This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I really enjoyed the work and environment. The work I was doing was interesting and helpful to others in the team. Got on really well with everyone in my team, other interns and those higher up. Had 4 projects to work on throughout my time that challenged but interested me.
Felt more valued by my colleagues than I thought I would be. Everyone was very willing to help and have meetings with me to support my work. I presented some of my work in front of the whole category. People asked and commented about the work I was doing so I felt very valued.
My manager and the rest of the team gave me a lot of guidance with my projects. There were times when I did not fully understand the task but I found it easy to ask others for support and guidance. If someone did not know the answer they would refer me to someone else to help.
Most days I had a lot to do. Sometimes when my manager and the team were very busy I had less to do but there was always something to work on. Could have done more day to day jobs to keep me busy instead of just focusing on the same task for the entire day.
I had a lot of work to do that had the potential to positively influence colleagues. However, if the projects didn't work it did not matter to the team so it was a good balance of having responsibility at work and the potential to help the workplace without being stressed and giving too much responsibility.
I enhance a number of skills that will help me in my career. Organisation, time management, communication, presenting, formatting lots of complex information are just some of the transferable skills that I learnt at my time at Tesco. These skills will be useful for any job I apply for in the future.
The Company
I felt there was a really good atmosphere in the office nearly all the time. Monday mornings can feel a little bit stressful but most of the time I really enjoyed the atmosphere and working environment. Very laid back, you can take breaks whenever you like and chat as much as you like.
I was very impressed with how well everything was organised. There were a number of masterclasses organised for us, some supplier visits (although could have gone on more visits) and other things were well organised. If there was ever a problem it is easy to get in contact with the right person.
The firm invested in me quite a lot. Had great exposure to all aspects of the business. Could have done with better training in excel and other courses over the 10 weeks but in general I feel that the company invested quite a lot of time and energy into me.
Flexi Time
Subsidised Canteen
Subsidised/Company Gym
Working from home
I think it is quite likely that I will get offered a job with Tesco after the internship. As long as your managers and teams like you and you present well in the final completion meeting then I think future employment prospects are pretty good. I don't find out till after I finish the placement though.
The Culture
The social scene was average. Since Tesco is not based in central London there was not really a culture of after work drinks but there was a night out. People like to play netball or football on the pitches at work and there is a space to have dinner which makes it more sociable.
Welwyn is very cheap but it was expensive to get to work on the train every day. The canteen was subsidised so eating at work was very cheap. The nearest pub is also quite cheap. The cost of renting in Welwyn is fairly cheap and much cheaper that London but not much going on.
Not really any nightlife in Welwyn. However it is easy to get into central London so if you did want to organise a night out then it's easy to get to London. There are also offices you can work at in central London (Farringdon) you could work at one day a week and then go out after.
During my time at Tesco I organised a cake sale for charity, a mixed netball match and a pub quiz. I also joined the gym at work so there were quite a few opportunities to get involved with things other than work. I also did the race for life and attended many food sampling events.
Details
Retail
London
August 2018