Candidate Journey series - Internship at Bosch
Interview with Tom McGivern
In July 2021, Tom McGivern started his internship at Worcester Bosch as the current Events and Campaigns intern in the marketing department. Tom currently studies Business Psychology at Loughborough University and will return to complete the final year of his degree in the next academic year.
What made Bosch stand out from other organisations, encouraging you to apply for your internship and have your expectations been met?
When applying for the placement role itself, what stood out to me was the variety I would experience on a daily basis rather than the same monotonous tasks day in day out. In addition, the responsibility that I would be given to carry out jobs single-handedly, or that I would lead a team on, was another area which really attracted me to the role in order to develop my all-round skillset. My expectations have been met many times over as there is often a stereotype with placements that interns can be used to do tedious tasks which are time-consuming and don’t aide one’s development and don’t represent the working environment which they will experience later in their careers. However, I can thankfully say that this is definitely not the case at Worcester Bosch. I am fortunate to have a very understanding manager and supportive team around me which are all very approachable with any issues I may have or to explain areas I struggle with in greater detail.
What unique transferable skills are you gaining from your internship and how are Bosch supporting you with this?
The key transferable skills that I have developed from my time at Bosch so far have been organisational and planning skills, flexibility to my approach to working and the ability to work on my own as well as part of a team. In addition, the ability to meet tight deadlines and multi-task are other skills I have developed. Bosch have supported with this through having monthly meetings with my manager to discuss the core competencies laid out to me when first applying for the role. We are then able to assess the improvements I have made compared to the previous month and then potential areas or things to do which could enable me to improve further on certain competencies.
What would be one of the greatest takeaways from your internship that you will be able to apply in your future career?
The greatest takeaways from my internship relate to the individual transferable skills I have developed throughout my time here. When first starting the placement, I was unsure of what I wanted to do as an occupation in my career. This placement appealed to me due to the variety of experiences I would encounter. So far the placement has equipped me with a vast skillset with the fortune of being able to work alongside different teams, including the sales team, as events and key account managers allow me to get an insight into the work they get up to on a day-to-day basis. As a result, this has broadened my horizons to give me a greater knowledge of the roles I would enjoy doing when starting my career following my degree.
Tom shares his advice to future interns:
"For anyone that is fortunate to get a placement at Bosch, I would advise them to just try everything; throw yourself at as many experiences as you can while you’re here. Speak to everyone, meet new people, make friends and above all enjoy yourself. Bosch are committed to your self-development as much as you are committed to work for them, therefore, they will go above and beyond to make sure you have the best experiences while you are here so try and benefit as much as you can from this."
