Elizabeth Miller

Company/Organization: Hy-Vee
Company/Organization website: http://Hy-Vee.com
Destination: Dubuque Iowa
Timeframe: May 2015- August 2015
Advisor/Coordinator Email: lgstange@iastate.edu

Responsibilities

I had to order truck for the department and put it away on mornings that I worked when truck arrived. I wrote schedule for our department, did in-store transfers, sat in on inventory meetings with my boss and the store director. I had to do a Facebook promotion and come up with a new pizza. During inventory at the end of the month I had to help my boss count everything we had in the department and in the back of the store that was ours and get everything ready to go for the meetings. During most of my shifts I was in charge so I had to make sure everything went smoothly and answered any customer questions that they had.

Accomplishments

I had to do a Facebook promotion during my internship and I decided to grill our Tuscano crust pizza. No one had ever tried to do that yet so I wanted to give it a go. In the end it didn't do too well (it was incredibly hot the weekend I chose to do it, in the high 90's), but the experience of getting everything set up and ready to go to even do the promotion was an accomplishment. Another accomplishment was being able to talk to someone from corporate when they visited our store. He told me that I should look into getting into the manager program and work my way up with the company. I've been with the company for eight years so he said that I would be a good addition to the management side of the company.

Memorable experience

The most memorable experience for me would have to be talking with an employee from corporate. I had no idea that he was with corporate at all, I just thought he was from another store. He was in our department talking with my boss about a few things while I was making pizzas. My boss told the man that I was doing my internship with Hy-Vee and that I had been with the company for eight years. The employee from corporate said that there were going to be some job openings in Minneapolis for the new stores and that I should apply into the management program and transfer to one of the new stores. He said that I would do well since I had a lot of experience with the company already and would be able to get a job easily and that if I was interested to talk with my store director about it. I wasn't expecting to talk with someone from corporate or get some job offers.

What did you not expect?

Definitely talking with the corporate employee. I only recently have thought about continuing my career with Hy-Vee and moving up in the management area. After talking to him about it and what I would need to do in order to be a manager, I think I might do it. It's not everyday you get to talk with someone from corporate, let alone get some potential job opportunities as well.

What advice would you give?

My advice would be to learn as much as you possibly can. Don't be afraid to ask questions or to suggest anything. I was suggesting things at the beginning that I was too afraid to ask before my internship. But, make sure the suggestions are something appropriate and are realistic. Also, be prepared to work hard and have more responsibility on your shoulders. You will be expected to do more things and will get more tasks during your shift. Also, your coworkers will come to you for questions about things that they would normally go to your boss for so learn the department more and be ready for the questions you never thought you'd get!

How did you learn about this experience?

I knew that Hy-Vee did internships but more at the bigger stores. Our store is one of three in my town so we don't have the huge stores like the ones in Des Moines. I wasn't even sure if I would be able to do my internship at my store but I asked my boss anyway. He said he was on board with it but would have to talk with the store director to make sure that it would be a possibility. Once everyone said it would be okay to do the internship my boss and I sat down to make sure we could make it happen.

Why did you want this assignment?

Like I said earlier, I've been with the company for eight years and I've recently been thinking about furthering my career with Hy-Vee. I knew that Hy-Vee did internships and I was curious to see if I would be able to do mine at my store. Once I knew I would be able to, my heart was set on doing my internship at Hy-Vee. And I'm really happy that I made the decision because so many doors have been opened for me that wouldn't have been if I hadn't done my internship with Hy-Vee/

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