Ashley Hundt

Responsibilities

My responsibilities during my internship at Moorman Clothiers include those of a sales associate, as well as added responsibilities that come with being the social media manager for the summer. Every day, I am expected to greet customers as they enter the store and assist them with finding any clothing items they are in need of. Moorman Clothiers sells suits and offers renting services for tuxes, so I have training to set people up with desired formal wear for weddings or other special events. I also have to constantly keep up with the tidiness of the store, which includes refolding or straightening out the clothing items or other merchandise, as well as cleaning out fitting rooms. I am trained to run sales at the register, which includes working with credit cards or cash and bagging customer’s purchases. Some tasks that I am commonly asked to help out with when store activity is slow are unboxing, putting new items into inventory, tagging merchandise, vacuuming, cleaning, and making alteration calls. I am the social media manager for the summer as a part of my internship requirements. I have the independence to create aesthetic content to promote merchandise on multiple social media platforms, as well as inform followers about sales or special store information.

Accomplishments

My greatest accomplishment during my internship experience definitely was the content I created while being the social media manager for the summer. A portion of every day at my internship was dedicated to coming up with promotional ideas for social media content, executing content creation, and posting on multiple platforms. I used my best judgement, personal taste, and design abilities to create content for the store. It was exciting to see results over time, including increased social media activity, a gain in the follower base, and a boost in sales. I am very proud of the overall aesthetic I formed for the store.

Learning experience

The greatest lessons I learned from my experience was professionalism, customer service, to take initiative, and to not be afraid to ask questions. I went to the first day not really knowing any of the rules or expectations, and not wearing the correct business attire. Their business values being modest and executing professional customer service at all times. Over time I have gotten used to those expectations. I have ingrained professionalism into my life and habits that I can take with me after my internship. Moorman Clothiers is known for their customer service, which they have trained me well on how to assist customers and strategies to sell items according to people’s needs. Taking initiative is a huge aspect of sticking out in an internship and going above and beyond. I learned that it is important not only to listen to instructions but also noticing what needs to be done around the store on my own without having to be asked. Finally, I have learned the hard way that it is best to just ask how to do something instead of trying to figure it out on my own and potentially doing something wrong. By asking, I can know how to do something for future implication.

What advice would you give?

Some advice that I have for future students in my major is to really take your time when choosing an internship, and use networking and researching carefully in the search process, to find one that is the absolute best fit for you. Fashion Communications majors would benefit best from an internship either in fashion marketing, journalism, social media management, or event management. Rushing into an internship can lead to you being dissatisfied with your choice and not being able to maximize your experience for your future career. I also recommend paying attention well in your internship to stay on top of everything and absorb as much knowledge and experience as possible. Building relationships at your workplace will also help with potential networking in the future.