As we discussed on our recent post on Supply Chain internships, they can offer a great route in starting out your supply chain career, providing an opportunity to gain valuable experience and an opportunity for you to showcase your skills and capabilities.

However, internships can seem daunting if you have little work experience. So, to help we’ve pulled together this helpful checklist/Q&A to help provide an insight on what to expect.

What will the work be like?

1/ Be expected to be asked to complete a variety of Supply Chain related tasks this might vary from speaking to suppliers, data entry, data analysis etc.
Tasks might vary with things like:
• Buying and Expediting
• Market Intelligence
• Spend Analysis
• Rate Competitiveness Studies
• Material Inventory Tracking
Procurement and Business Process Reviews
2/ Be prepared to work several projects simultaneously.
3/ Be prepared to work in a team based environment
4/ Be expected to hit task deadlines (warning these might be tight!)
5/ Expect your assignment to be driven by business need (not necessarily what you want to learn about.

What firms offer Supply Chain internships?

1/ Both large and small firms offer intern roles, there is a huge variety out there.
2/ Many blue chip companies (coca cola etc) have sophisticated recruitment processes and have teams and systems that manage internships – generally this means you should start early – start researching and applying well in advance as the good posts are likely to be taken first.

Who will I work with?

1/ This will vary dependent on which Supply chain function you work within but expect to be team based and have some exposure to people of all levels including management.
2/ Expect a degree of supervision
3/ Don’t react badly if people critique your work – after all your new to this and learning.

What are the requirements to get a Supply Chain internship?

1/ Applicant requirements will vary depending on the hirer but expect that you’ll need something along the lines of:
• Pursuing a relevant degree i.e. Supply Chain Management, Business or economics. Many interns are in their last year of their degree.
• Strong analytical skills
• Strong communication skills (you’ll need to interact with all levels of the organization).
• Good level of IT literacy
• You’ll thrive in a team.

What can I expect to get out of a Supply Chain internship?

1/ The goal of internships is to provide value to the organization and for the intern to gain experience
2/ Ideally the assignments should be tied back to classroom learning.
3/ Do not expect to get a job offer. If you do get one consider it a bonus. Do however think of the process as adding significant value to your CV and potential.

Anything else to consider?

1/ Consider the location of the internship and how you will pay for living costs
2/ Look to utilize intern events to meet and connect with other interns and company leadership to learn and build your network.

Finally – an internship is a great idea but should be considered as part of a broader career plan. How do you think it will help you? What do you want to get out of it? Don’t just take an internship for the sake of it. Ensure it works for you.

Have some thoughts about Supply Chain internships? We’d love to hear from you in our comments section below.

Comments

One Response to “Supply Chain Intern checklist and Q&A”

  1. List of Supply Chain Internships : supplychain-mechanic.com on August 1st, 2017 7:36 pm

    […] recently blogged about Supply Chain internships.  It’s well recognized that many internships offer an important stepping stone into a […]