don't have to respond now. I'm— something to that effect, just really highlighting that I'm at my best at this time, you know, and I'm doing everything at this time. So no pressure for you to respond to me. That's my non-negotiable at this point.

I love that. We operate in a similar way, called asynchronously, so people can work on their own schedules. I think it's very, very important. And it's amazing that you have this, seem to have this culture in a bigger enterprise, which is not that common, I say. Like, there are a lot of enterprises who are very kind of traditional, like synchronous working schedules, and you need to be in the office. That's cool. And especially a lot more, more and more young people want those flexible— what, that flexibility. You mentioned that 10,000 applications or so that you've received. Those, do you know, out of the 10,000 applications, how many, um, started working for Mondelez? Just trying to get a feeling for—

I made sure I asked that earlier. So, um, at least for— from a graduate scheme perspective, on an annual basis, we normally hire, um, 35 to 40 talents. Um, and then for internship, if I got it correctly, that's between 30 30, 30 talents. And then for the apprenticeship, I think that's between 10 to 15. So very few, if I would say, really getting the best talents out there, ensuring that they are aligned with, with our values in Mondelēz.

So, so it's less than 1%?

Yes, you could say that. And even the, even the testing, etc., is very if I would say, very customized to our values so that it's aligned with who or what we are looking for.

Another area that I'd be interested in talking about is diversity and inclusion. What do you do at Mondelēz to make sure that everyone feels included?

That's a really great question and it's close to my heart. You know, in my previous role and until now, I've been partnering with several diversity organizations, let's just say, to really boost up our diversity efforts. Um, I also sit within the diversity council within Mondelēz. For us, I think we try to be inclusive, or that's our commitment, that, you know, we need to be inclusive because that's where you could get strength. That's where you could get different ideas. That's where we That's where we drive the innovation that we have in the company. Maybe I could give specific examples on how we do diversity. We have different resource groups in Mondelēz, be it from a global or from a local level, to really support the teams, you know, be it from an ethnicity standpoint, from a gender standpoint. We also have focus on recruitment, so we always try to be mindful of the candidates that we endorse, ensuring that we have at least 50/50 slate of candidates, um, an endorsement. We have 50/50 also in terms of the panelists who's doing the interview. Okay, cool. Just really divide, you know, removing the bias from, from that perspective.

Nice, I, I like that. Um, one thing that when, when we ask students nowadays that keeps coming up when we ask them, how do you pick your career paths, or how do you pick the companies that you'd love to work for, what keeps coming up is that they become very careful about, hey, can that organization that I join equip me with skills that will be needed, that there will be a demand for in the future, and can actually grow with that organization as well if the demand for those skills kind of changes. Could you maybe tells a bit more about how Mondelēz creates an environment, the organization, for young people to be able to grow. For example, I come in and I'd say, hey, I love HR, I love recruitment, say, and then I discover very quickly it's too much sales, I want to do employer branding. How does that work in Mondelēz?

Yeah, so, well, number one, I think it's important for for early careers, or even to— for an employee to have that conversation with their line managers, with their people managers, understanding that you have areas that you wanted to be— you wanted to improve on. And from there, you know, see how you could potentially do it. In Mondelēz, there are lots of learning resources available, be it online or from an external point of view. Mentoring sessions is also across the— it's also present across the board. There are also specific mentoring sessions for, let's say, women in leadership, or for—

that's cool—

for new, um, for new leaders in the organizations. Let's say if you, if you're, uh, if you're a new people manager who just probably you came from a graduate program or graduate scheme, there's a certain training that you need to pass because it has basically all the, the essentials. Um, there are gig programs, um, available, but also at the same time, for, for early careers, during the entire, um, program that you are with, with, with the company, that mentorship from one stint to another is present with the senior leaders in, in, in the organization.

Amazing. Um, if I, uh, now look at Mondelēz website as a student and I look at the roles, could you maybe give some insight into what kind of functions are there that I could, where I could enter Mondelez as a student?

Engineering, for one, of course. We do have lots of manufacturing opportunities and supply chain. Commercial is there, of course. You have sales, marketing, and then corporate, you have finance and HR. If I would say most of the functions, really, we have an opportunity for you to stand out. In the UK, there's a big opportunity really from a point of view of sales, marketing, and engineering. So that's a big area where we always get early career talents. As far as I know, also for research, development, and quality, because We do innovate our products.

So yeah, so lots of various—

it's pretty much present across all the functions.

Yes. And how does it work if I join Mondelēz and I say, hey, I'd love to work on Milka because Milka, I'm so passionate about that specific brand. Does it work like, okay, you get assigned, say, a brand or you're working for specifically that company, or is it just You work for Milka, or then you might be working on a different aspect for another brand.

You might have that opportunity, of course, because, um, um, at this moment, you, you, you, you could work from one brand to another, you know, shift your, your focus, especially with, um, with, with whatever is your developmental area or development opportunity at that specific moment. If I would say moving from, moving from your current role to a different role is pretty much available in the organization, so long as of course you fit all the requirements, you know that you have the skills that you need for you to drive that new role that you wanted to get. But yeah, there's a big opportunity. You could even jump from being a chocolate brand manager to a different category all at the same time. If you wanted to be on, let's say, on the meals side where we have a different category as well, that's pretty much feasible at Mondelēz.

Nice. Now people are listening to this and they're like, okay, let me go to the website straight away. I'm going to put my application in and I'm going to use AI because that's quicker.

Sounds good.

That sounds good. AI?

Yes, yes, yes, yes. So Um, I think AI is something that Mondelēz is trying to explore, but also at the same time, um, being consciously mindful on how we wanted to adapt to AI. Of course, it has its pros and cons, and we are at the stage where we need— we wanted to ensure that it will be both beneficial from our end, but also from the, in this case, candidates that we wanted to we wanted to tap.

Interesting, and I like this, I'd say, approach to it because I've talked to some employers in the past as well before, and they said, we actually think candidates should be using AI as long as they're honest about it. So during the interview process, if they tell us that, hey, I've used AI for this, and okay, we encourage that because you're a get-goer, you know your stuff, and that's okay. But if If you're not being honest about it, then that becomes a problem.

Yeah, that's so true, especially with lots of online testing assessments now. Candidates tend maybe to, to go down the AI path. You have these questions, answer it, look at from AI, and then put all your answers to the testing. Um, that's why for us it's important to balance both the technology and also our AI at that point, but also the human, the human touch. That's why you have your online assessment, your online testing, but you also have your face-to-face assessment center with our leaders. Really test that out.

That makes sense, that makes sense. We're already coming to an end now.

Oh, really?

But is there anything else that you'd like to share about Mondelez or, um, with our, with our audience?

Yeah, no, I think I just wanted to say that, um, if you wanted to, to work for, you know, the brands that you grew up with. Um, you, you wanted to innovate those brands. I guess they're, they're the future that we, we are looking for. The, the new program is called Taste the Future. And maybe from a broader perspective, try to always be authentic in whatever they do, whatever you do. And, um, yeah, I think it helps for, for, for them to push themselves, really getting things done and try to be, yeah, really try to be authentic. That's my big piece of advice, I would say.

I love that. Be yourself and then in 5 years you'll be leading something at Mondelēz. Thanks so much. It was a pleasure.

Thank you. Thank you, Ingmar. It was nice speaking with you and the whole team.

Amazing.

Thanks. Thank you.