Quality Assurance Intern Review

I really enjoyed my work placement with Nestle. I was in the quality assurance team which require a lot of attention to detail but in the end I found that I became really good at the work I was doing and had formed great relationships with the rest of my team and division.

I felt strongly valued by the rest of my team; there was one other intern working with me on my projects who was really friendly and helped me when I found some of the quantitative research parts a little trickier. I did not spend as much time with the older and more senior members but they were still friendly when I did.

My supervisors and line manager gave me quite a lot of support and guidance throughout my internship with nestle. There was an e-mail I could use to contact them if anything ever was troubling me and I felt they were very approachable. I was also given very clear instructions with all of my tasks.

I was really busy during my internship with Nestle but I also made sure I made time to understand fully what I was doing and how it fitted into the wider business model. If I was ever struggling for work I could always ask someone to offer me a hand and the same goes if I was ever at a loose end.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement, often involving myself in the daily activity of the senior management where I could. I was asked to give a presentation in front of the senior members of my division and spent time shadowing my line manager. I made sure I was proactive in my work.

The skills I gained from my internship with Nestle were really useful and I will definitely be able to transfer them into future work and employment. I learnt a lot of technical skill things, relating to processing data and audit. I also learnt the more vocational side of business which is really helpful with my career aspirations.

The general atmosphere in the office was really positive and I got on really well with the rest of my team and even other teams when I got the chance to spend time with them on a project or over lunch. Everyone was really friendly and approachable and I felt really welcome.

The work placement was well set up; I had a buddy mentoring system which was helpful as I could go to them if I had any questions about my work but didn't feel comfortable speaking to management about it. I always had work to do and the projects I completed were well structured.

I felt like Nestle invested a lot into the personal training and development of their interns, and I was no exception. In the first few weeks, I spent time with my line manager and other members of staff who explained to me the workings of quality assurance and showed me how to use from of the computer tools which I later found very valuable.

The prospects of future employment with Nestle are really strong; I hope to get a job with them in some division - hopefully quality assurance - when I graduate. There are lots of jobs, spread across the country and the world so there is a lot of opportunity and a lot of prospect for promotion too.

There was a good social scene among the fellow placement students but the office location was a little bit out of the way so we often had to get public transport after work if we wanted to go out. The other students working with me on the internship were great fun and really friendly though so we always had a good time.

The cost of living in the wider area of the Nestle offices can really range; we were based about a 40 minute drive from central London which was really expensive but further south, towards Gatwick, the cost of living and socialising was far more affordable and I found it easy to manage on the salary I was on if I budgeted.

The nightlife in the area I worked was not that great given that it was a little bit further away from the hub of social activity, London. I still found ways to have fun and there were lots of social activities that you could take part in that did not need to involve going clubbing.

There were many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work ranging from extra responsibility on delivering a project to a staff cinema night that took place for charity every Wednesday night. You did have to keep an eye out for the activities going on but there were there for any one who wanted to go.