Summer Intern Review

I am really enjoying my virtual internship. I am amazed at how well Tesco has adapted to the current climate. The project is interesting and stimulating, and we have had the chance to meet so many senior members of the team, all of which are happy to help and answer any questions that we have. The internship has structure, and flexibility, so that each day is different whilst also giving you space to work on your project in your own time.

I feel very valued during my time at Tesco. It is of course a lot harder to stand out when there are so many people, and all of you are on a teams call. Despite this, the internship leaders have done a great job of trying to include everyone, and break us into smaller groups so that we can be ourselves and meet one another better. They are also around all the time if we want to talk, so I feel super valued.

We have received so much guidance and support throughout the virtual internship. We started with a lot of training, on how to be resilient, how to look after yourself, health and wellness, the list goes on. They were so supportive and obviously really care about their staff and interns. Anyone that you message in Tesco will make an effort to get back to you quickly, and is more than happy to help and answer any questions when they can.

I think that the skills I have learned so far at Tesco I will take with me to assist my degree studies and beyond. We have been taught to work as a team, and individually, where and how to research efficiently, to be creative, how to be resilient, and how to look after yourself in the workplace - all of which are skills that will stay with me forever. I am so pleased and am excited to see where they come in handy during my final year at uni.

It was really well structured. They were very clear with us from the start what the layout and internship would look like, taking the time to go through the plan for the six weeks. Some days we didn't have anything planned which made the day feel quite long without meetings to break it up, however this time was valued so that we could work on our project. Good structure though, and clear plan with obvious end goals.

It is always going to be a lot harder when the internship is virtual, than if it was in person. The atmosphere when I went for my test day back at the start of the year was amazing, Tesco have such a cool atmosphere in their head office and everyone just looks so happy and pleased to be there! The internship has been really good though, and the team have done everything they possibly can to make it a great atmosphere. Everyone has been really welcoming, and excited to talk to us which is great. We have had time to meet other interns outside of work (such as virtual painting groups or coffee roulette).

I can't believe that we are only with Tesco for 6 weeks and they have made extensive effort to train us, help and support us. We have access to classes which teach us about careers and personal development. We have had team meetings, heath and wellness classes, team work training through a virtual escape room, resilience classes, and more. I feel like Tesco really care about their interns, because they have invested in us 100%.

This would always be tricky when the internship is virtual, although we have spoken to vast amounts of Tesco colleagues who have told us about what they do, and what their average days look like. It is nice that the people we are working with and talking to, are working from home as well, so like us their days are very desk based and are looking a lot different to how their normal full time role did back in January!

They have given us so much insight into the company's culture. Tesco have made so much effort to ensure that we speak to each part of the business, and get a feel for their culture. They have clearly gone through their values and taught us about what life as a Tesco employee might look like. I definitely feel like I understand what the company's culture looks like, and from what I have seen it looks really good.

This has probably been the best part of the virtual internship. Tesco have made sure that we have meetings with so many different parts of the business, all of which take the time to tell us what they do and how they do it. Tesco also looks like such a great company, a company which I would be honoured to work for, so it has helped affirm by suspicion that Tesco might be for me once I finish university next year!

I was very generously paid by Tesco. I was initially supposed to be working in a Tesco store for 10 weeks, which would probably be made up of many hours of hard work. Once the pandemic hit, and they decided not to cancel the internship, and instead just cut it short to 6 weeks, and make it virtual, I was delighted. The pay on top of that is just an absolute bonus, and to still pay us for the full 10 weeks - amazing, couldn't be happier.

We have had meetings with people from all across the business, most days throughout the internship. Everyone from human resources, to the head of refrigeration and engineering, graduates and managers, distribution and property, community teams and product teams. I really can't tell you how many people we have met - far more than we would have done if the initial internship had gone ahead (working in store). Anyone that we would like to talk to we just need to ask.

We have had lots of opportunities to meet fellow interns, coffee roulette meetings, virtual art groups and just social catch ups. It is always tricky when its virtual, but they have helped to break the boundaries which initially can be quite awkward. We had a virtual escape room one day which was such a fun way to get to know your colleagues and fellow interns. It is of course a shame that we can't all meet in person, hence why its not 10 stars, but Tesco have done really well to do what they can.

Some yes, I know that there is a gym in their head office which is really cool - they make sure that there is a really good health and wellness programme. Other than that, I don't know of any activities employees can do outside of work.

100% I would recommend this virtual internship to a friend! It has been so much fun, so interesting and informative, stimulating and exciting. I can't wait to see what the next few weeks bring, and how our final project will come out. I feel valued and appreciated. The pay is amazing, the people are amazing and the interns are all so nice. I feel like I have really got to know Tesco, so if you are considering going into Retail then this is a great way to get a taste for it.