This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
-
The Company
-
The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
This internship is great for a real life insight into retail with a real sense of responsibility in one of the UK's biggest supermarket chain. I enjoyed being able to get to know many different people in various different roles as well as having the autonomy over my own project over the ten weeks.
From the start I felt like a valued member of the team and was given a project which had a real impact on the business, showing that you are trusted by your colleagues. Everyone was really friendly and more than happy to help if you have issues, or was happy to catch up to tell you more about their role. This can vary from team to team, but seems to be everyone's experience.
My manager was usually around to answer any questions I had and gave me a lot of guidance at the start when I was first learning the new tools. Even if he was not around, there were also other team members or people on the graduate scheme that would support me.
There were times when I had a few deadlines and was really busy and felt a bit stressed, but I would say that this helped me learn how to work under pressure. Apart from these times, I would say I generally was a good level of busy and even if I didn't have much to do, I could meet someone to chat about their role or learn something new.
At the start of the internship, you're tasked with your own project that you are responsible for managing over the duration of the internship. The project has a real impact on the business and is something that needs doing. It is your prerogative to seek support on it when you need it and it is a great learning experience.
I found that the internship was excellent at developing myself personally as you are given a real insight into food and commercial at Tesco. You really develop your skills in Excel over the time, as this is the main tool, along with outlook, that you use. This was probably the biggest learning curve for me.
The Company
The office atmosphere is generally really friendly, I was in grocery and this was a really young team. They were fun, but also supportive and will chat to you if you feel you need a break. I found this really beneficial and this made me feel comfortable very quickly which I appreciated.
I had a really good team and they made sure they gave me a timeline and deadlines for my project, and they were really well organised. However the apprenticeship and graduate scheme, whilst good, sometimes lacked in a little organisation as I struggled to receive feedback from interview. This was the only issue with organisation and was only a small complaint.
The company are more than happy to invest their time into you as you are always welcome to organise catch ups with various different people in different roles. You are also able to sign up for courses such as courses in resilience, OneNote and Excel which is useful for personal development.
Flexi Time
Subsidised Canteen
Subsidised/Company Gym
Working from home
The graduate scheme at Tesco is usually the natural development moving on from the internship here, and it's possible to get a conditional offer for this off the back it. This is a really good scheme and is similar to the internship, and is a really excellent opportunity at the end of the 10 weeks.
The Culture
I think this is dependent on the cohort of interns in the intake, however we usually all organised to go for dinner or drinks around once a week. There is also an apprenticeship, intern and graduate society that organise a couple of socials over the ten weeks which means you get to know more people.
It is fairly expensive to live in the Welwyn/Hatfield area as it is close to London, so if you live out of London you often have to commute in to socialise. That said, there are a few pubs in Welwyn Garden City that we usually went to, however a lot of stuff happens in London.
There are a few pubs in Welwyn and there is a Wetherspoons in Hatfield, however again, the majority of nightlife is actually in London which is what we usually did. Hertfordshire as a whole isn't too lively as a place, as it is 20 minutes away on the train to London.
My team organised a Monday afternoon run which was a good way to network in your function, and lots of functions have sports teams as their are courts on campus. This is a good way to socialise with your team, and the apprenticeship and graduate society organise activities outside of work too.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
Retail
London
August 2019