Interview and Internship Process

Hey y'all! I'm so excited to finally share the process I went through to find an internship! I'm a fashion retailing major and The University of Alabama and we are required to do a full semester internship the fall of our senior year. We have a class that we are required to take in the spring semester that prepares us for interviews and helps us get in contact with companies to set up interviews. Our professor has built connections over the years and gives us a list based off what city or cities we are interested in. I chose Birmingham and Nashville then, narrowed it down to two boutiques, and two small department stores to set up interviews with. Three of the four companies I interviewed with, I got from my professor's connections. The last one I found I my own I literally typed into google "boutiques in Nashville" and emailed every single one that had an email available. Don't be afraid to cold email!! Also, reach out to a TON of companies! The sad truth is, most won't get back to you or when they do, it will be too late. Email and call everyone that even slightly interests you! You can also use sites like indeed.com to help you with your search.

While I anxiously waited for my interviews to be set up, I was required to set up two mock interviews with the career center. I'm not going to lie I was really nervous for my first one! Up to this point I only had interviews for sales associate positions and minimum wage jobs. This was my first taste at a "big girl" interview. I did my two interviews with two different staff members because I wanted different perspectives. Both went well and I got great feed back not only on my interview, but also my resume. If you have a career center at your school I would highly suggest setting up mock interviews before any big interview you may have coming up soon! I know, it sounds like something you don't really need, (that's what I thought at first), but it helped my tremendously!! It gave me so much confidence going into "the real deal".

All four of my interviews went very well. I had them all within three days, so needless to say I was VERY busy driving back and forth those three days but it was well worth it. It was kind of a tough decision for me to make. I loved all four places for one reason or another but, each of the reasons were different. I talked to my parents for about two hours on my way home from Nashville about them and how I didn't know what to do. As I was sitting in my last interview it all clicked for me. I realized what I cared most about wasn't location, or a big name, it was experience. I learn best by hands on experience and I wanted to get the most out of my internship.

The company I decided to go with is located in a small town in Alabama in between Birmingham and Atlanta. Anniston might be small, and people might look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them that's where I chose to intern at but, it offered me the best experience. If you only take away one thing from this post make it that! Care more about the experience and opportunity you're getting and less about the name and location. I could've lived and worked in downtown Nashville for a semester if I wanted to and, I'm not going to lie it was very tempting because how cool would that be?! But, when I thought about what I really wanted it was this....I wanted to change a company, I wanted to help make decisions and implement something new and exciting, I wanted to be able to get my hands in every opportunity fashion retailing has to offer (merchandising, buying, and social media), I wanted to be able to work hands on with the systems and spreadsheets they use on a daily basis.

I chose Wakefield's because it gave me all those opportunities. I get to help make buying decisions, I get to go to market, I get to help merchandise product, I get to help implement a new social media plan I made for them. No one else was offering me this experience. To be honest this type of experience as an INTERN in the FASHION industry is unheard of!! So, while it was hard to say no to the other offers, I am confident I have made the best decision for me. I'm confident that the opportunities and experiences I will be receiving will make me stand out when applying for jobs and opportunities in the future.

I hope this helped y'all and I really hope it helps to change your perspective. I can't stress how important hands on experience is! If you have anymore questions you want me to answer feel free to comment or, email me!

Have a fabulous Easter weekend!

Stay Stylish,

Hailey