Summer 2003
University of Florida
Volume 16, No. 4
Newsletter of the David F. Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research
I had no idea what to expect
when beginning my internship with
Wal-Mart store #919. Little did I
know that I would soon learn so
much about Wal-Mart and the
retailing industry. From the
beginning, I was able to learn
the different facets of the day-
to-day operations of a Wal-Mart
Supercenter ranging from back
room inventory to the front-end
people greeters and everything
in between. I was able to move
around and work in different
positions and departments
such as a Customer Service
Manager (CSM), a cashier, sporting
goods, photo lab, customer service,
paint/hardware, layaway, and
claims.
After gaining hands on
experience, I was able to sit in and
Wal-Mart's Training Offered Student Excellent
Management Experience
by Tommy Buadaeg
join Wal-Mart’s Management
Training Program (MTP) and was
able to go through the same classes
that the other associates went
through to become Assistant
Manager. In that class, I was able
to learn about the behind the
scenes events such as checking in
vendors’ stocks, programming
associate schedules, strategies for
managing and motivating others,
and numerous skills required to be
a good manager.
On top of learning all of these
skills and having the opportunity
to gain hands-on experience, I
also had the pleasure of interning
with a company whose philosophy
and culture I believe in. The Three
Basic Beliefs: “Respect for the
Individual, Service to
the
Customer, and Striving for
Excellence” are a way of life that
the associates believe and follow.
That past 12 weeks have
been beneficial to me by teaching
me skills that I will one day use in
the retailing industry. I have had
such a positive and memorable
summer working with the 600
associates and the management
team that we have at store #919.
As the opportunity to intern at
Macy’s East was offered to me, I
accepted it without hesitation
knowing it would be an incredible
career building experience. I h