Traineeship Tesco Review

I had a particularly large project that required much work. I was in by 8.30am every morning and finally left at 6pm. Tesco are firm believers of working 9-5pm and you should be able to get your work done in that time, however, many people stay on later. My days absolutely flew by, everytime I looked at the clock three hours would have passed. There is no doubt that you are busy every moment -either in a meeting with various stakeholders or actually getting some work done following on from previous meetings. University days feel much longer compared to working in Tesco so make sure you prioritise your work and are efficient with your time. At the same time, however, you never feel overwraught - and if you do, your managers will make themselves available to help you.

Having already graduated from Manchester, this internship has placed me in great stead for the future. I hope to be accepted onto the Graduate Scheme, pending my final presentation and interview. I have improved my analytical ability and the use of excel as well as opening my mind to new ways of tackling problems. Tesco stress the development and progress of all their employees with weekly reviews and constant updates. The Tesco Academy is also an incredible tool to gain extra skills and training. There are 1000s of courses available on there varying from presentation skills, to excel skills to coding training. One of the best things working for a company like Tesco is that it is so big. This was seriously something I tried to avoid when applying everywhere. However, now that I've seen the inside, starting a career with Tesco is a brilliant idea. Because they are so big, there are so many different departments and so many functions. Moving around them is incredibly easy, you just need to show interest and speak to the right people. It is possible to work for Tesco for 10 years and do a different job every year - be it IT, marketing, property, finance, dotcom, stores. Within all of those are teams e.g. operations, operations development etc each owning their own exciting projects.

My placement in operations development of dotcom was fantastic, it gave me the opportunity to see how one of the biggest companies in the world coordinates its plans. You don't really appreciate how big a company is until you work within and I now look at Retail in a completely different way. The planning, strategy and innovation behind the industry is incredible. Regular consumers take for granted the fact they can get their shopping delivered to their homes, but how it gets there absolutely blew my mind. Initially, I thought I wanted to go down the banking/finance/consulting route, however, working in retail is just as exciting. I thoroughly enjoy projects, owning something and taking it from birth to delivery. Tesco provided me with the opportunity to take charge of my own project. Speaking to all of my colleagues, everyone seems to have an exciting project on, there's always something interesting going on. Don't get me wrong, it was overwhelming the first week or so, with so many acronyms, new operations, new models and new systems it was difficult to keep pace. The complexity of their operations and the insane attention to detail is also a challenge - however, after two weeks of meeting various individuals and asking MANY questions, I got through and now competently understand how everything works. I have enjoyed, with much satisfaction, the purpose of my role which is to ensure a better customer service.

Having had various other internships with other companies, I have seen different types of company culture. Tesco, by far, has the greatest attitude towards its colleagues. Everyone within my team and department have been friendly from the start. Working in a company this size emphasises the importance of collaboration. Each team is an expert within their own field, however, every team requires the assistance of other teams when taking on projects. Despite being the intern, I never felt like it - I was treated as one of their own. Within a few weeks, I had colleagues coming to me asking questions because I was the only person within the company working on a specific project. There are weekly events where everyone goes out together, alongside 'Sports Days' and numerous Charity events.

The internship was very organised and I can pick no faults. Everything was set up and ready to go when I arrived. I was happy with my programme and how it overall came together and gave me the different work and put me in different areas of the company.

i received a fair amount of support from my training provider as they always asked how i was and we had reviews and chats every so often looking at my work as whole, what i could improve on and what work i was struggling with as well as how to resolve any problems i had.

My line manager was fantastic, she helped me every step of the way. I'm very much a 'self-starter' and am capable of working independently, however, successfully working in Tesco's is determined by your ability to listen and ask the right questions. She guided me the entire way, was always available for me to speak to and offered assistance in any way she could. That goes the same for most of the managers around, there were many occassions where she wasn't able to answer herself and so I found another manager who could. The bottom line is, no one has all the answers in a company this big and so you have to be confident to go up to people you've never met before and ask the questions that you need answers to. Once you can bridge that barrier, you'll realise how great everyone is and all colleagues are looking to help each other.

I was very fortunate to live close enough to work that I didn't have to re-locate. The other interns did and are paying between £40-£60 a week to live in Hatfield, which is a 5/10minute drive. There is little to do in Welwyn Garden City so if we ever did anything together we'd head into Kings Cross, which isn't that cheap!

Since I've been here, there has been a 'Sports Day' where all the interns/grads and placements met up together for, well, a sports day. It was put on by the graduate council with no expense spared. There were big bbqs, inflatable games etc. The interns also put on a bake sale together in order to raise money for charity

Yes

It was really fun and interesting, well worth my time and i may in the future look into jobs at Tesco too. I would say it is a fairly straightforward job anyone could easily pick up with training and help from staff members and supervisors too.

I would say to be yourself, dont be afraid to ask questions and always show your enthusiam to get a placement in the business. show interest in products and competitors and show your knowledge about the company too and why you think its a good route for you.