I’ve been back in Scotland for just over a week now and what a busy week I’ve had. So much so that I still haven’t blogged about my last few days in Jabil.

On Wednesday all the Saltire interns were invited to a lunch with our Global Scot and all our mentors. We were supposed to present on what we’ve been working on and our experiences to help Jabil improve the internship for next year.  It ended up being more of an informal discussion than a presentation though and a lot of laughs were shared. Some suggestions were made for future years and I’m sure Jabil will find some way to improve on what is already an amazing internship and learning experience.

The pace certainly didn’t slow down in the last few days and I was bombarded with last minute tasks which took me right up until the very last moment to complete. But I managed to finish everything and it felt good to go away having completed everything that was put in front of me over the 8 weeks.

On Thursday I presented my suggestions for the new share drive layout to the team and they liked it! So I was given the go ahead to make the changes permanent. This task was far more complicated than it sounded at first. I had to be familiar with every file in the drive to ensure I didn’t delete something important. In the end it took me longer than I had anticipated, but I did receive some good feedback when I had finished and it was beneficial to me in a number of ways;

·         It gave me insight into everything the Finance Transformation Team has worked on since it started.

·         I found and read a lot of archived literature on Change Management, Lean Methodology, and Continuous Improvement.

·         Great sense of achievement from leaving a more structured place to share/store information that is easier and quicker to use.

The last day involved some admin stuff before I made sure I said all my thanks’ and goodbye’s and gave some Scottish themed gifts that some of you might be familiar with(see photo for evidence) out before we finished at lunchtime and went out with the entire team for lunch on the water front followed by the nicest and probably unhealthiest ice cream I’ve ever had. The weather was perfect and we all had a great time.  It was sad to think that I might not see some of the people I had become close to over the internship again for a long time!

Two Finance Directors and a Specialist wearing 'see you Jimmy hat's'

This summer has been the best experience of my whole life and I have gotten so much out of it both professionally and personally. I feel very confident now that I can enter a graduate position in finance, easily integrate with the team and complete tasks effectively. I now have excellent experience work experience to draw on for interviews and application forms as well as a host of useful contacts that will be willing to help me and act as a reference. The most important thing I have developed is a hunger and motivation to continuously develop and ensure I am successful in all aspects of my life. I need to start making things happen and taking advantage of every opportunity.

I would like to offer my sincerest thanks’ to everyone at the Saltire Foundation and Jabil Circuit. I will not forget how lucky I am to have had this experience and I will be more than happy to give something back in the future.

See you all at the networking event!

Chris