This summer, I had a merchandising internship with Macy’s in New York City for 8 weeks. I was thankful to work at Macy’s main corporate office near Times Square and work on the Women’s plus size buying team. During these 8 weeks, I attended meetings, worked with data, assisted with planning, and worked on an overall group project around Macy’s company value pillars.
During this internship, I gained so much knowledge and experience not only in the industry but also around myself. Going into this internship, I had little knowledge about what a buyer was and what their day-to-day was like. After leaving this internship, I now know that I want to be a buyer after I graduate. I had such an amazing experience in this role that it really allowed me to realize I wanted to continue it. Along with the internship, just living in New York City was such an amazing experience and taught me so much. It really is the city that has everything and teaches you a lot about life after graduation.
One aspect of this internship that taught me about myself was solely the fact that it was in New York City. I am from Columbus, Ohio, and obviously went to Ohio State so I have never lived far away from home before. I applied to colleges in other cities and states but ended up going here and I am so grateful for that decision. It is just another way of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone though when you are living in a new city. I didn’t really know anyone moving to the city and all of my family and friends were well over 9 hours away. I had to learn how to adapt to that while also living in New York City. It is a busy and wonderful city to be on your own for the first time. I had to learn how to get to work, get groceries, get back home, and that all just came with trying to learn the transportation systems. While, battling so many people, traffic, and much more definitely makes it a bit overwhelming at first. Looking back now though, I’m proud of how much I explored the city and really took advantage of everything it offered.
Another aspect was my team that I had during my time at Macy’s. I loved my team from the start, they were extremely welcoming and helpful in transitioning into my position. I ended up learning so much from their career paths and they really wanted to help guide me in my future career endeavors. One of my favorite experiences this summer was visiting the companies we buy from and meeting their corporate teams. We went specifically for buying meetings which was when we saw what merchandise they were offering for a season and we chose what we wanted to sell at Macy’s. It was such a great experience going to see each of the offices and seeing how every company has a different office culture. Along with that, just being able to foster relationships with people in other areas of fashion along with different career levels was greatly beneficial.
The last aspect of this internship that taught me about myself was the other students. It was such an amazing experience being able to make friends with other college students from all over the US. Macy’s only took one or two students from each college so there was an array of students. It was a great opportunity where I was able to network and make connections with others in the business world. I now have made long-time friends with students who are all over the US. We keep in contact as we look into potential career opportunities and talk about moving to NYC together.
All these aspects really allowed me to transform myself going into my senior year. I had always had a dream of living in New York City and having an internship, and I’m proud to say that I have achieved that lifetime goal. It taught me about having confidence in myself and fostering relationships with others. Also, it allowed me to learn and transform myself to be the best candidate for a job following graduation. I am so incredibly thankful for this experience and that STEP allowed me to pursue this opportunity.
