Target Executive Internship Last Week

This was the last week of the internship and it definitely had gone by so fast! I can't believe my nine weeks are over and have gone back to school at Linfield already. I have learned so much and cant even describe it in words. From the first five weeks of the internship focusing on shadowing the different work centers of Target including pharmacy, food, hardlines, softlines, and AP, etc., to the last four weeks of incorporating leadership skills, I have truly learned a lot and can apply a lot of these experiences to my business classes this year. This being the first week of school, I have already recognized the same concepts as what I had learned in my internship such as recognition or topics in human resource. Not only have I learned a lot, but I have also been able to develop and grow as a person. I feel I have overcome more shyness and have been able to lead a group of people in huddle as well as lead and direct dozens of team members at a time. I have developed my leadership skills and have been able to manage and execute strategy as well. One thing I had to get used to was feedback. I had never been given feedback to this degree before. While at first you may feel like your bosses are talking to you negatively, I actually learned that they care about you and they want you to be set up for success. This is why they give you such feedback, so that you can work on and develop such opportunities. While it may be hard to adjust to at first, I definitely got used to it as the weeks went by. I also have learned to overcome challenges that may have come my way as well as put myself in uncomfortable situations and be able to handle them. I was a part of an interview process where I conducted the interview. I had helped in inventory as well as the overnight logistics process. I have done almost every task that is in every work center as a part of this internship. I have learned the processes of the retail Target store, and I love that I never once looked at the time until I was able to go home. I loved every minute of my internship and believe it was something that has given me great experiences and will be able to apply such concepts in the future, especially in my business courses.

This last week was mainly focusing on my leadership skills and leader on duty shifts. This week I had done a night shift as leader on duty and it was very challenging as I had never done a night shift before. I was learning many tasks that had to be completed such as checking off the cleaning logs for food and Starbucks as well as making sure all the carts were getting back to the store from the parking lot. I definitely struggled with this and asked for a lot of feedback after to see what I can improve on. I also mainly worked on my presentation for my project. This was my final presentation to the district leaders. My project was on the Best Team Survey and focusing on the backroom work center to make sure they were satisfied with their jobs. My project included helping with ordering new clothing for the freezers they worked in and improving recognition, working conditions, communication, and overall satisfaction. I presented to the district this past Monday and it went very well. The district team leaders thought I was confident and very prepared for the presentation. I asked for some feedback and they mentioned I had great eye contact and had a very good speaking voice. I could work on not saying the word "definitely" so much, but as for that they were very impressed!