Final Week at OHSU

This week concluded my 5 week internship at OHSU! Overall, my internship was full of hard-work, stress and big challenges, but it was a great learning experience and I am very glad that I did it. I learned a lot about working in an office like how to be professional, how to work with co-workers, how to work for supervisors and I also learned some tools that can help me out in the future such as getting efficient at Microsoft Excel, researching tips and resources and different presentation tools. At times, I felt really overwhelmed and didn't want to continue the internship but I was able to keep moving and get through it and came out better for it. I am very thankful for my supervisor, Dr. Sakaguchi, who was great at teaching, motivating and coaching me along the way and I am glad that I got a chance to learn from him. He is a great teacher and I plan on keeping in touch with him in the future. I met a lot of people throughout my internship and I made a lot of connections and really feel that I was able to sharpen my networking skills that I learned in my career explorations class.
My presentation went very well and I am glad that my supervisor made me do it. Before I gave the presentation I just wanted it to be over with but once I started, everything fell right into place and I am happy and proud of my work. The division asked some very good questions and luckily I was prepared for them and able to answer them with confidence. When I started the presentation I told everyone that it could be a discussion based presentation and that anyone could ask a question or make a comment at any time. I am glad that I did this because it made the presentation a lot less formal and eased the tension in the room. I was a lot less nervous once people started talking and getting in to the details of the presentation as I felt that I was talking with them and not at them. In the end, the division decided to go forward with my presentation and they are proceeding in talks with management about funding so that they can get the ball rolling on it. This made me feel really good because I felt like I actually did something that mad a difference and helped the division. All of my work up until this point had not lead to such a big result and it was hard to see that what I was doing was making a difference. But now that the division is going to take my project and continue it, I feel as if I actually did something helpful for them while I was there.
The biggest thing I think I will take away from this experience is that I now know I don't want to go into the health care industry or hospital administration. It is unfortunate that I don't want to because I networked with a lot of good people in the industry, but now I can focus on exploring different areas that I may find an interest in. The internship has been one of the best learning experiences of my life and I am so glad that I did it. I will be keeping in touch with everyone I met along the way and maybe one day I can use one of their connections for a future internship or job!

Target Executive Internship Week Eight

This week, all the interns were invited to the Target distribution center in Albany, Oregon. This was an awesome experience. I was able to see the processes before the product actually gets to the retail store. The distribution center is essentially this huge warehouse with product and more than 600 workers! Corporate sends this product to 26 distribution centers. The team members work 10 and 12 hour shifts. This differs from the retail stores in which team members don't work as many hours at a time. The distribution center in Albany also services 68 stores in the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. Throughout the tour, it was awesome to see where they received their product and the whole process of where they receive to where they ship out. There were so many trucks where the team members must fill all the trucks with the products. Every truck is about 2000 pieces! You can see how much work and heavy lifting goes into working in the distribution center compared to the retail store. The distribution center is very clean and organized considering how much product there is. I thought this was a very educational experience and a good perspective to see compared to a store perspective. It allowed me to see how every part of Target affects another. There are so many different parts to Target, from corporate to the distribution center to the retail stores.

Again, it was also nice to see the other Target interns again and catch up with them and see how their internships are going. The District Team Leaders and business partners were also there again to share the experience with us. I really love how they really care and invest so much in the internship. At any other company, I dont believe we would have gotten the same time and respect from such higher levels of management.

Target Executive Internship Week Seven

This week I continued to work on my intern project which involves the Best Team Survey and developing an action plan around one of the opportunities within it. The Best Team Survey is a survey that every team member takes every year revolving questions about the satisfaction with their work. The action plan I am working on is for the work center logistics backroom dayside team. They had many dissatisfactions with their work center so my project involves speaking with them and helping to make their work center a better place to work. Recognition, communication, and working conditions were the top concerns. In terms of recognition, this team didn't feel they were being recognized and were being grouped with the logistics overnight team when in fact they were their own work center. This week we had a special breakfast for this team while they had reached a thousand days of safety! I have also been trying to get the leadership involved with this change as well, getting them to realize the back room day team is their own work center. As for communication, I have partnered with the Executive Team Leader of Guest Experience to help with equipment control. We have numbered the walkies and PDAs as well as keeping them locked up in a cabinet. This holds accountability to the team members so that they will have to be signing the equipment in and out and should not be leaving them around the store. As for working conditions, I have improved conditions within the freezer and cooler by ordering new gloves and face masks for them. This team was previously using garden type gloves in the freezer. Overall, I feel that this work center just needed to be listened to about their concerns. Because they are stuck in the back room for the day, the store can tend to "forget" about them. I have really enjoyed getting to know this team as I did not have that much communication with that team before. I feel that through this project I have learned to be a leader and pay attention to detail. I have learned a lot about how we need to keep each work center satisfied, because if they aren't happy, they wont be able to do quality work and may even quit. This would in turn affect the other work centers. I would say I have learned how important it is to make sure that every work center is satisfied and that without these satisfied team members there would be no Target.

Full Circle

My computer has not been letting me log on for the longest time. My internship ended yesterday and the experience from last summer and this summer have come full circle! There are new interns taking over right now which is the same thing that happened last year. The kids have been having a really hard time adjusting to this because since they are children with mostly Autism or Aspergers, they have a very difficult time adjusting to change. The last few weeks of my internship really helped me affirm that I do want to work with this population of children and be the teacher that really helps these students grow. My last science lessons went very well and we ended all of our science lessons with a bang which was very exciting for everyone involved. We started off all making tornadoes in a bottle with glitter, soap, and water. They really enjoyed this because it was very hands-on and they got to really see how science can be in action. Next we used a black light to see what different thing would glow under a black light. We first put the black light up to white paper to watch what happens when it glows. Next we put the black light up to regular water and nothing happened, then we put it up to tonic water and it glowed very brightly. We talked about the differences between tap water and tonic water and why tonic water was glowing. We then painted out white papers with vaseline and lemon juice, the students loved this because they got to paint with their fingers and really explore what they felt like (so this was also them getting overt their sensory issues). We then put the black light up to the paper and it glowed which really excited the students. We took a movement a break at this time and the students got to explore different things that were glowing under the black light. Our last experiment we went outside and this was probably my favorite experiment because of the results and also because the students were extremely excited about it, based on their amazing reactions. The experiment was a classic one and something that every child should see. The Diet Coke Geyser. I luckily that day thought ahead and got the geyser tube from the store so the experiment went a lot more smoothly. The reaction from the students was honestly amazing when the geyser shot up a good seven or more feet in the air.

This internship taught me so much more about the world of Applied Behavioral Analysis, but also so much more about myself. I learned how much patience I have in certain situations, how to handle situations when students are reacting to things, and how to really work with children with vastly different personalities. Now that I am back at Linfield, I really do miss the kids I worked with and I am very happy that this internship was able to further show me that I want to do 1-on-1 therapy sessions and hopefully teach in an ABA behavioral/social skills classroom.

Week Four at OHSU

After a vacation back home and some time off, I am back at OHSU for my fourth week. It is good to be back and working again because I am picking up right where I left off on developing market research. We had a department meeting today which was very motivating and I feel that my research is actually helping. For the first time at my internship, I feel like our department has a consensus on what direction we want to take the program. This makes my job a lot easier because I can now focus my research more and start working with actual numbers and real data. I met with my supervisor after our division meeting and he assigned me to develop the marketing plan for the new program. This is a pretty daunting task because I have never developed a marketing plan, I am the only person working on it and there are no guidelines for it. Basically, I have to present a marketing plan to the department next week that either the department and all of the teachers in the program and they will then will vote to either move forward with my plan or develop a new one.
I am excited to start putting together the marketing plan and I know that this will push me and be a great learning experience, but it is very intimidating as well. I am nervous that I won't make a good impression on the rest of the department but I also don't want to disappoint my supervisor. My supervisor has given me the opportunity to work and learn in a great environment and I want him to feel warranted for his decision to select me for the internship. As I spend more time in the office, I am continuing to develop relationships with more and more of the staff. It's a little weird because I am surrounded by a bunch of people with PHDs and multiple degrees, yet the way they act and conduct themselves is so low key. I have noticed that everyone is very sensitive when they have a disagreement in the way that no one ever tries to pull rank or seniority. Even the head of the department is always very cautious while discussing a disagreement and never tries to value his perspectives more then anyone's. It is interesting to watch and listen to the different perspectives that people bring from their different background of schooling and current position in the department.
As I enter my final week of my internship, I am very excited, stressed and nervous about giving my presentation. I want to put together the best marketing plan that I can but also deliver a presentation that is acceptable for experienced professionals and not just a presentation for my class at Linfield. I want to make my supervisor proud and demonstrate everything that he has taught me over the past four weeks. I feel that Linfield has given me most of the tools to do well throughout this internship and prepared me for this final presentation, and I hope that I can deliver a plan that is beneficial to my department.

Target Executive Internship Week Six

I just finished week six of the internship and am entering week seven! It amazes me how fast time goes when you are working retail. This week, the interns in our district which includes the Target Clackamas store and Eugene and Springfield interns went on a store visit with the district team leaders in Salem and Keizer. On a store visit, the district team leaders as well as the Human Resource Business Partner go through the store to make sure that Target location is maintaining its Target brand, is well zoned (aisles are kept tidy and items put back in its rightful place), endcaps are full and impactful, guests are being serviced, fun, fast, and friendly team, products are in stock, signing is right, and that the store is maintaining Target brand offstage of the salesfloor. A district team lead's job is to manage a certain number of stores in their assigned district. They must visit each store at least once a month. If there are "problem" stores in which a store may need a district team lead's help, then the district team lead may visit that store on a weekly basis if need be.

We carpooled with the district team lead to Salem. To me this was a little intimidating because the district team leads are our boss's boss's boss! They are essentially high level management. While I know the district team leads are very open and enjoy getting to know the interns, I still felt that there was this pressure there to impress them and come up with smart questions. On the way to Salem, we mainly conversed about Target and about how to prep for a store visit. We then had lunch at Olive Garden before heading to the Salem Target. The store visit was great. They even gave the interns little goodie bags! I learned a lot about how store visits are run and what the district team leads are looking for. It was also interesting to see these smaller volume stores and the differences between how they are run. I thought it was awesome to see how well zoned their store was. Back endcaps were even well zoned. It was also nice to see that Target also cares about offstage brand. So that means the break rooms, offices, and common areas where the employees are need to be clean and neat. This is what the Human Resource business partner looks for on his or her store visit. They also check to make sure the store is using best practice. They make sure the human resource office is following its planogram as well as the message boards. You may not think twice about an office having a specific layout, but it is important that every human resource office follows the same layout from store to store. This also goes for their message boards. There are specific layouts for these as well! After the store visit, there is a recap. This is where the DTL and business partner state what they found and how the store can improve and what is already good at.

After the store visit at Salem, we continued to Keizer where we conducted another visit. Keizer is about the same volume as Salem. What was interesting to note was after looking at their store reports which measures almost everything about a store from payroll to sales, was the fact that both stores were not making sales. And what I learned from this was how to drive profitable sales at a Target store. Although we can't internally control how many people will come to the store, we can control how much they buy, essentially their basket size. Driving a bigger basket size depends upon having the right kind of signing, maintaining a well zoned store that keeps the Target brand, having the products in-stock, and a fast, fun, and friendly team that provides good service. By doing these, basket size will increase.

After the Keizer store visit, the Eugene interns invited the Portland interns to join them for dinner since they would be in Portland for the night. I thought this was a nice gesture because we dont get to see them very often so it was nice to get to know them better at dinner. We talked about how their internship was going and a little more about their backgrounds and how they found out about Target. It was a good change of pace. Usually I am working with other team members or executive team leadsl, so it was awesome to see how the other interns are doing.

Another great event that Target put together for the interns was a team build for Habitat for Humanity. Again, this was a great opportunity to get to know more of the interns as well as other executive team leads from other stores and district team leads. This time there were interns from the other district as well. Although we did not build a whole house, we did end up saving the family from spending over five hundred dollars in landscaping costs. Our tasks for the day included building picnic tables and digging a number of trenches. Although digging holes may seem like easy work, it was actually really difficult! It takes a lot of hardwork and dedication and team work to have gotten all of that done in a timely manner. Afterward, the district team leads took us out for a early dinner.

To me all of these events show that Target really cares about its interns and wants to invest a lot of time and money into us. I think this is what's so great about the company as well. And to be able to spend so much time with high level management? That is really cool. I dont know any other company that gives so much to its interns. Interns are truly seen as peers to the executive team leads and are given important tasks. We not only are training to be leaders on duty but we are given shifts as the leader on duty in our latter weeks of the internship. Obviously, we will not know everything about how to be the most effective store leader in ten weeks, but that's why Target is so great. Target allows us to make these mistakes to learn and grow from them.

Target Executive Internship Week Five

Again, this week just blew right by. This week I officially chose what project I will be concentrating on in the next three weeks. At the end of each internship, an intern must choose a project that relates to an opportunity within the store that needs improvement and come up with a sort of action plan to a solution. My project focuses on their best team survey which is conducted every May by all of the team members at that store. Out of all the work centers that took the survey, the backroom was the work center that had the highest increased levels of dissatisfaction compared to last year. After looking at these metrics, my project will be to come up with an action plan to improve the satisfaction levels of the backroom team members and ultimately make a positive difference in the next three weeks. So far, this week I have talked with my mentor to see what has already been addressed from these issues. The backroom team has talked with the Human Resource Manager and addressed their concerns in which she has passed on her notes to me. With those notes, I sat down and came up with a sort of a plan to stick to. I then went to their team leader where I explained my project and its purpose. She was happy to see that I had chose that specific project, and I then preceded to talk with the rest of the backroom team members. So far, I have made good progress so it will be interesting to see my results in the end of the three weeks and whether I had made a difference. To measure the results, I would re-administer the survey to see if their levels of satisfaction had increased.

The beginning of the week started with a phone chat session with the internship coordinators which gave us a chance to give our feedback on the internship so far. I think it was a great idea because it allowed us to reflect on all that has been happening in the past few weeks. I also went down to Eugene with the other Portland interns to visit the Target store there. All of the interns in our district met there for a chat session that was led by the district team leaders. This chat session gave me a chance to see the other interns and see how they were doing while also being able to share my experiences with the district team leaders. The district team leads were all really impressed with our responses and can see how much we have grown within the first five weeks of the internship. I was also impressed how open they were about our feedback and that they wanted to help out in any way they could. I think Target has a great internship program because of this. Not only am I able to interact with my peers at my Target store, but also the other interns at other stores and also the district team leaders. And the fact that they know us by name is awesome. Getting this much "face time" shows us that they truly do care about their interns and the internship program.

This week I also was put on the role of LOD which stands for leader on duty. The leader on duty is basically the manager of the store for that certain shift whether it is in the morning, afternoon, or evening. This is a big responsibility. As the leader on duty, you are in charge of making sure guests are being serviced, operating the store, strategically thinking of which tasks should be completed next, and keeping the store looking good. Although I had shadowed with the leader on duty before, it was entirely new to do it on my own. It was very overwhelming at first, but I got the hang of it after a few hours. I get a little nervous with whether or not I can answer people's questions if a team member or a guest asks for me, but I know I can always ask one of my peers for help if need be. This definitely helps my development as a leader and has given me a lot of experience with what it takes to be a manager.

I also feel that the Store Team Leader and my mentor have taken on a new perspective of me. Although I appeared on the shy and reserved side at first, they now know I can take on a leadership role in the building after having done the LOD shift. Since my first status with them had been in the first three weeks with them, I think I really have shown them that I am open to all these new opportunities and can be seen as a leader. These past weeks, I have interacted with the district team leaders in a chat session, have led morning team huddles, and have taken on the LOD role on my own. They as long as myself have seen a lot of improvement in my growth here at Target.

This upcoming week, the interns will be going out on store visits to Salem and Keizer, so it will be interesting to see what those Targets look like. While in Eugene, I could see major differences between the Clackamas store and the Eugene store. Eugene is a smaller volume store so it appeared a lot less busy. In fact, when I walked in, we had thought they were closed because there was almost no guests there! So it will be interesting to see how Salem and Keizer are. We are also participating in a Habitat for Humanity volunteer event so I am really excited for that as well!