Supply Chain and Sourcing Intern Review

I found my internship a challenge at times but once a difficult task, project or presentation was accomplished successfully, this benefited my self esteem enabling effective personal development in understanding the corporate environment at Eaton. I enjoyed the charity, wellness and social opportunities working with the local community and playing football on Monday nights with work colleagues from the plant. The applicants expectation should be high because the internship requires an enthusiastic work ethic to match the demands of Eaton's philosophy of performing under pressure and ensuring consistent quality for loyal customers. If I had the opportunity to do the internship again, I definitely would because the skills and experience are going to be vital in preparing me for my final year at University and has provided me an insight of the industry which will benefit me when choosing my career path once I have completed my degree.

The roles at Eaton are varied due to the number of departments within the business but these can be interlinked depending on the daily tasks and projects performed meaning this provides opportunities to understand other areas of the business. In terms of daily tasks and projects, I had support from all 7 members of the team and could contact my manager if I needed help. The Eaton E-Star programme provides recognition and appreciation for hard work whereby adding value to the company during the internship is rewarded. To have the opportunity to raise money for charities through bake sales, volunteering and other activities meant I was able to interact with all colleagues within the business from different backgrounds and job roles. Being part of the wellness committee also meant that I felt included within out of office social activities particularly Monday night football but also there were opportunities to create events that could benefit the local community and employees.

Depending on the job role at Eaton will affect the level of support from the line manager. In most cases, my manager was onsite which meant I could contact him face to face if I needed support on a project or help on a daily task he wanted me to perform. However, if I could not contact my manager or he was offsite, I had the support from 7 other members within the team as well as other employees within the office. During my training period, I was given standard work procedures and guidance from the previous intern within my role which helped me settle in and learn Eaton's culture and philosophy in the working environment. I also had the opportunity to do training courses which helped my personal development at Eaton which will benefit my career in the future.

At times, I felt I was little too busy during my role and this affected my time management during the first months at Eaton. This was because I hadn't gained experience in the industry prior to role which is a quality very difficult to acquire on an application for an internship whilst studying at University. Once I gained further experience understanding the processes relating to the role and the industry, this benefitted my work performance. It is important to have an open mind because the industry is reactive to the demands of the customer and so daily tasks are frequent but can vary depending on the management decisions and customer expectations. Being busy could reflect badly on time management and prioritisation of daily tasks but Eaton provide training courses which tailor individual skills to become more efficient and productive in dealing with these tasks in a pressurised workplace environment. Applicants should not expect to be making tea and coffee for employees every day; there are multiple opportunities in each department to ensure a potential positive impact on the business.

I was given the responsibility to run reports for managers from several departments as well as complete 2 projects. Depending the on the department, the internship specification should include between 2-5 projects as well daily tasks as part of standard work. Daily tasks can vary between emailing suppliers or customers to attending or running reports in meetings. The expectation of the business is that each employee should be self sufficient and independent in completing daily tasks and projects after the initial settling in and training period. However, some responsibilities will require support from other employees which will enable effective networking with a variety of departments since Eaton is global corporation.

There were 5 training courses between August and December tailored to improving interpersonal skills, personal development and individual performance during on the job activities and projects. These were Microsoft Excel, Communication and Assertiveness, Time Management, Project Management and Presentation Skills. This will be useful during the last year of my degree because several of my modules involve graded presentations or are team related assessments. It is underappreciated how important IT skills are in the private sector and so the Microsoft Excel training was valuable because this will improve my analytical skills and my attention to detail.

The atmosphere in the office can vary depending on how many employees are on site. In majority of cases, the environment has a buzz of productivity in all departments with the opportunity to interact and contact key people that are needed to perform and complete daily tasks. Employees are self sufficient in performing daily tasks which provides a relaxed expectation on the types of work being completed. However, Eaton's lean performance measures help ensure consistent employee performance but support is always available to complete daily tasks as Eaton employees are friendly and inclusive. There are always opportunities to meet new people because external employees who don't work at the site can use the hot desks available in the office which provides network opportunities.

The internship programme has been organised effectively through key milestone performance measurements. During each quarter, a performance review is arranged with the line manager to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of task completion and the quality of work delivered. If performance is lower than Eaton's expectation, training courses are available through Eaton University on internal sites and from the 5 training event days at external offsite locations. The induction day involves 33 interns attending an event which provide key information about Eaton's philosophy but also allows interns to become formally and informally introduced to one another and the business. Throughout the internship, support is provided by the line managers and employees within teams across the department which helps personal development and understanding of the corporate environment and the culture at Eaton.

The Microsoft Excel training enabled me to improve my development in understanding the reports that I ran during morning production meetings. This meant I had more knowledge to fix formulas, macros and implement changes to the report such as conditional formatting and V-Lookups. The Communication and Assertiveness training helped analyse how to speak to different employees in relation to the type of person they were or the department that they worked in. The training helped prioritise my workload more efficiently and helped me deliver tasks with improved quality and assurance. The Time Management course helped me become more productive when adhering to standard work practice in completing daily tasks and upheld my professionalism to perform to the best of my ability. The Project Management course helped me understand the key elements to cost, time and quality and improved my interpersonal skills whilst working with a team. Finally, the Presentation Skills training course was informative and useful because this helped me perform presentations in a composed but enthusiastic style.

Eaton fully believes in developing young people into future leaders of the business. There were 33 interns that did roles in 7 different plant locations across the UK, The Internship programme provides an insight into the company's culture and philosophy which means that there are opportunities to progress through the 2 year graduate programme after the internship and if successful during the graduate programme into a full time role at Eaton if a vacancy is available.

During the training event days there were opportunities to socialise with other interns from different plants. During the induction event, interns attended an evening 3 course meal paid for by the company and had the opportunity to enjoy socialising in town centres with fellow interns such as Doncaster, Loughborough, Newport, Leamington and Gloucester / Cheltenham. Many interns attended Monday night football as well as other social activities which involved wellness and charity events.

I lived in a house with other interns whereby there were 7 of us with a rent cost of £335. The house was 5 minutes walk from Newport town centre and 10 minutes walk from bars and nightclubs. Friar's walk provided on the high street restaurant and bars such as Prezzo, TGI Friday's, Nando's, Zizi's and Las Iguanas. Cardiff was a 15 minute train journey from Newport train station which also provided another city centre destination. On weekends, the student village in Newport provided an opportunity to socialise with University of South Wales students which enabled an ideal work life balance.

Friar's walk provided on the high street restaurant and bars such as Prezzo, TGI Friday's, Nando's, Zizi's and Las Iguanas. The atmosphere is electric in Newport because there are over 10 pubs and bars as well as 3 nightclubs called Warehouse 54, Blind Tiger and Courtyard. Cardiff was a 15 minute train journey from Newport train station which also provided another city centre destination and this provided more opportunities to explore more University orientated bars and nightclubs with students from Cardiff, USW and Cardiff Met. Abergavenny is another town which has nightclubs and pubs.

I did a 50 mile bike ride from Brecon to Cardiff as part of raising charity for St David's Hospice. In total, we raised £1300 from the event. I did volunteering at the local St David's Hospice shop during the Christmas period, I also attended Monday night football and during last summer Tuesday night football which helped me exert energy positively into sporting activities. This then helped me socialise and get to know other interns and other employees at Eaton. Don't be afraid to get involved; work hard, play hard!