Summer Technology Intern Review

I very much enjoyed my placement with Tesco. It challenged me while giving the support I needed to really earn invaluable experience which I was able to apply to my final year of university. The hot desking also meant that I got to get to know the team very quickly!

The team was brilliant. The hot desking meant that I was forced to interact with people of different teams from the get go. There was a ping pong table and tabel football so you could play with colleagues at lunch and on breaks. This meant that I learnt people's names quickly and felt like I could go to people for support when I needed.

My manager and supervisors were very supportive. They checked to make sure I was happy with how things were going regularly. I had a meeting at the beginning of my internship to talk about how I wanted it to go and we had a catch up at the end of the internship to talk about how it went, what could've been better and how i had done . I felt supported throughout.

I would say that I was generally quite busy. I was given responsibility from the get go and was able to find support for work that I wasn't sure of. The times where I was quieter I knew who to go to in order to get more work. I think the balance was just right.

I was given substantial responsibility from the first day. I had a sit down with my supervisor to discuss the types of tasks I would be responsible for and the type of projects I could get involved in. Any times I felt out of my depth (as I was being stretched) I would get the support I needed.

I was very happy with how much my placement helped me going forward. Not only was there invaluable experience to draw upon in interviews, but I found I was able to visualise what I was learning in my modules by my experiences at Tesco. I also received support for my dissertation.

The atmosphere of the office was brilliant. There was always an event or charity day coming up to get involved with and everybody did. People were raising money for things outside of work and everybody donated. People would go to the canteen together and meet up after work. You could tell everybody enjoyed working together. The dress code was smart casual and more casual on a Friday which was a good start to the weekend.

I think the placement was very well organised. As mentioned, I had a sit down with my supervisor at the beginning and end of the placement and had regular catch ups throughout. I was given a buddy throughout my placement who helped me with things like getting to know people, eating lunch with and if I needed help with any simple tasks.

The graduate scheme here is brilliant as you get to see different areas of the business and work in different teams getting to know everyone. The pay is very competitive and it comes with the benefits listed like subsidised gym, flexi time and work from home. I have secured a different graduate scheme with the help of my internship but I would highly recommend Tesco.

I think the social scene is dictated by the people on your intake but mine were friendly and sociable. There was a few after work drinks organised with people at work as well as times where just the people on internships/grad schemes would meet up of a weekend and do something.

The general area is quite expensive due to how close it is to London. Rent is therefore quite expensive and you have to factor in socialising. Spending money outside of work seeing friends is obviously as expensive as you make it but there are plenty of places to go and things to do.