Procurement Intern Review

I mainly play a support role and shadow the managers and more senior team members. As an intern, Some of the tasks may include: contacting suppliers for one reason or another; assessing the operational risk level of a supplier to make sure Unite Students doesn't enter into a contract with a company at risk of insolvency; going through past contracts and updating our summary excel sheets with correct information; etc.

Yes. I have definitely developed my social skills and presentation skills in the short time I have been here. Now, I can comfortably present to a small group of people. I'm not ready to give TED talks, but progress is progress. I've also learned a few procurement specific skills such as developing an RFP(request for proposal) and, the tender process + what that means. In addition, I've learned a bit of negotiation from the Technology category manager(great guy btw). He routinely has to negotiate with software companies, and some of what he taught me will be quite useful later in my life.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility. The projects weren't at a scale that would significantly affect Unite, but I had multiple projects that I was responsible for completing and a more senior member to answer questions or provide help if needed. The senior member was not giving me directions on how to do the project, unless I asked for help with something I was unable to figure out on my own. If I had no questions, they would simply check on my progress and get back to what they needed to be focusing on.

I made it a point to ask a lot of questions. I didn't ask obvious, easy to answer questions for the sake of asking, but whenever I had some issue I couldn't overcome by myself, I would seek help from someone on the team. They were always able to help me find an answer, whether by answering me directly or pointing me to someone who did know the solution to my problem.

The atmosphere is very relaxed. There is not super strict dress code(just be sensible, don't wear clothes you would wear to a rave). The hours are relatively flexible and almost entirely up to the team you'll be working in. Everyone is helpful and kind too, so reaching out to people elsewhere in the business is not stressful or scary.

It was great. I think the rest of the review covers my reasons on why I think this

Yes

Try to ask questions. Talk to the members on your team and learn as much as you can from them. Talk to members of other teams when possible. Try to be as engaged with your work as possible. Socialise with your fellow placement/internship students. Open up, and try to be more confident if you feel like you aren't. Nobody knows what you were like before starting, this is your chance to be who you think you want to be/ who you believe yourself to be.