Intern Review

Very much - throughout the internship I was given a range of projects to work on, whereby I made tangible contributions and learnt both soft and technical skills. Everyone I worked with was always very approachable and friendly, willing to meet for 1-2-1s which made it an enjoyable environment to work in.

I was asked by colleagues to help on projects they were working on, therefore I felt valued. I often went to lunch with them too which made me feel part of the team. Occasionally I felt a bit separate but this is inevitable given the short term nature of my placement, and limited understanding of the business and systems.

I had regular 1-2-1 catch ups with both my line manager and work level 3 manager, to check in on how I was getting on and plan what I wanted to do in the upcoming weeks. There were occasions when my line manager wasn't around when I needed guidance due to being out of office, but this did teach me to be proactive and I could still ask my colleagues.

It varied from week to week but I very rarely had more than half an hour at a time without being occupied. I had multiple projects to work on simultaneously which kept me busy throughout the internship. I only had one quieter week out of the whole 9 week internship.

I was given the responsibility to complete various tasks as part of the projects I was working on. I was often organising meetings and scheduling my day. I had my own independent work to do within a team, although sometimes I had to rely on the skills of other colleagues to complete a task.

I gained confidence in being able to collaborate with people, and work efficiently as a team. I also extended my analysis skills beyond literature (what I study at uni) to analytics and data. I improved my organisational skills by having to be on time to meetings and ensure I completed my projects by the deadline. I also greatly developed my presentating skills through my completion meeting at the end of my internship which will aid me for later professional life.

Everyone was busy but it was a very relaxed atmosphere - although people were busy there was always a general chat, and you could approach colleagues at their desks. Hot desking makes it less formal, and the various 'breakout zones' between desks means meetings don't have to be in a proper conference room but are more of a chat. The dress wasn't as formal as I thought it would be either, which makes the office feel more relaxed.

My line manager made sure I had loads of interesting work to do, but there is no real structure for the marketing internship. However this did work to my advantage to an extent as I could have a say in how I wanted to spend my time. I think it would have been nice to spend more time with the other marketing interns working on a project together and work towards a collective goal.

There were always courses running in personal development while were available to sign up to. There were also some sessions run for the interns specifically such as team building and presentation skills. However there wasn't any direct investment by Tesco in personal training and development, although I developed these skills anyway.

Quite appealing, given the opportunity through the graduate programme to rotate between the different functions within marketing, which would provide me with a good basis of understanding marketing within retail. The location is the only less appealing prospect given the need to commute from London. However it seems like a company that encourages your development and promotion.

Yes there were both society-organised social events as well as self-organised things, such as trips to the pub and lunches. However I think the company could have done more to allow the interns to contact each other prior to the internship to organise living arrangements and optimise socialising. I think there could have been more social lunches for interns.

I didn't really socialise in the area I worked in because I rented in London during the internship. However it was fairly reasonable to buy lunch and go to the pub for drinks. When working in London socialising was obviously more costly, for both lunch and nighttime. Living in either London or Welwyn isn't cheap

There wasn't much going on in the area I worked as far as I was aware, which is why I chose to rent in London instead over the course of the internship. There was a pub nearby which was ideal for after work drinks and all that was needed really.

Part of the internship was the charity challenge, which involved organising events to raise money within a team with other interns. There were also sports activities at lunch time such as football, netball etc. However I think there could be more opportunities, such as visits to suppliers or agencies, or more social events with colleagues.