Summer Intern Review

I had never experienced an online internship before but we quickly got up-skilled so there were no technical difficulties. Doing this virtually made it easier to meet lots of different people who I may not have met otherwise and gave us interns an easy platform to communicate and share research when working in teams. I have enjoyed the variety in sessions and the flexibility and support within the programme. One downside is that it is harder to socialise compared to in-person but this is the same everywhere due to the current pandemic.

There are constant checkups and optional sessions to ask questions or just to socialise and have a break from all the work. Internship leaders are always engaging and asking if we need help or what they can do to improve our experience/accommodate for any difficulties we are experiencing. Splitting into smaller groups to perform tasks set and having someone we can always ask questions to gives us more personal connections which makes me feel more valued.

There is lots of guidance and support in this internship. Throughout the week, there are always optional "grab a cuppa" sessions where someone will be there to talk to and answer any questions you are having in an informal environment. We have had sessions to up-skill us technologically so that everyone is capable of doing all of the tasks set. There are also lots of support materials provided, incase we want to conduct any research and always have friendly managers to contact for help.

I have already acquired presentational skills and have conducted research for my presentations. The internship has taught me valuable skills of collaboration and resilience which will help me in all aspects of life. I have gained insight into all aspects of Tesco.

There is at least one session every day with a clear plan explained to all of us at the internship induction. Additional sessions are added every day depending on what the agenda is for that week and the availability or Tesco staff. It is a manageable workload with lots of time to rest and for us to explore other parts of Tesco with guidance available from the internship leaders.

The internship has a very friendly atmosphere with lots of different scenarios set up for difference environments of work. For example, meetings with all ~50 interns, interactive sessions with 10 interns, group projects with 4 interns and one on one sessions in some cases if requested. Everyone is very supportive and quick to respond in a friendly way. I never feel alone and always have someone to contact if I need help.

We have had many sessions to develop personal skills on topics like collaboration and resilience. There are also sessions on health and wellness that give us insight on how to improve our daily lives. There are also up-skilling sessions in technological aspects so we are ready for the virtual internship and resources from Tesco available for us to learn and develop outside of the internship plan.

Being online, it is a different atmosphere to what it would be like to work for Tesco. I feel like I don't have any experience in store as I originally applied for the store management programme. However, if wanting to work in more of an office role like finance, then the virtual internship gives a decent amount of understanding as people working in Tesco regularly come on to tell us about their career journeys and day to day life in Tesco.

I feel like being online hasn't hindered the company culture in terms of how colleagues interact with each other and their values and goals. However, we don't really gain any insight to the in-store aspects of company culture and mainly talk to people higher up within Tesco so I don't have a feel of what the majority of employees are like.

Speaking with some of the graduates who have recently joined Tesco, I feel like I have much more insight on what it is like when starting in Tesco rather than talking to some people who have been working there for many years. I feel like I have been exposed to all areas in Tesco and can decide if it is the right job for me.

Originally being a 10-week programme, the online internship got changed to a 6-week experience and I am still getting paid for 10 weeks worth of work like originally planned. I was shocked that Tesco offered me this and think that the pay for the experience is very good.

We have met many people from all parts of the firm and have had chance to ask them questions for live Q&A sessions. This has been very insightful in meeting high up employees within Tesco.

Being online, it is hard to interact with other interns like it would have been without the pandemic. However there are sessions dedicated for us to interact with each other in a social manner and feedback is taken on any new types of session that we want implemented to help us interact more socially. Interns have also took it upon themselves to create their own events.

There are no major activities that I can remember being told about apart from using their resources to learn about the firm and also how to improve our lives. There was mention of a few ideas at the start but no real plan to tell us what we can be involved in.

I think this internship has a very friendly atmosphere where all interns feel valued and can ask for support without any hesitation. There is lots to engage with in a well structured plan with a variety of sessions giving us things to do from socialising to meeting high up members of Tesco with Q&A sessions or interactive sessions, teaching us valuable skills.