Finance Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship at Tesco. It was great to get an insight of when into the financial backgrounds of Tesco. The internship team did a great job of making me and my fellow interns get most of the internship although it was virtual. The only reason why I haven't given this internship a 10/10 is simply because doing the internship virtually made it just a bit tougher to get a close-knit bond with my fellow interns but as I said, the internship team looking after us did an amazing job. I would easily do this internship again if they were in charge of it once again.

As an intern coming in, especially in finance, you wonder if your words will be taken for any value or if you'll be given remedial tasks that will play no part in aiding your development in your career. I can full-heartedly say Tesco 100% take into consideration your opinion and you are as much a valued member of the team as someone that has been there for years before you. I was able to do work that I felt was impactful. My colleagues have shown me what the ideal working environment should be like.

Once again, you wonder if management or your supervisors will be bothered by you asking many questions, or you are making mistakes that will take time out of their day to explain to you what to improve upon. However, at Tesco, the environment is so welcoming and supportive that the feedback that you get makes you understand where you've gone wrong without feeling like a failure. In the short period that I was an intern at Tesco I have been on such a steep learning curve that I feel prepared for the world of work.

I had a project to deal with during the day, so it was a case of me being wise with my time and making sure that I was going to get it done in a set period of time. When I was done with the project I wasn't overloaded with unnecessary work that wouldn't help me to grow, instead I was given work that would be tailored to helping me get the most of my internship and as such I was able to enjoy my internship and learn a great deal at the same time.

I was given a reasonable amount of responsibility during my internship. I was responsible for some spreadsheets that I had to amend and update as well being given some research tasks for anyone that required it - specifically tailored to finance and my role of course-. I was then given the responsibility of doing a couple of presentations and making sure that certain pieces of data were accurate. All in all, I was given a degree of responsibility that I wasn't expecting to receive but that aided my growth even more and gave me a sense of what doing the role full time would feel like.

I spent every day using excel and because of this I have become extremely comfortable using excel to the point where I look forward to work assigned to me on excel. This will help me very much going into my final year of university. Additionally, having done some research-based tasks and having to present a couple of times will aid me in replicating the skills for my degree. It was great for me to be able to brush on these skills once again just before I head back to university

I wasn’t in the office as a result of the Covid-19 virus. Instead everything was done virtually. Having done the internship virtually from the get-go, this was my norm as opposed to having to transition from the office to a virtual based working environment. I cannot emphasise enough how lovely and welcoming everyone at Tesco is. It’s for show, they are genuinely nice people who want to help you grow and achieve the goals that you set before you start your internship or during your internship. A truly great atmosphere, all things considered.

As I’ve mentioned, I enjoyed the overall working environment although it was done completely virtually. It was accommodated by the intern team being super creative in our morning meetings and check ins! They really made you forget at times that you are doing the internship virtually, and in addition to this the finance team I was with were so accommodating that it was literally the perfect working environment for me to get a complete scope of Tesco and be absorb everything that the internship had intended for me to achieve.

Prior to starting the internship, I had a call with a manager who had asked me what it was that I wanted to achieve during my internship and what I aspired to do in the long run. Based on my answers he put me in a team that was tailored to me gaining and sharpening the skills that I would to be able to use in my career going forward. In addition to this, I was given tasks that were worthwhile to my development as opposed to tasks that people just didn’t want to do. It was a great experience overall and I believe I have evolved a great deal from the start of the internship until the end.

I can't say for certain, but it seemed I had done a good enough job to point where they were happy with the impact that I made and would welcome me back.

Doing it virtually made this very tough indeed, although the internship team did a great job in providing the support we required for us to get a good social experience among interns.

I was working virtually.