Buying and Merchandising Review

by Tesco plc

This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.

Rating

3.8/5
  • The Role
    4.3
  • The Company
    4.1
  • The Culture
    2.6

    The Role

  • 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
  • I didn't realise how much I could learn in such a short period of time. Not only have I learnt so much about the Buying and Merchandising role, but I've gained self-confidence, met some incredible friends for life and also gained more commercial awareness towards the retailing industry. I really see myself working at Tesco now in the future.

    5/5

  • 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
  • My team really took me under their wing and I genuinely felt like I was a part of the team rather than just an intern. Initially, it was quite daunting as I was the only intern on the entire category department, but the team quickly made me feel at home. I've been invited to meetings, events and even gone to social events outside working hours with my team. As well as this, the rest of the interns are incredibly welcoming an just lovely individuals.

    5/5

  • 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
  • I have been left to work independently for the majority of the time, however, this is mainly because the project I was given was to find out information on a programme that my manager and the rest of the team were unfamiliar with. I didn't really have any 1:1s with my manager as a lot of my team were super busy. However, I did enjoy the independent work and did equally feel supported by the rest of the team.

    4/5

  • 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
  • In the first few weeks I didn't really have much work to do as I was waiting on others to get back to me and people were finding the time to train me on the different systems and programmes. After this though I had a good amount of work to do which kept me busy during the day.

    4/5

  • 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
  • The programme I used mainly for my project, hadn't been used before by my team, so in terms of finding out information and analysing data across the whole department, then I was 100% responsible for that. I had to make sure therefore that all the data was accurate, and can be explained to explore what we could do for the future.

    5/5

  • 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
  • This internship will give me such a headstart towards applying for Graduate Schemes, and will hopefully get me onto the Grad Scheme at Tesco. My newly developed team working skills and improved self-confidence will really contribute to assignments and group projects at university as well as improving my performance at presenting. Interning has really improved my work ethic and productivity levels. I would 100% recommend interning at Tesco.

    5/5

    The Company

  • 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
  • There definitely have been fun moments in the office and it has been mostly relaxed. I think the GM department is probably slightly stricter compared to Food and team cultures across the business are definitely different. I think I've had a good balance of fun experiences, whilst also having time to focus on my work and be more serious. My manager has been relaxed about me setting up meetings, organising charity events during work hours and working outside of the office as well.

    4/5

  • 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
  • I think organising the masterclasses and events were done brilliantly and they were definitely easy to sign up to. It's probably inevitable that in the first few weeks a lot of the time is spent waiting around for other people to reply or get you trained, or even to activate your account and get a laptop. I think if this process at the beginning was made slightly easier, I would have had more time to work on my project. Other than that, the induction and completion meetings were organised amazingly and professionally.

    4/5

  • 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
  • I was provided with free online training, training on different softwares, such as Dunnhumby and was even invited to the Depot in Middlesbrough to see how products are picked and sent to store. I also learnt a lot on the first day of the store experience and was trained on departments that I can now work in when I head back to work in store.

    5/5

  • 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
  • Flexi Time

    Subsidised Canteen

    National Travel

    Company Parties/Events

    5/5

  • 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
  • I already work at Tesco so I already knew that I wanted to go further and work in Head Office. The fact that I was able to do that alone was amazing and I'm able to go back and work in store when I finish my internship. The culture and people at Tesco really make it an inviting place to work and one which is super chill yet productive at the same time, makes working there every day so special. I'd love to get on their Grad Scheme.

    4/5

    The Culture

  • 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
  • I've been out to social events with my team and the interns all organised to go out for drinks in London after work. We were all definitely a very sociable bunch and it made working at Tesco even more enjoyable. One event was also organised by the Graduate team, so we were able to network with Graduates too.

    4/5

  • 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
  • I commuted from home everyday, but my judgement was that there wasn't much of a social scene in the area we worked in. However, lots of interns lived in London, and it wasn't too far at all to get to on the train. Travelling by train to Welwyn every day was reasonably cheap as well and we were paid really good.

    3/5

  • 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
  • Not really a nightlife in Welwyn itself, but London was a closer area that we would all go to, and it wasn't too far for any of the interns or my other colleagues. I wouldn't say the nightlife in Welwyn was our main priority anyways, but London is certainly a convenient option.

    1/5

  • 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
  • Social events were mainly held within teams or organised by the Apprenticeship and Graduate team. We also organised events ourselves as interns and one of the groups organised a pub quiz for a charity event which was outside working hours. There are definitely opportunities to network with others outside of Tesco.

    4/5

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Details

Internship (1 Month+)

Business Management, Logistics and Operations, Marketing, Purchasing and Supply, Retail

South East

August 2018


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