Supply Chain Analyst Review

I enjoyed points of my internship. The project I was working on was very heavy in the first few weeks and much less busy towards the end. When I had lots of work, I was happy. When I was sitting doing nothing useful or being given repetitive jobs, I did not enjoy my day.

My team were absolutely wonderful and the entire atmosphere at Tesco is great. Hot desking means you sit with new people every day, which is useful for getting to know everyone. I found that emails sent to other departments got fewer replies. I wonder if this is because it was signed off from an intern and therefore not worth replying to.

I was given support and guidance by my supervisors all the time. Perhaps too much! My project required significant stakeholder management including those high up in the business. Every email to them had to be checked and altered slightly. At the time this felt very inefficient and slowed down the progress of the project significantly.

My project had a heavy workload in the first few weeks and a very light workload afterwards. I knew other supply chain interns were using SQL and wanted to pick up that skill too. I suggested to my manager that with my emptier schedule I could do this and help a project elsewhere.

The project was initially advertised as high responsibility but did not feel that way. As the project was quite high profile with many stakeholders, my line manager often wanted to take over/tell me what to do despite me being the 'Project Manager'. Towards the end of the project much more responsibility was given.

I think my understanding of SQL could be really useful in the future. It has been really useful to see the variety of methods used to engage and inform stakeholders at many different levels in the business. I feel like these skills will be more useful for post uni, not my masters.

The general atmosphere is great. We hot desk so sit next to many different people. There is a flexible working hour arrangement that allows you to start and leave early/late and even work from home. Many varieties of tea/coffee/squash are provided by a tap that produces both boiling and chilled water.

The overall internship had been very well organised. Name badges on arrival, laptops prepared and our line managers well informed about when we would start and what projects we should be working on. The induction days were useful for meeting all the other interns. Unfortunately, once we started on projects, we didn't really have much opportunity to see them again.

Other than man hours, there wasn't much invested in any training or development. We were actively encouraged to network within the business and take time out of our day to meet someone from a different department for coffee. I would have liked to have completed an excel course but they are booked out months in advance.

I would like to have Tesco as an option after university, however, probably not in the same department. I have learned that I don't enjoy repetition. It was also interesting to learn that other departments pay more for similar skills to the ones I have been using. Tesco is definitely good for anyone that could be in the city but favours a good work life balance.

There was a social group that would meet for drinks every week in Welwyn Garden City. The interns were encouraged to meet up with the graduates too. Any grad events were also opened up to the interns. Interns were split between WGC and the London office which made mass meeting up difficult.

I chose to rent a room in Welwyn Garden City. It was £450 a month which I felt was reasonable. The room was close enough that I could walk to work but I was lucky and got a lift share with a flatmate (£2 voucher for canteen everyday!). I barely socialised in WGC - instead I visited friends at the weekend.

Absolutely non existent! But London is only a short train journey away (30 mins) and not expensive in the evening (around £9 with a 16-25). I would often head into London after work to meet up with a friend for dinner.

There were a few. I was invited to a crazy golf evening, a ping pong evening and a number of pub events.