Technology Intern Review

This was my first internship, so I don't have much to compare it to, but I really enjoyed my 10 weeks in Tesco's technology department. I was allocated a meaningful project which would deliver real value for the company and its customers, and given plenty of support to complete it. The working environment was relaxed, surprisingly stress-free, and yet still motivated and challenging.

For the most part, I was treated as another member of my team, same as the experienced software developers. I was working on something important to the team (and the company) so my contribution was taken seriously and valued by those around me. Although it took me a while to familiarise myself with the codebase and the various technologies used to develop it, once I got into my stride, I fit in like any other member of the team.

My line manager was extremely helpful and was able to support me anytime I needed help with anything. The same can be said for my teammates; whenever I needed help understanding something or fixing some frustrating bug, they were always willing to stop what they're doing and help me. Tesco, however, is a large and very bureaucratic company, and many of the supervisors and organisers of the internship team were HR people who were occasionally unable to help me due to their hands being tied by silly bureaucratic policies.

I had a massive project to work on, and being a very self-motivated person, I found myself busy all the time. However, there was very little stress or pressure to meet deadlines. The idea is very much that 'it's done when it's done', and management seemed to understand that rushed developers produce bad code which is more troublesome for the company in the long run. So I was free to work at my own pace and decide what to do in what order - thankfully, there was always lots to do. I also had plenty of opportunities to explore outside of my project; shadowing other developers, trying out other roles, and attending training masterclasses.

I took the lead on the design, development, and testing of my project feature, with support from a senior developer in India. I was working on acceptance criteria that were written by a product owner, but I could chat with him and discuss any changes I thought were appropriate. I felt I had a great deal of responsibility for my own work, but ultimately, I was pretty much right at the bottom of the hierarchy. I was also responsible for communicating with other people in the business to overcome whatever blockers I encountered.

It was an amazing opportunity to develop software engineering skills and gain knowledge of the software development lifecycle, AGILE development methodologies, and working as part of a scrum team on a large, growing codebase. Additionally, I was able to develop my Javascript skills, gain some really good web development experience, and familiarise myself with a number of popular development frameworks. I can see these skills being very useful going into final year, and beyond into graduate work.

My first day in the office, the first thing I did was go into the canteen to watch a webcast by the CEO announcing a massive restructuring, which will result in 25% of Tesco employees being made redundant. So for the first few weeks especially, it was a somewhat tense and awkward atmosphere in the office. However, for the most part, I really liked the working atmosphere in my team; relaxed, casual, low-pressure, but still motivated to work well. I wasn't rushed to meet deadlines but rather given the responsibility to get the work done on my own without someone breathing down my neck.

There were around 40 interns in my cohort, with 8 in technology. A lot of the events were centrally organised for the entire cohort of interns, with some activities organised by your specific 'function' (e.g. technology, finance, commercial). The organisation of the internship was very hit and miss; I found some of the sessions and information provided very useful, but a lot of it also quite boring and unnecessary. Lots of cringy role-plays, awkward ice-breakers, and forced team building exercises. I was told I would be working in Welwyn Garden City, so I signed for a house in Hatfield, only to be told later that I would actually be working in London. Tesco did agree to pay for the additional expenses of my commute, but it meant I had a 3+ hour daily commute, and caused me a great deal of stress and frustration over the 10 weeks. The entire system for claiming back expenses was very poorly organised and explained to us.

We were given premium access to Pluralsight and Code School to train ourselves during the first few weeks and up skill later in the internship. The other developers in the team and my line manager invested a lot of time in me by training me to work on the codebase and helping me with whatever issues I encountered during my internship. There were also a number of masterclasses, some centrally organised and some just for tech, on topics such as networking, software engineering, excel, commercial operations, and AGILE. We also went on store visits, visited a data centre, and completed a two-day store placement.

The graduate scheme is very attractive, as Tesco is a large company with a wide range of roles inside its technology department, and is reasonably flexible in allowing you to move around different positions as you follow your interests and talents. As an intern, you can be fast-tracked onto the grad scheme if you perform sufficiently well over the 10 weeks and during your sign-off process. This involves a presentation, a practical assessment, and a one-on-one with your line manager.

Our cohort of interns got on really well, and we regularly went to the pub after work. I lived in a house with four other Tesco interns, so we were able to travel to and from work together (and split taxis home from the pub). The technology internship team also organised a few events for us, mostly just trips to the pub but that was more than enough.

I lived in Hatfield, within walking distance to a free shuttle from the F&F building to the WGC campus. I ended up working in London, but Tesco paid for my commute and I would walk or get the bus to/from the train station. I lived in a very basic student house, but I only paid £330 a month including bills. It costs around £11 return to get into London with a railcard, or £3.30 return to get the train to WGC. A pint at the local Spoons costs £2-3.

There is basically no nightlife in Hatfield. There are a few pubs, and a cheap Spoons, so you can just stay at the pub until you get kicked out and then drink at your flat. However, London is only 20 minutes away by train, so if you're happy paying for the train ticket and getting the last train back at 01:30 (or the first train the next morning), then you've got plenty of nightlife to enjoy there.

There was a charity challenge for the interns, plus other charity fundraising opportunities outside of the internship. There are also some groups and societies within Tesco, but I never got involved with any of them. I enjoyed the lack of obligation for me to work outside of my 40 hours - my evenings and weekends were my own to enjoy completely separately from work.