Food Summer Intern Review

The working environment was always friendly and inclusive, with real support being given from each and every member of the team. The work they gave me to do was real and you could see the measurable difference that you had made to the company, something that was really very fulfilling.

I felt very valued by my colleagues. From the very start in meetings, if I had something to say or a point to make, they listened and took my opinions and ideas into account. If they weren't good ideas then they were respectful in helping me learn more and improve.

My manager was always very keen to help me gain a real breadth of knowledge about Tesco, rather than just about the category I was working in. They always encouraged me to ask questions about what I was experiencing and I never felt nervous or embarrassed to ask any question.

There were peaks and troughs, as with any job, but whenever there was a downtime in my project work, I would ask my colleagues if there was anything I could help with, and there always was. There was never a point when I was twiddling my thumbs purely because there's always so much work to be done.

Tesco assign you projects when you start the internship. These are yours to manage and you're given almost complete control. Help is always available when you need it but largely, you are left to your own devices. This was very good as you felt that you were actually adding value rather than doing typical 'Intern Work'.

There were a huge amount of transferable skills gained from this internship, from effective communication to project management and leadership. I think these skills will carry through for me, potentially not directly into my degree, but certainly into wider life and future employment. It also helped me gain a greater commercial awareness, something I think I was really lacking before.

The atmosphere in the office is one of the best things abut working for Tesco. Tesco has placed a lot of emphasis on flexible working and/or working from home. This allows for people to work as is most convenient for them leading to a real sense of contentment. The colleagues are all very supportive and will help out if you ever need it.

In general the set up was very good. Useful project seemed to be given to all the interns across the board. The only criticism that I have, is that not so many events were organised by Tesco that including the entire cohort of interns. More of these sort of events would have been appreciated, but overall it was still good.

I feel that the company invested quite heavily in me. There were always training sessions that I could book onto if I wanted to, and the individual time sent with me by my managers and colleagues alike was really appreciated. Whatever level the other colleagues were at, they were happy to sit down with me and offer guidance wherever they could.

After completing the internship, there is a chance of being offered the two year graduate scheme for the following year. The hope of potentially obtaining this is a really great thing to have and the progression from that point up through the levels is reasonable well telegraphed. It seems like it would be a very good place to work in the future.

Whilst there was a good community feel among the interns, we didn't end up socialising that much outside of work. There was nothing stopping us but in all honesty, the Tesco organised social events were few and far between. It would have been nice for more social events to have been organised. There were occasional drinks with the team which were great fun, but again they didn't happen very often.

I was living at home, which saved me a considerable amount of money on rent. Going out near London, however, isn't the cheapest of things. The pay for the internship is good though, so it means that it is possible to rent and go out on the money that Tesco pays.

In Welwyn, there is not a huge amount of nightlife. it is very easy to get to London by train, however, so there is scope to go out anywhere in London. This means that there is great nightlife, but you do have to travel a little bit to get there.

There were relatively few opportunities to get involved with activities outside of work, but when they happened, they were great. Team nights out are really great fun and the intern and graduate drinks was also a good laugh. This was one of the only criticisms of the internship that I think more social events could have been organised.