CSR and Menswear Technical Intern Review

I was really fortunate in that I was able to spend time in two different parts of Tesco's clothing business F&F – Corporate Social Responsibility and Menswear Technical. CSR was about watching the horizon for new ways to make ourselves more sustainable as a business whereas Menswear was much more practical and focused on getting the task done at hand.

My colleagues have been absolutely brilliant, they always looked for interesting opportunities for me to get involved in and always gave me enough work to be challenged but not overwhelmed. Feedback on any tasks I did was always constructive and they were sure to tell me when I had done a good job.

I had two managers, both of whom were fantastic. They were concerned first of all with my personal development, and not just throwing endless tasks at me. They taught me when I needed to work independently and when I needed to ask for their help and guidance, which was valuable in teaching me an awareness of my own abilities and boosting my self confidence.

To the point where I didn’t even time to check my phone throughout the day! You’re given an intern project and your time at work overall is meant to be split 60/40 project/day job, but it ended up being heavily skewed in favour of my day job because I was working in two different departments and had so much to do. Definitely not complaining though, it gave me a much more rounded view of the business and I learnt so much! If there’s something I hate it’s being bored at work.

I don’t think I photocopied once because I never bothered to set up the printer during my internship lol. On my first day my manager put me in charge of a massive set of spreadsheets containing standardized sizes for the garments sold across the business and told me that it was really important I didn’t mess it up so definitely can’t complain about a lack of responsibility!

Massively. Being in a corporate work environment is completely different from uni and something they can only prepare you for to some extent. It’s definitely improved my working habits and I can see myself taking these habits over to final year! I’m also much better at managing my time and tasks of differing priorities.

Really chilled out, people often played music, there’s a ping pong table downstairs, and a free tea and coffee making station. You can get up and go for a walk whenever if you’re starting to get bored of your desk, and everyone is genuinely really nice so it was a great place to work.

Both of my managers did a brilliant job in organising my internship, with regards to setting me up with my project and the day to day tasks they gave me – they tended to give me things to do that they thought would stretch me rather than just throwing anything and everything at me. I always knew what was expected of me and where I needed to be. The early careers team also organised some useful days out for training and development as well.

As previously mentioned, my managers did an excellent job of focusing on my own personal development and often giving me one to one mentoring sessions – my CSR manager spent an hour with me helping me with my sign off presentation and giving me loads of useful tips. I know some interns had a lot more personal training than others, e.g. the insights day (personality test and what that means for your work style) but that depends entirely on your area. I never personally felt undertrained or underfocused on.

I’ve been prioritised for the grad scheme which means that they’re pretty much going to offer it to you dependent on when they’ve figured out spaces, but no one has ever been turned away once they’ve been prioritised so I think it’s just to cover themselves in case something goes wrong. I definitely want to work here as a grad, it’s a fantastic place to begin your career and there are endless opportunities available to you.

Because I was the only intern based in Hatfield, I often found it difficult to socialise with interns outside of my function (Product Quality) so I didn't get to know many of them. All the interns in PQ got on really well and we met for dinner quite often and did stuff outside of work.

Living is expensive here (Welwyn Garden City/Hatfield area) - I got lucky because I rented with a family who only charged me 350, but a lot of the interns paid 400, 500 or even upwards of that. It's not a cheap area! Socialising wise, there is an outlet mall in Hatfield with your standard restaurants such as Pizza Express and Prezzo.

Can't comment as I don't go out, but from what the other interns have said the one club in Hatfield is rubbish so you have to go a bit further afield to St. Albans and the like.

The grads organised a few drinks and payday events.