Central Garden & Pet

Supply Chain Intern

May - August 2021 • Ontario, CA

What I liked

Great people and very independent with the internship project. Got to experience the whole supply chain process.

What I wish was different

Some of the departments are very complex. I wish there was more of a guideline for the employees to teach the interns what they did.

Advice

Come in everyday ready to learn and do whatever is needed, whether it is research for your project or moving boxes around with the merchandizing team.

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Operations Intern

May - August 2017 • Madison, GA

What I liked

This is not like most internships, where you spend the summer as a glorified secretary, fetching coffee and taking calls. As a central intern, you get to dive right in to actual business operations-- doing real work that helps the company in tangible ways while also teaching you important supply chain skills. Furthermore, the intern program is a labor of love by the VP of distribution and his team. The program is very small, so the few interns get a lot of attention, and everyone is very conscious that you are getting opportunities to learn and grow. In addition to daily responsibilities, there are also frequent learning opportunities through invitations to important meetings, conference calls, and weekly job shadowing-- you can experience many different departments in order to learn cross-functional skills and even see what type of work you may like best for your own career. This internship program also includes travel-- you can experience other parts of the country and learn how different links in the supply chain coordinate.

What I wish was different

My roles and responsibilities were not always clearly defined. I had not realized when I applied for the position that I would be a shared intern between operations and finance, and my calendar for one was often incongruous with the expectations of the other. I often struggled to allocate my time between the two. I think this could have been avoided with better up-front communication about my responsibilities, and ongoing planning and communication between the parties about how to spend my time (including myself-- I also should have focused on communication). Also, training was hit or miss. The operations team was great at walking me through each of the tasks I would be required to do. Training with the finance team was less concrete, mainly observational, which was problematic when using software I had never encountered before. A more formal training process might be more effective in equipping interns to contribute successfully.

Advice

Interpersonal skills are much more relevant to your success than any discipline-specific skills. There are many things you won't know how to do, but all the ignorance in the world can be overcome if you aren't afraid to communicate. It's better to humbly ask questions during the process than realize you've failed after the fact-- whether this is for a certain activity or report, or whether its questions about your overall role as an intern.

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