Commercial Intern Review

A lot! It was so much more enjoyable and engaging than I ever thought three weeks of zoom calls would be, and there was so many interactive activities and challenges included in the presentations.

They always made us feel welcome and like our opinions were valid and valued, making us feel like we'd become a real part of the team. Often we'd be asked what we thought about new products, or when we pitched our own ideas they'd ask us really interesting questions and take lots of notes which made us really feel like they were listening to us and though what we had to say was useful and important.

So much support and guidance! I personally ended up having two mentors and two buddies who were always available on emails/whatsapp and made time for me to have meetings with them several times. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] who ran the internship were also always on hand to answer questions. In general everyone I spoke to was always willing to offer advice and guidance no matter what the question.

I've learnt so much over the last three weeks and really improved a variety of skills, from my confidence presenting which in my opinion is even more daunting over zoom than in person because its so foreign, to skills researching and analysing statistics, practical skills such as how to use power point and zoom, and also time-management and organisation. Speaking to a variety of people and being encouraged to network as much as possible also really improved my confidence.

Really well structure with a really good variety of presentations and challenges from different teams. On most days we finished early enough to allow us time to work on things like our overall project for the three week and arranging meetings with people to network or ask questions about topics we were most interested in. There was lots of interactivity, breaks and challenges.

The general atmosphere was friendly, welcoming and exciting. I found it really reassuring that very quickly I felt like I new all the other interns really well even though we've never met face-to-face, and I think this was because of how much group work we did during the three weeks. Our ideas and creativity were always encouraged which was really positive, and everyone was constantly reminding us that they were happy to talk to us more, answer questions, connect with us on LinkedIn etc., which made the atmosphere really relaxed and welcoming.

We were given lots of time to network with people that worked in our own areas of interest, and we were also introduced to the really useful learning tool PepUDegreed, which had loads of courses, articles, books and videos on it to help improve a variety of personal and professional skills. We were also encouraged to speak out if we had opinions or questions, both to expand our knowledge but also make us more confident in voicing our opinions and contributing to the company.

They really seemed to capture the spirit of working at PepsiCo during the experience, due to the fact that we spoke to so many different people from different teams at different stages in their career, and they were all really open and honest in talking about their careers and experiences. Obviously it would have been great to experience actually working in person in a role or in the office, but they captured this as well as they could online.

From the sessions we had and all the people that I spoke to its so clear to me that PepsiCo is a welcoming, fast-paced company, that celebrates and encourages growth, grasping new opportunities, and taking on challenges. The company really cares about its staff, its consumers and its planet, and integrity, transparency and working together towards positive change for all are clearly at the heart of what the company does. Everyone just seemed so happy to be working there.

We were reimbursed for our travel expenses to get to the assessment day prior to being given the internship (up to £100) and then also paid for the internship, which is amazing considering we only did three weeks online and they paid us what we would have been given for working four weeks at the office and in the field. They also supplied us with laptops, mice, headsets, notebooks, folders and pens, and a variety of snacks which got posted to our houses.

We were constantly encouraged to reach out to people via LinkedIn and email, with everyone that I spoke to being more than happy to have meetings with me which sometimes went on for up to an hour, to tell me all about how they got to where they are today, give me advice and answer my questions. My buddies and mentors in particular [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] were really good at listening to what areas I'd enjoyed learning about and then recommending people for me to speak to to follow up on these sessions.

I'd recommend this to anyone looking to gain experience at a company where they give their interns a real insight into what the company does and make they feel constantly engaged and excited, even over zoom. PepsiCo made us feel welcome and important, which is something I don't think all interns at all companies are lucky enough to experience, and you get so many insights into so many different areas of sales and get to talk to so many people, it was an amazing opportunity that I'm so grateful for.