Intern, Customer Review

I found my placement hugely enjoyable. Not only did I find the area of retail fascinating, but I was given genuine responsibility and important tasks to do from the start. If you're willing to put the effort in and be engaged, you can get so much out of your experience here.

Everyone working here was more than willing to take time out of their days to talk to me and tell me about what they do. This was so important for widening my knowledge and enhancing my experience. Even people in high positions like brand directors would be eager to chat.

My line manager was extremely supportive. She would always answer my questions in person and by email very quickly and helpfully. I never felt helpless in a task and I always knew where to go for help. As the internship went on, my line manager took a step back and let me take ownership of tasks, only stepping in when I needed it.

I was always very busy and never felt myself twiddling my thumbs or wondering what to do. There was still time in the day to break up my work with catch ups with colleagues which was great. I do know of some interns with a lot less to do however, so I wouldn't say that everyone gets this same experience.

I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of responsibility I was given. I spent most of my time in direct email contact with suppliers, sending them briefs for producing packaging and approving/rejecting their designs. This isn't the kind of responsibility I expected, but I felt ready to take it on so I was glad to have it.

I study business management and do a lot of marketing modules so I think that the marketing experience I've had here will be give my an invaluable perspective on how the theories I learn about, translate into the real world. From a career standpoint, I feel that I've given myself a real head start through this internship and I'm feeling very positive about the future.

There was a real sense of enthusiasm and energy around the office and it was great to be working in that environment. We had weekly informal meetings as a wider team and attending these was a great way of integrating from the start. They would even give out a jokey prize to someone who had messed up that week, to show that they embrace failure and try to provide a lesson that everyone can learn from.

It was very well organised o the office side of things. It was clear what we were going to be doing from the start and there were regular meetings or 'masterclasses' with all the summer interns across the company, which acted as the backbone of a consistent structure throughout the 10 weeks.

Tesco set up lots of personal development opportunities through their internship masterclasses, which provided training on things like Excel, networking and even mental health/mindfulness. Colleagues in my departments also set up a day for me and the other interns to go to London and visit various agencies to see what they do and how they work with Tesco.

I would love to be able to join Tesco on a permanent basis after university. It really suits me and it's a company that I always wanted to work with since I first started searching for internships. I'm hoping to receive an offer to join their graduate scheme after I finish at university, but I won't know if I've been offered a place until after I've finished.

There wasn't too much going on socially with other placement students. Some of the current grads set up a social for us on the first day and there is one more to come which I'm looking forward to. There have been team evenings with other colleagues in my team though, so if you're willing to travel over to London for the evening, they're a good opportunity to socialise. I don't know if every department across the business organises these though.

I was living at home, so my cost of living was quite low and I didn't have to pay rent. My main cost was travel. I was commuting by car for around 1 hour and 15 minutes every day, so the cost of petrol tended to equate to around £50 a week.

The nightlife in Welwyn garden city is very limited to say the least. I haven't been staying in the city but I have been into town on a couple of evenings and there are a handful of pubs and restaurants but nothing very exciting. For nightlife, it would be better to live in London and commute in from there.

There was the chance to take part in weekly 8-a-side football matches down at Welwyn Garden City Football Club. There is somebody at Tesco who organises this but it takes place outside of work hours and away from the office and the people I played with, I never interacted with in the work environment.