Customer Supply Chain Executive - Luxury Review

I've really enjoyed the year and have learnt a lot. Some of the work was fairly repetitive but I also had lots of ad hoc work that kept things interesting. Everyone is really friendly and the social scene is good. I've had a good amount of responsibility and have had lots of opportunities to learn new skills and improve the ones I have.

No real training courses or anything but we had a one week handover with the previous intern, which was just about enough time to learn the basics. My manager was there to answer any questions as I had them but a lot of it was learning as you go along.

Varies on a day to day basis. With my weekly and monthly tasks alone, I would have too much time on my hands but with all the ad hoc requests and things going wrong, some days are very frantic. All in all quite good. Rarely had to stay late (past about 17.30).

I was surprised by the amount of responsibility I was given, right from the start. As the only person doing the exact job that I do, if I went on holiday, I would need to find people to cover my work. Some tasks would not get done if I didn't do them so I always have to check that tasks are being done before deadlines.

Excel skills greatly improved.

The atmosphere was very friendly. Everyone was always willing to help. We celebrated everyone's birthdays with cake/treats in the office and went for a weekly team lunch in the canteen as well as the occasional trip to the pub after work. A few people on the team were a bit older but with 3 interns on the team, we had a good time together. Good balance of friendly environment and knuckling down to work when need be.

We didn't find out until quite late where we would be placed (London, Nottingham or Manchester), which made it quite hard to find accommodation in time. Apart from that, everything was fine. Our HR representative for all the interns was quick to answer any questions and was very clear about our deadlines for mid year reviews etc.

I chose not to apply for the grad scheme. The chances of getting a place seem pretty slim. Of 12 supply chain interns, only up to 4 get offered a place on the grad scheme. There are also a lot of stages that you need to go through to be considered, including a presentation and several interviews, plus a recommendation from the head of the division you're in. Overall didn't seem worth applying to me. I would rather explore other options and try something new. If you really want it you should be ok though.

In the first week, we elected an intern committee, who were responsible for organizing socials throughout the year, I lived too far away to attend most of the nightlife socials but there is usually one every Thursday with drinks deals etc. We did have an interns Christmas meal and a trip to a trampoline park, which were both very fun. You can get involved with as much or as little as you like.

Cost of living in London is obviously very expensive, especially on a salary of about £1200 a month. After living in London for one month, I realized that I wasn't going to be saving any money and moved back in with my parents in Kent (and still had to pay £400 a month for the train). The London interns do get a higher salary to reflect the higher living costs but rent in London is still extortionate.