Huy Nguyen '07 interned
at Target.
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My internship with Target almost didn’t happen. “You only have a couple of days left to fill out all these papers and schedule an interview with Dale Achabal.” Last year I remember being a junior wanting to join the RMI and finding out from Cynthia Gamage, associate director of the Retail Management Institute, that I was very late in signing up for the program.
Fortunately, the limited time I had turned out to be on my side, and I was able to join the RMI, which was the best decision I’ve made here at Santa Clara University. Because of my enrollment in the program, I was able to obtain an internship this summer with Target, received an offer to start as an executive upon graduation, and became the recruiting representative on campus during my senior year.
Upon entering my internship, I couldn’t help but acknowledge the stigma that many associate with a job in retail as an endless cycle of folding clothes, cashiering, and backstroking. I myself had these thoughts in mind as I signed up for the internship with Target. Luckily, I was completely wrong and pleased to find out that Target offered me a great 10-week paid management training program. Managing 30-100 team members, taking part in operating a $47 million annual revenue store, and exciting leadership training were only some of the many great opportunities that Target provided. It was surprising to me that a top retailer and Fortune 100 company like Target was willing to invest its time and money in young college students to become executives upon graduation. Target was definitely willing to foster future leaders and was there-fore my best internship of college. For me, I see Target as the company that allowed me to take risk, uncover a world of opportunity, note the emergence of trends, and most importantly, see myself with a great career upon graduation. After joining the company, I soon realized that advancement opportunities at Target are exceptional. The “sky is the limit” in terms of growth potential in a career at Target. Besides the highly competitive offer I received from Target’s Executive Team, I’m also excited to grow with the company and hopefully in 3-5 years, become a Store Team Leader. Throughout my internship, I had continuous interaction with high-level executives such as district managers, regional managers, and national representatives from the corporate office. These opportunities allowed me to not only better acquaint myself with the company, but more importantly, taught me how I can succeed in the company.
As an intern, I was given opportunities to receive an overview of Target Stores’ operations and company programs while strengthening my leadership skills. During the 10-week program I rotated through each area within the store to gain a deeper understanding of its operations and the core roles of its Executive Team Leader—from guest services to asset protection and logistics. Being in-store, I had the opportunity to apply my knowledge through handson experience. With great and on-going support from my mentor, training team, and HR, I was able to gain real world business experience by completing my assigned project of improving the Target Red Card statistics. My most valuable take-away from my internship experience is quite simply knowing that I'm on the right track Santa Clara University and RMI have jointly pushed in a direction that I ultimately foresee as successful.
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