Target Internships

Each Target store has a different intern experience. My store really seemed to trust me and let me make real decisions. The internship also includes is a project for any area of the store and a LOT of emphasis on development. LOVED IT!

This internship left me wondering how cool a corporate internship would be. As fun as the stores are, I'd like to see where the decisions are being made - marketing, merchandising, big picture stuff.

Find a cool store.

I worked as a Business Analyst Intern for Target Corporation at the Minneapolis, MN headquarters during the summer. I was placed in the furniture department and was given an incredible project. The project consisted of an internal analysis of current Target suppliers/vendors, benchmarking the current offering against key competitive offerings, finding ways to match these services with the guest’s shopping experience both in-store and online, and presenting my findings to senior leadership.

None.

Make sure you are going to intern in a dept that your interested in.

The internship began with some group work in developing our leadership skills. During the ten weeks I learned about different areas of the store including guest experience, sales floor (both apparel and hardlines), logistics, asset protection, and human resources. I also learned about the standards that Target sets for it’s Leadership Team. During the internship, I was expected to be leading the Store Team about 50% of the time. This is called the Leader on Duty (LOD), and as an Intern it meant that I was responsible for directing team members, addressing Guests’ issues and concerns, and making decisions on when or what things needed to be done around the store. For a store with annual sales of $32 million, this was a huge responsibility to be in charge of as an intern.
Midway through the internship there was direction given for a special project. This is where interns are to observe the store’s processes to find an area that could use some improvement then develop and implement a plan to achieve the improvement goals that we set. This project- along with learning the about the store and how the management works- was a huge responsibility. My project was on the process of the mid day zone. The mid day zone is from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm, when the team goes through and makes the store look presentable for guests. This job required the team to zone the shelves and put the reshop merchandise away. I noticed that instead of the employees putting away merchandise from the previous evening, they would be working on their own personal projects. My solution required the team to have reshop merchandise away by 9:00am and this simple fix made the day run a lot smoother. The team responded well and we made the store a better place to shop and to work at.

Not much.

I found Target’s internship to be the best character building and developmental program that I have ever experienced. It forever changed the way I handle life situations and made me a better person and a better leader. As a result of my performance during the internship, I received a job offer as an Executive Team Leader upon graduation. I highly recommend any juniors who enjoy a challenge and consider themselves natural leaders to apply for this internship to improve your skills.

I was a business analyst intern with the dairy department. I'm was on a team of three that dealt with a specific project. Target launched a new type of store called PFresh that has expanded options in grocery and produce. My task was to look at these current PFresh stores and make sure they are managing their inventory appropriately. Hopefully, my work at Target will carry over into new PFresh remodels in the future. Odds are that if you walk into a Target PFresh store anywhere in the country, you might see the results of my internship work, which is really exciting.

Sometimes I wish I got to see other parts of the business, but I understand that it's hard to do within a summer internship.

I just applied online last minute and was able to land the internship.

My favorite part of the internship was getting a taste of so many different areas of store management. I was able to shadow executives in Human Resources, Assets Protection, Logistics, Operations, Soft-lines (clothes), Hard-lines (all products for sale other than clothes), and Guest Experience. I learned how this executive team works together to run the store, and was able to learn about possible career paths I would enjoy.

After discovering that I had an interest in Assets Protection, I spent the remaining weeks learning about that work area and designing a project to address a need within AP.

nope

Go to your school's career fairs! I would encourage them to do their homework as far as learning about companies and going to the career fair. I would have never learned about the huge opportunities for such an exciting, paid internship had I not attended the job fair in fall. The Target Internship I had last summer was, without a doubt, the most educational and rewarding work experience I have had.

My major project this summer has been to create a reader-friendly guide to what we call, "PTM Process." This guide will be used by team members to assist them in filling endcaps and aisles so that they are always looking full and never light. This process also helps get product out of the backroom and onto the shelves faster.

Intense, fast paced work.

I have recieved feedback from my superiors and it was difficult to swallow at first, but the biggest thing that has helped me move forward is my own self-confidence. The confidence to take the feedback I have been given and use it to improve myself as a leader for Target.

I was given three projects to complete. The first was to create and update my department’s Online Reference Tool- a detailed website which documents all of the processes my department does. My second project was to create an access database which allows the department to do their yearly goal, monthly forecasting, accrual reviews, and percent rent paid to landlords more efficiently and effectively. My last project was to identify which Target stores had the greatest variances in their estimated vs. actual expenses, come up with a solution as to why the variances occurred, and create a method to better forecast for in the future. I was responsible for presenting all three of these projects to my department and different finance directors.

Loved this!

Nothing, amazing experience.

The most critical factor in preparing me to succeed in my internship this summer has to be confidence. Since day one with Target I have had to learn a ton of new information. Be confident and learn as much as you can!

I loved my summer internship at Target. The company is terrific and the people treated me very well. Target put on some very fun intern events as well and I learned a ton from the experience. I worked on several projects on the main Target.com website. I got to see the business analyst, technology, and marketing sides of the business.

Some database and organization work.

- Know technology.
- Target is a great place for interns.

I interned at a local Target store. Target has a strong store management internship program where you get to see all parts of the store management business. I was shocked at the 60+ million in revenue that the store brings in annually. I gained exposure to merchandising, hr, and supply chain. Oddly enough, I thought the supply chain side of the business was absolutely fascinating.

I wish I could have seen the Target HQs in Minneapolis.

Soak up as much as knowledge as possible during your internship.

Target has an incredible internship program. I was hired on as a business analysis and worked to optimize category sales. I also worked on process improvements at the store level. Very cool summer with some great people. Also, the Target Internship Program Team Leadership Award is a great way to reward oustanding interns.

none

- Target is outstanding.
- Target's internships feed into fulltime jobs.
- Stand out.

- People.
- Invesotry capacity project.
- Intern events.
- Learned a ton.
- Everybody knows Target.
- 6sigma experience.
- Big mall in Minneapolis :)

target is a huge company and your work will be in a specific category. Not a good place for a jack-of-all trades type person.

Apply early and go to the recruiting events on campus.

- The biggest "pro" of this internship was that I was able to see under-the-hood of how a Target store operates. It's intense. It's exciting. It's very detailed oriented. Operationally, it was incredible.
- Internship project to analyze and drive sales to certain promotions in store. this was challenging and fun - I presented findings to store leaders.

I'd love to work at the Target HQs in Minneapolis.

Apply to internships early and specifically target certain companies (no pun intended).

- Intern program events and perks.
- I worked on an advertising project for the weekly circular. My team forecast inventory levels during promotions.
- Manager and co-workers.
- Fun to hangout with my fellow interns.
- Having Target on the resume gives me a head start in searching for entry level jobs in the merchandising/retail world.
- I thought Minneapolis was be random, but it's actually a cool city.

none

Target has great internship programs, I recommend it to anyone interested in retail, merchandising, or business in general.

Target is obviously a company that everybody has heard of and I loved my internship. I worked with the store management to do everything from merchandising to scheduling. It's impressive to see the amount of sales that a single Target store generates.

- It's intense work.
- Not a HQ cubicle type job.

I learned that find good people and managing people effectively is business. My summer internship with Target taught me a ton.

- Target brand.
- Access to senior leaders.
- Real world projects.
- I worked on a project to analyze stores with strong music category sales and how to effectively merchandise the music category. This was an incredible project.
- I felt my work was strategic.
- Worked with vendors. Learned a little bit of the buying process.
- HQ was cool and people were great.

Minneapolis.

I learned at Target that data is increasing more and more important to businesses. My advice is that in your internship cover letter, resume, or interview, show how you can take large sets of data - synthesize/analyze the data - and then create actionable plans that lead to results. Data to plan to results is big.

Great experience spending the summer in Minneapolis with Target. Their Financial Leadership Development Program is well designed and well executed. I got deep into forecasting and merchandising finance. I appreciated the fact that I was assigned multiple projects and thus gained more exposure. The biggest "pro" was absolutely the people - intelligent and wanted to teach.

The only down side is that I was unfamiliar with Minneapolis. It's a better city than I thought, but not a NYC, Chicago, SF, etc.

If you're an undergrad (which is looks like most people on this site are) checkout Target's undergrad programs.