Supply Chain Intern Review

I had a bit of a slow start in my placement and sometimes were very busy whilst others were slow. However my team made it enjoyable as they were a very sociable group of people that were always willing to listen and help me, even if they were overloaded with work. I enjoy the fact that I learnt so much from my time there and have taken away skills that I am now using in third year and will use in my future career

I felt that over 90% of the colleagues I came into contact with during my placement were respectful and valued my contribution, looking at me in the same level as themselves and not as beneath them. It was very fulfilling to get positive feedback from them on my accomplishments which showed that they felt I was doing a good job but also meant I was keeping up to what was expected of me

My manager and I were very close and he would sit with me once a week to talk through my work for the week, discuss any problems I have, and generally check how I feel about the tasks I am doing and people I am dealing with. This was vital as I was dealing with a lot of external suppliers and sometimes it was necessary to escalate matter to my manager for a quicker resolve. Very helpful feedback and a coaching style which complimented my personality and helped me develop

I would score a 9 starts for about 4 months as I was handed a huge project that required a lot of attention from me and really challenged my knowledge of manufacturing and supply chain. However a lot of the time I didn't have much to do, which is understandable as an intern role isn't a role in itself and I was there to learn and support the team. It was a lot of ups and downs but its about asking for work from everyone even different departments when things are going slow to broaden your experience.

I was handed the priority project of the company at the time and with supervision, was able to manage the team, run meetings, organise documentation, chase up on problems, look for ways to improve, and escalate issues to my manager. I had to run most decisions by my manager at first but after a while I was trusted to make decisions on my own and showed I could do this without problems

Already in my course at university I feel more organised and able to prioritise my work. I have a greater understanding of business and what I want/don't want as a future career. For example I found routine work quite dull but when mixed with varied and fast paced projects this was something I didn't mind doing. Therefore I know now that a purely routine role is not for me, and i know that I want a role involving team work - the bigger the team the better, and feel more prepared for my future career. I have a ground to stand on when i graduate so it won't all seem so daunting

With the factory shutting down a lot of people were being made redundant so the atmosphere wasn't always fun but most of the time we had the radio on and someone would be caught singing along to songs and we always had chats throughout the day about personal and work life.

The internship was very well organised with lots of training days provided that were outlined at the start of the placement and helped improve my excel skills, presentation skills, and project management. It was also well structured with management feedback reports and HR feedback which at the end helped us toward our end of year milestone.

I got a lot of training we had communication training days, project management, presentation skills, excel, finance, and so on which was more than any of my friends in other placements received. On the job training however I got a chance to use microsoft project and although I wasn't trained on it, having it on my laptop gave me the chance to get to grips with the basics. I learned a lot of technical six sigma, lean, and improvement tactics which I may use in future that were difficult to get my head around but my manager found creative ways of explaining everything to me

It depends, I know my previous role is no longer available at the site I was placed on but I would be interested in looking at roles in other sites in the UK and finding out what they could offer

All the interns got along very well and went out for drinks and meals after work occasionally but we spent every lunchtime together and it was a chance to catch up and see how everyone was doing, how work was going - which also provided the opportunity to get involved and help them out if they needed support

Living in Loughborough was very cheap which allowed me to save up a lot of my earnings so I can live through 3rd year without needing to worry about finances. Going out for drinks was cheap as well and there were varying restaurants in the area but mostly we would meet at pubs nearby, it also isn't far from Nottingham or Leicester where there is a lot more to do and also not too expensive

Nightlife was ok but it depended on student nights and the group would usually prefer Nottingham for a night out as there was a lot more variety and choice as well as a great night guaranteed

Being near the university means there were opportunities to get involved with any sports going on there - i enjoyed playing badminton with work colleagues, and us interns would also have outings were we would explore around Loughborough, go jogging, spin class etc to get a break from work . Im sure everywhere you go there is something to do and get involved in but the business also had work outings that marketing organised to visit places such as Chesire or Oxford with colleagues and go shopping/exploring