Week 6 at Sea Island

Quality of Performance Ratings (on a scale of 1-5):
Knowledge of work - 4/5, Now that I am familiar with the merchandise that we carry and the processes of the store, I am able to operate the store on my own. However, I think there is always more to learn in retail.

Image - I would say 5 because I always try really hard to look presentable. I have always thought that it is better to be overdressed than underdressed and I find myself dressing more professionally than the other sales associates. "Dress not for the job you have but the job you want," right? An aspect of Sea Island's Standards is to upkeep appearance and I believe that I have.

Communication skills - 4/5, I think communication is extremely important especially in the professional world. I try to stay in constant contact with my manager. Since we rarely see her at work and she communicates best through email, then I try to keep her updated through email. If I'm going to be late clocking in one day because the employee bus is running behind schedule, then I make sure to send her a quick email to give her a heads up. However, I think everyone could use an improvement in communication skills, including me.

Professional judgements - 3/4, I try to stay professional in every situation but I think professional etiquette takes time to learn. I'm still unsure of how to properly handle certain situations with employers or co-workers but I think that is something that I will learn over time.

I think my greatest abilities lie in the Sales Associate side of the internship. I have gotten familiar with and become knowledgable of the merchandise we carry so I am able to answer questions. I am comfortable with the processes of the store so I am able to operate the store alone.

I need improvement on the "office" side of the internship. I have been here for 7 weeks so far and only gotten to work in the offices twice (a total of 10 hours). When I interviewed for this internship, my bosses made it seem like the internship would be 50% working in the store and 50% shadowing/working in the offices. The other interns perceived this as well and we have all been extremely disappointed that we haven't gotten the experiences that we were promised. We have all expressed that we would like more time in the offices but our manager responds with- we were hired to work in the stores so that has to be the first priority. We were unaware that this was basically a retail job.

My best experience has probably been getting satisfaction out of selling in the store. It is so rewarding when I revamp the visual merchandising around the store and something immediately sells.

The worst experience has been the lack of opportunity we've been given to learn the buying, administrative, and distribution side of the business.

Biggest fashion lesson learned is to stay on your toes because the fashion industry has so many aspects.