Global Commercial/Brands Intern Review

Work has been really cool, the people have been 10/10

Feedback beyond expectations, given way, way more responsibility that I'd imagined with a huge company like Boots, so it's turned out to be a rewarding and challenging opportunity!!

Mid-way reviews were a game-changer and really allowed me to shine. The reviews organised by the scheme were a bit waffly and frustrating for me personally as I don't enjoy discussing my feelings and going over things (what I view as) unnecessarily. But for others it seemed from their reactions like they felt really supported by the scheme which is great that Boots are so genuinely caring. Enough space given by my manager also meant it was really great opportunity to shine, which is how I prefer to work.

Sometimes slow days, due to the nature of the project I was not hand-fed tasks or information and it was often very ambiguous. But as the project itself developed it became more fast-paced and I had a variety of tasks dealing with many different teams across the business.

Far more than I'd ever expected or hoped for! I can really look back at my internship (and boots.com itself) and literally point to the things I achieved, organised and was a part of. Massive opportunity that was way more free than I'd expected. My role was helping to organise supplier content for boots.com, talking to suppliers, liasing with instore, loyalty, supplier, marketing, partnership and IT teams across the business, at all levels. I made decisions and had opportunity for input and questioning at every step of the way and it was genuinely valued and acted upon (or I'd act upon it myself).

Not for my degree perhaps, as its more academic (history student), but I have gained learnings that will take me forward with my career in terms of what I want, how I work, what kind of environment I work best in, how I respond to people and how they respond to me, what I enjoy doing, what the job actually means... so much from so many people which Boots gives you the opportunity to do!! I won't say "skills for life" as that's quite extreme, but definitely developed myself and my business sense so that I feel probably the most confident of all my friends moving forward after studying - even if I don't get the grad scheme I'm not worried and I'm so pleased I've had the opportunity to learn so much and meet so many nice people. I'm not scared of graduating anymore!!

It's a maaaaaassive office in Nottingham with maybe 4000 people working in the same building and at first you feel completely in the dark about finding anyone or anything because there's lots of different teams with names like "loyalty", "customer insights", "partnerships" or "digital marketing" that you're not quite sure what they mean as an incoming intern or grad. It depends what floor you're on, but where I have been sat it's fairly quiet, but chatty, everyone (I mean absolutely everyone) is super friendly and welcoming. There's not a single person who turned me away if I wanted to talk to them about their job, career or experience at Boots and you are actively encouraged to network across the office. It's quite social, but still sensible.

The scheme was literally set up in 6 weeks, whereas in the future it will be planned with much more time. Boots already has amazing support networks with a standard of weekly 1 to 1s with line managers, and we had frequent check ins with the scheme leader to check everything was all going as hoped. She was always there at the other end of the phone, or email, if we had issues, so I never felt unsupported or alone. A few things need working out or tweaking but nothing that has significantly affected my experience overall, other than that most managers are not used to having an intern, so you're left to take the responsibility of a normal team member!

Boots really really care. It was all about what was right for us, so we could learn about the business and about how we work with people and whether Boots was actually right for us or not. We had a day in London visiting the different offices, where we took an MBTI test that went through how we worked in a team, how we like to think and complete tasks etc. They really invested in us over the 10 weeks as people, and there was never any grooming us for the grad scheme. Automatic acceptance that Boots was right for us was never the case, it has always been framed as our decision. Great feedback from my manager has also been invaluable for my own learning and development.

We don't know yet, we don't find out until we've left, but there has been feedback all along the way and my line manager has made it clear that she has put me forward for the grad scheme. Definitely this internship functions as an 'extended interview' for the grad scheme, hence why they invest so much in you. Not sure what the treatment would be if you were not in line for the job, whether they'd be honest and straight up that you are not right, and make you aware of it - I think it would depend on your manager's style of working.

I know that there could be, as nottingham is full of bars and restaurants and places to go, but the other interns either commuted a long way and didn't fancy evening activities, or didn't drink or particularly like bars. I went out a few times for meals with my team because people were leaving! There was one celebratory meal for completion of this massive project that the whole of .com are involved with, but not sure how regular they are. The intern scheme took us out for dinner a couple times which was really good, and went for a surprise afternoon tea to say goodbye! Splitting the interns between London and Nottingham made intern scheme social stuff a bit trickier, perhaps.

I lived in a cheap, crappy student house because i didn't have a lot of time to organise or choose accommodation as the scheme recruitment was quite late (June time, with a July start!). Also 10 weeks is a tricky period of time to find a place for. Restaurants, pubs and clubs were pretty standard prices, but there is a super cheap public transport system which is fairly reliable, including a new tram system that is like £2.50 for all day student travel, as far as I could work out.

Really good! Bars are probably the best thing about Nottingham! But I had to relocate for this internship so I don't really know anyone here, beyond the 4 other interns and they don't all live near enough to Nottingham unfortunately. If I had more mates, it'd be great so I'm not worried if I come back for the grad scheme - it's a massive student town!

It was a bit tricky for 10 weeks, there is a gym membership or yoga classes etc but I wasn't introduced to it (and its a very big building)