Food Summer Internship Review

The internship was very enjoyable, although was not exactly what was advertised. It's a commercial internship, but you still do have contact with food. The responsibility you're given is huge considering that you're only an intern, which is enjoyable and challenging at times. Overall, it was a very good internship.

Everyone at Tesco is willing to provide you with help or assistance and no question is a silly question. The entire business is extremely inclusive and encourages cross functional engagement, which is positive. Overall, I feel very valued by my colleagues and you're not treated in a particular way even though you're an intern.

The support provided by management is excellent and each week at least, there are meeting put in to catch up with how you're progressing. You're given a buddy, who's currently on the graduate programme and they are able to assist with your development. This is very useful as they are settled and know the business well.

Each day was very different and varies. It varies between visiting suppliers (which could include over night travel), testing competitors products, market research, in office activities and admin. The start of the week is usually busier and towards the end of the week is quieter, due to supplier visits and being able to work from home.

The amount of responsibility given was large, considering that you're only an intern. This includes communicating with suppliers, visiting suppliers individually without your immediate team, attending supplier meetings and managing that relationship. You're given access to data sources and programmes that Tesco use and able to generate data/commercials from this on a regular basis.

I have developed a greater understanding of how the food industry works and therefore this will be applicable in my studies for my final year. The training I received for data programmes is only useful for after university work, so this will be useful once I have graduated from university.

The atmosphere in the office was excellent and everyone in my wider team was always willing to give me time or offer assistance should I needed it. We would regularly complete sporting activities as a team (rounders, netball, dance events), which was a great bonding experience. The engagement with other categories was always great too.

The organisation for the work placement was good and there was a clear structure from the main internship organisational team. Although, the organisation within your immediate team is very dependent on how much time they have to organise your time at Tesco. As my team was quite busy, I did have to take my organisation into my own hands at times.

The personal training and development at Tesco constantly provides endless amounts of opportunity.

The future employment opportunities are endless.

The other interns were up for socialising outside of work time, which made the internship more enjoyable.

I lived at home, so NA.

Nightlife is Welwyn isn't great, but it's close to London.

Lots of opportunities to join in outside of work with various teams.