Doug Ta’a – Nordstrom Corporate Buying & Planning Intern

As a senior at Foster, fall recruiting is one of the most stressful times of your undergraduate career. I took some time to evaluate my career goals, and really thought about how I can make strategic decisions to advance my career in order to reach my long-term goals. I have always had a passion and interest in marketing, retail, and fashion and knew that a career at Nordstrom would give me exposure in those areas.

I started searching for potential opportunities at Nordstrom. Nordstrom offers internships in technology, marketing, finance, product development, etc. However, the Merchandising & Planning internship caught my eye and I began researching. I knew that this was one for the most competitive positions at Nordstrom and I wanted it more than anything. The best way I knew to prepare and to make me a competitive applicant was to research and use my resources. I met with peer coaches in the Career Center to review my resume, participated in numerous mock interviews, and made sure I was knowledgeable in the fashion/retail industry.

I did tons of research on Nordstrom and trends within the fashion and retail industry. Going into the interview, I was prepared to confidently talk just about anything. I went through two rounds of interviews before I was offered a position to intern at Nordstrom through their Corporate Buying & Planning internship. My goal is to complete the summer internship and hopefully be placed in the “Merchant in Training Program” and on my way to be an Assistant Buyer.

Throughout this experience, I finally realized that hard work, dedication and risk taking really does open up opportunities. I went above and beyond to prepare for this opportunity. Numerous mock interviews and resume revisions and hours spent learning about the fashion and retail industry paid off.