Supply Chain Intern Review

I loved working at Rolls Royce as a supply chain intern. It gave me the social skills and confidence to kick on with my career, having previously been unsure about what I should do. Moreover, the supply chain industry is a dynamic one, undergoing a lot of digital transformation, and it was exciting to see how Rolls Royce are coping with it. Therefore, I learnt a lot about the way in which supply chains are being disrupted at a global level.

I felt very valued by my colleagues because although I came in with limited experience, especially in relation to coding, I was willing to learn, and that was all that mattered. I made clear what I wanted to achieve at the start of my internship and I feel that my colleagues were on board with me at all times. For instance, I was encouraged to ask for support if and when a need arose, and the company as a very collaborative culture.

My manager was great - she was able to answer any conerns I had at all times, and I was given plenty of feedback by my colleagues who were supervising me. At all times, this was constructive, and made me better at accomplishing my goals. This I believe is a result of Rolls Royce's inclusive culture, where asking for help is considered a sign of intelligence, rather than something to be ashamed of as it is in other firms.

Quite busy in that supply chain is quite a pivotal area for any vehicle manufacturer and especially Rolls Royce. This is because they have a global supply chain, so I had to perform a variety of tasks with numerous different stakeholders every day. This was eased by the fact that I had ample time to learn, and I was encouraged to seek support by more senior colleagues at any time, even if they themselves were busy.

I was given a decent amount of responsibilty - enough to learn significantly and come back as a full time employee. This responsibility was increased over time as I became more comfortable with the role. I feel like I can be trusted to delegate responsibilities to other interns in the future, having been through the process myself. Moreover, I was trusted to perform highly critical tasks which the rest of the business relied upon, and this helped to build my confidence.

A lot - I learnt the principles of coding which made things a lot easier during my final year and even now in terms of my data analysis skills. These skills are very marketable at a time when computer literacy is so important for the job market. I also learnt a lot of social skills. Moreover, I received a lot of support in developing my soft skills - in particular public speaking and stakeholder management.

Great - we had a young and vibrant team full of people like myself, and this helped well with our cohesion. As data science techniques are increasingly being used in supply chain management nowadays, to some extent it was to be expected as most people at Rolls Royce are in the early stage of their career. That said, everyone working in the team and Rolls Royce created a positive atmosphere, where the challenges of day to day work were embraced.

Well organised - Rolls Royce have been doing their internship programme for years as they use it as a stepping stone for full time positions. I was thus able to appreciate the good levels of organisation evident throughout - from the application process to the internship itself, and I was assigned a mentor to help me.

Great training - as mentioned, there was an emphasis on improving my technical ability, and I was given a lot of online and on-the-job training to learn and apply my coding skills. I feel that there was less emphasis on presentation skills and other soft skills. However, these are not as teachable. As such, I was learning many of the soft skills on the job, which was useful because I as good at learning by doing.

Good - Rolls Royce is a stable employer with a lot of clout, especially in the supply chain industry. I feel that having this internship made me well equipped to market myself for a full time position in both the supply chain team and other teams. Indeed, I was encouraged to think hard about which type of team would be most suitable for me full time. However, I feel like the coronavirus pandemic has changed things somewhat, and there has been a pause on hiring.

Decent

Decent

Decent

Yes