Interviewing for an internship can be daunting and intimidating. Add flying to a corporate office and interviewing with about seventy other students, and it can be down-right scary. Last week, I flew to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to interview for a design internship with Kohl’s. After interviewing with a campus recruiter here in Savannah, I was selected along with eight other SCAD students to travel to the corporate headquarters for the second round of interviews.
For my interview, I was given the task of designing a collection for the Kohl’s brand of my choice. After many sleepless nights, and more cups of coffee than I can count on my fingers and toes, I finished my project, packed my bags, and set off on this adventure.
We arrived in Milwaukee in the early afternoon and had a few hours to explore. The air was chilly (a refreshing change from the sweltering heat of Savannah) and filled with excitement. After roaming around the downtown area, we headed back to our hotel rooms to get gussied up for a tour of the town.
All of the applicants loaded on to the bus, and we were shown some of the highlights of Milwaukee by two Kohl’s employees. We saw restaurants, historic buildings and even drove by Lake Michigan. Upon completing the tour, we were taken to dinner where we were able to mingle with other prospective interns, as well as several Kohl’s employees.
The next day I was awake at 5:00 AM to get ready for my interview. We got on the bus at 7:00 AM and headed to Kohl’s corporate office. To say I was nervous would be an understatement, but the whole experience was thrilling. After a quick breakfast, we broke into groups to tour the facility before our interviews began. Employees were hustling and bustling about the office spaces as we were taken around the Product Development department, cafeteria, and other in-house amenities. After the tour, we set up our portfolios in a room, and four of the lead designers came in to interview us. The designers were so excited to meet us, and had nothing but good things to say about the work we presented.
Interviewing with Kohl’s was an incredible opportunity. Never had I thought that I would be invited to participate in such an event, but it was a great learning experience, and I’m excited to see where it goes from here!