Summer Technology Intern Review

I have had a fantastic time on my Internship at Tesco, highly recommended to anyone looking for an internship in technology. It has been incredibly interesting seeing how teams split between different countries work together in an agile way. Lots of great trips and social opportunities were also made for us throughout my time at Tesco. This allowed me to get exposure to different parts of the business and understand how all of the things created at head office affect the company. It has been an incredibly insightful time to work out what I want do after university and to see how Tesco works as a company.

As part of the internship you are given a project for the 10 weeks, my project allowed me to have a real impact on the work my team was doing as a whole and they have supported me in this making me feel part of the team right from the start. I also took part in a 24 hour hackathon with a group from my directorate which allowed me to have a massive impact in the product we had created in the 24 hours. The team were quick to find my strengths and use them to the best potential whilst also nurturing some of the skills that needed development.

I have been given all the support I could ever need, I have regular catch ups with my line manager who is incredibly helpful with explaining or finding out information and answers for me. Another great support is the buddy system who contacted me even before I started the internship to let me know about things like dress code and parking. You are also further supported by a dedicated people team member who looks after all the technology interns, regularly catching up with us and making sure we know how to book travel and check payslips etc.

I have been perfectly busy suiting my style of working, at the beginning I had a bunch of meetings that allowed me to quickly get up to speed with the current ecosystem that the team project was situated in. I also had documentation to read and a piece of analysis to do, soon after I started I gained my objectives for the internship which I talked through with my manager to check that they were suitable to my skill level and time constraints. These consisted of a main objective with two smaller objectives to take up the time if I ever got blocked. I have enough work to keep me busy and the opportunities to take up more if I like, but the amount I have has never been more than I would want.

I have been given plenty of responsibility during my placement. My project has a real impact on Tesco as a company and its customers, I have been allowed to develop the idea as I like and create the supporting documents before I started to code it. Part of the way through my project was picked up by some of the business directors, so I gave a 10 minute presentation to them about the project and its possible benefits so that they could decide how to put it into production. I have also taken on a couple of side projects that I have complete control over.

I think the internship has been incredible for developing both my technical and personal skills. We received training in personal development and presentation skills which was very useful especially given as it landed just before I had to give one. I also have joined a group to develop my test driven development skills which has been incredibly useful and I used in my project at Tesco and plan to make use of in my final year project at university. I have also picked up a new language whilst working on one of the legacy systems. These skills will all be brought forward to my final year of the degree and beyond helping me to have successful projects and the work I have done at Tesco has supported many of the modules I have already studied such as agile development.

The office is fantastic, hot desking allows everyone to mingle together rather than separating people based on their work level. The office canteen is very good and there is a subsidised Costa as well. Alongside this there are table tennis tables and a pool table for anyone to use whenever they like. You also have free tea, coffee, fizzy drinks, squash, or the beer fridge. Everyone in the office is incredible helpful and approachable. Meetings can be held in the dispersed meeting rooms or in breakout areas which are a little less formal. Dress is smart casual and more casual on a Friday, and the office in general is a lovely place to work.

It has been incredibly well organised, everything from the information I received before I started to the project I was given. All the trips are well organised with travel being simple to sort out using an internal system so you never have to pay yourself. The buddy system and the earl careers team are all fantastic giving constant support. When I arrived I had plenty of things planned for me whilst I got set up in the office, this allowed for a very smooth transition in the team who I quickly felt a part of.

The company invested in me through several training sessions throughout the internship, these included decisiveness, presentation skills, being assertive, team skills, leadership skills. There were also lots of optional sessions put on for further training such as how to use outlook and mind talk master classes. I also had sessions on personal development plans and objectives which has been incredibly useful. You are also given access to plural sight for any further training you need on a technical side and can be assisted with this by groups set up in the office created to help each other learn various skills.

I would absolutely love to have a graduate job here, the grad scheme allows you to see different parts of the business by working in different teams for varying amounts of time, this includes a month placement with Tesco Labs for innovation. The pay is incredibly competitive and Tesco allows you to grow your career in the way you want. The work life balance is incredibly good with lots of opportunities for socialising.

There has been a great social scene amongst the placement students with lots of events being created for us to go to. There has also been plenty of socialising with colleagues as well with after work drinks and a sports day. Various events are consistently running so there is always something to do.

I lived at home so rent has not been an issue at all for me although the general area is expensive so it is worth baring in mind but that's because of the proximity to London. Socialising can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it, there are plenty of places to go nearby with great train access to all of London.

In the actual area there is not much nightlife however if you live in Watford or Hatfield there is some, you are also so close to London that you can get all the nightlife you could ever want if you wished.

There were plenty of opportunities to get involved in activities whether these are sports based such as the various colleague teams that play or charity as interns are put in groups to raise money. There is always something going on and it has also been incredibly easy to organise events as well.