Matthew is a final year Industrial Economics student at the University of Nottingham. Last year he completed a Property Investment Summer Internship with Tesco Pension Investment (TPI). We caught up with Matt to learn of his experience and the lessons he learned.
A role in investment had always been in Matt’s sights. Following a background in Estate Agency sales and asset management, Matt was eager to move into property investment specifically.
“I really wanted to be involved in the process and nurture my skills. Originally, I was looking towards analyst positions with investment involved, but this position with Tesco seemed to be an excellent fit regardless.”
“TPI gave me the platform to learn and grow, and my colleagues and other staff were fantastic at helping me whenever I needed help or advice – I’m really grateful for that.”
In terms of securing the internship, Matt was enthusiastic when it came to the process between us here at Step and the Managers at TPI.
“The application process was excellent, probably the quickest I’ve ever experienced in terms of receiving news. The staff at Step were great at keeping me updated so I was always in the loop, and the telephone interview was actually quite relaxing.”
Once Matt began at TPI, he got to work quickly with important tasks.
“With internships, there’s always the danger of just being placed with dull admin work, yet TPI had me on quite important investment work from the off – which was just what I was hoping.”
“I was also involved often with management, and even met some influential people within the TPI hierarchy. This for me is the key to learning from internships, witnessing the experts in action and learning from them.”
In terms of what was challenging about the internship, Matt had this to say:
“If you count getting out of bed as a challenge, I’d say that was the hardest one! The work was definitely challenging, but that’s not really a bad thing at all.”
“Things were definitely made much easier by how supportive everyone there was. Nobody would ever criticise as long as you were trying your best and striving to impress and achieve.”
Matt’s time with TPI has helped narrow down his career options and with graduation looming a position in investment certainly on the cards.
“The transferrable skills I gained are definitely going to help me in the future, and my CV looks much stronger with the experience which I know employers’ value highly.”
“I’ll definitely be seeking a role in the investment industry, perhaps not only property though.”
Image by Nattanan Kanchanaprat from Pixabay
Matt