Summer is a busy time for HES students to complete internships. This series will spotlight students and their intern experiences.
Student: Meredith Gross
Major: Merchandising, Apparel and Textiles
Internship Location: Amanda Uprichard, New York, New York
What is your typical day as an intern? My typical day as an intern is spent organizing binders or documents for my internship supervisor or other employees in the office. Throughout the day I am also consistently faxing orders and confirmations to showrooms and filing orders and return requests into our account binders. I sometimes have to run errands to our showroom to drop off/pick up samples or go to the fabric store. We also update our store inventory a lot, because constantly orders are being shipped out, returned, and cancelled and we want an accurate number of what we have in each style and color. I am also asked to give feedback or input on styles, colors, and prints for the clothing line daily. Amanda Uprichard, includes me in a lot of the decisions for the company, which makes me feel that she really values my opinion.
How are you using the applying classroom knowledge in your internship?
I am applying my classroom knowledge through basic computer skills, researching for the company, fabric classification and vocabulary, accounting, and merchandising vocabulary.
What is one key thing you have learned during your internship?
One key thing that I have learned is how to read orders from our stores. I was taught how to match up the PO numbers and delivery dates and then how to file them into the correct binders. They have to be filed alphabetically and by showroom. You also have to make sure to sign off on the order and fax it back to the showroom it came from as confirmation.
What advice would you share with other students who are preparing to complete an internship?
Contact anyone and everyone who you know in the industry you are trying to have an internship in. It doesn't matter if it's your stepdad's friend's niece, just send them an email or call them. If you are trying to get a merchandising internship, this is especially important because the industry is all about relationships, who you know, and who you've worked for.