Are you looking to kickstart your career in retail management? Target, a leading Fortune 50 company and iconic American retailer, offers an exciting opportunity with its Stores Executive Internship program in the Boston area. This paid, hands-on internship is designed to provide you with a realistic preview of the Executive Team Leader (Assistant Store Manager) role and equip you with the skills and experience needed to excel in retail leadership.
Discover the Target Experience
Target is more than just a store; it’s a place where families discover the joy of everyday life. With over 400,000 team members worldwide, Target is committed to caring for communities and investing in its team. Working at Target means being part of a team that prioritizes relationships, fuels talent development, and succeeds together. At its core, Target’s purpose is ingrained in its values – to care, grow, and win as one team.
Your Pathway to Store Leadership: The Stores Executive Internship
The Stores Executive Leadership Internship is your firsthand experience in leading a retail team within a thriving Target store environment in locations across the Boston area. This comprehensive, 40-hour per week paid program offers hands-on training to develop and prepare you for a leadership career in retail.
As a Stores Executive Intern, you’ll gain valuable insights into the Executive Team Leader role (Assistant Store Manager) through a defined period of immersive learning. You will collaborate closely with store managers and team members, gaining a deep understanding of Target’s retail operations and the essential skills for management success. While you’ll be exposed to various facets of the store’s business, a significant portion of your internship will be focused on leading teams, addressing store priorities, and ensuring exceptional guest service – all within the dynamic environment of Target stores in locations convenient to Boston residents.
This program is meticulously designed to cultivate your leadership abilities within a retail setting:
- Guest Experience & Business Impact: Learn how to drive outstanding guest experiences and understand your direct impact on store performance across financial, team, and operational metrics.
- Mentorship & Department Leadership: Work directly with an experienced mentor, learning effective leadership strategies within their specific department and gaining practical insights into store management in a real-world Boston setting.
- Hands-on Leadership Opportunities: Step into leading your mentor’s departments, receiving guided support to facilitate learning and growth in a supportive Boston retail environment.
- Team Leadership & Skill Development: Develop crucial skills in leading and motivating teams, driving sales results, effective product merchandising, and consistently delivering exceptional guest experiences within the bustling atmosphere of a Target store near you in Boston.
- Dedicated Development & Support: Benefit from ongoing developmental conversations and prioritized support, ensuring you feel empowered and guided throughout your internship journey.
- Culture Building & Goal Achievement: While actively participating in daily operations alongside your team, you’ll learn how your leadership shapes the store culture, guides team growth, and drives collective goal achievement in a collaborative Boston-area Target store.
Hear directly from past interns, mentors, and managers about their experiences and the impact of the Target internship program here.
Skills and Experiences You’ll Gain
Target is dedicated to providing meaningful experiences that empower leaders to build and develop essential career skills. The Stores Executive Internship is specifically structured to offer a realistic job preview of the ETL role, providing you with invaluable skills and experience in:
- Guest-First Culture: Mastering guest service fundamentals and building expertise in creating and managing a guest-centric team culture throughout the store, ensuring every visitor to our Boston locations feels valued.
- Guest Engagement & Problem Solving: Developing proficiency in guest engagement, effectively addressing concerns, and implementing successful problem-resolution strategies to enhance guest satisfaction in our Boston stores.
- Retail Business Fundamentals: Gaining a strong foundation in core retail business principles, understanding the mechanics of successful store operations within the competitive Boston retail market.
- Workload Management & Team Leadership: Learning to set and strategically plan monthly and quarterly workloads for departments to align with key business priorities, and effectively managing teams to consistently achieve service and sales targets in our Boston-area stores.
- Team Development & Strategy: Developing skills in managing hourly team members and team leaders, creating effective business strategies, and setting clear, achievable goals to drive team success in a dynamic retail environment.
- Talent Management: Gaining experience in the crucial aspects of recruiting, selecting, and managing talent among hourly team members and leaders, contributing to building strong teams within our Boston locations.
A Day in the Life of a Stores Executive Intern
Every day as a Stores Executive Intern at Target is dynamic and engaging. Your typical day will likely involve:
- Leading on the Sales Floor & Backroom: Spending significant time on the sales floor and in the backroom, actively leading and working alongside team members, and aligning the team on daily business priorities to ensure smooth operations in our Boston stores.
- Learning from Experienced Leaders: Working closely with your Executive Team Lead (ETL) mentor and other store leaders to gain a comprehensive understanding of their roles and responsibilities within a Target store in Boston.
- Daily Priority Execution: Leading the execution of daily tasks such as stocking shelves, maintaining a safe and welcoming store environment for guests, and contributing to visually appealing store displays, ensuring our Boston locations are always guest-ready.
- Team Performance & Coaching: Partnering with store leaders to address team member performance through effective teaching, coaching, training, and delivering timely performance feedback to foster growth and development within our Boston teams.
- Addressing Team Needs: Proactively addressing team member concerns and removing any obstacles to ensure smooth operations and the successful attainment of store goals within our Boston-area locations.
- Leadership Communication: Leading and presenting at daily huddles with peers and leadership teams, effectively communicating key information and priorities to ensure team alignment in our Boston stores.
- Goal Setting & Planning: Planning daily goals and organizing strategic plans within the store, contributing to efficient workflow and goal achievement in our Boston locations.
- Performance Analysis & Reporting: Providing summaries of results and priorities with peer and leadership teams, tracking progress and ensuring clear communication of outcomes in our Boston stores.
- Business Insights & Action: Understanding business reporting and guest insights to identify, troubleshoot, and follow up on opportunity areas, utilizing data to drive improvements in our Boston locations.
- Exceptional Guest Experience Delivery: Ensuring an exceptional guest experience by empowering team members with the knowledge and authority to resolve guest issues and exceed expectations in our Boston stores.
- Innovation & Problem Solving: Providing new ideas and recommending innovative solutions to address business or team opportunities, contributing to continuous improvement in our Boston locations.
- Continuous Learning & Development: Taking initiative to learn and grow as a Target leader by actively seeking out opportunities for development and continuously learning throughout the internship experience.
- Leadership Expectation & Growth: Committing to understanding Target’s leadership expectations and using them as a framework for personal development by asking questions and actively seeking feedback to enhance your leadership skills in a Boston retail context.
- Program Participation: Actively participating in internship program training activities, developmental opportunities, and events to maximize your learning and networking within the Target community.
- Risk-Taking & Initiative: Demonstrating a willingness to take calculated risks, stepping outside of your comfort zone, and embracing new assignments to foster personal and professional growth within the internship.
- Ethical Conduct & Safety Culture: Demonstrating a strong culture of ethical conduct, safety, and compliance, leading the team to uphold these values and holding others accountable to this commitment in our Boston stores.
- Safe Work Practices: Working in a consistently safe manner to benefit yourself and others, proactively identifying and correcting hazards, and strictly complying with all safety policies and best practices within our Boston locations.
- Inclusive & Diverse Environment: Fostering an inclusive, diverse, safe, and secure culture where all team members and guests feel welcomed and respected in our Boston Target stores.
- Departmental Responsibilities: Effectively carrying out principal duties and responsibilities as assigned within your department, contributing to the overall success of the store.
- Business Acumen Development: Gaining a comprehensive understanding of all business areas within the store to develop strong business acumen, preparing you for future leadership roles within Target.
Please note: Job duties may evolve at any time to meet business needs.
Are You the Ideal Candidate?
We might be a great match if:
- Energetic Environment: Working in a fast-paced and fun environment excites you. We thrive on efficiency and teamwork to deliver exceptional experiences for our guests in Boston.
- Guest Service Passion: Providing outstanding guest service that makes guests say “I LOVE TARGET!” motivates you. This passion is at the heart of the Target experience, and we want team members who share it in our Boston stores.
- Team Leadership & Retail Operations: Leading teams in stocking, merchandising, and selling Target products aligns with your interests. This is the core of what we do every day in our Boston locations.
- Dynamic Work Environment: You’re not seeking a typical Monday-Friday desk job. You thrive in a dynamic environment, spending your days engaging with team members, walking the store, and ensuring guests feel welcomed, inspired, and rewarded in our bustling Boston stores, especially during weekends and peak hours.
What You Bring to the Table:
While Target provides excellent training to equip you with the skills to be an effective leader in our stores, certain foundational qualities are essential from the outset:
- Retail Experience: Previous retail experience is preferred but not mandatory. We value enthusiasm and a willingness to learn and grow in a retail environment.
- Retail Interest: A strong interest in pursuing a career in retail, specifically in store management within Target, is crucial.
- Leadership & Team Orientation: Demonstrated leadership skills and a team-oriented mindset are highly valued.
- Tech Adaptability: Ability to learn and adapt to current technology needs is important in our modern retail environment.
- Independence & Teamwork: Ability to work effectively both independently and collaboratively as part of a team.
- Workload Management & Prioritization: Strong skills in managing workload and independently prioritizing tasks in a fast-paced setting.
- Positive & Helpful Attitude: A welcoming and helpful attitude is essential for creating a positive guest and team member experience.
- Effective Communication: Excellent communication skills are necessary for interacting with team members, guests, and leadership effectively.
Essential Requirements:
We care deeply about our teams and want to ensure clarity regarding some basic expectations:
- Building Accessibility: Ability to access all areas of the store to effectively respond to guest or team member needs and issues.
- Instruction Comprehension: Ability to interpret instructions, reports, and various forms of information accurately.
- Cash Handling: Ability to accurately handle cash register operations as needed.
- Physical Agility: Ability to climb ladders as needed for stocking and merchandising tasks.
- Merchandise Handling: Ability to efficiently and safely scan, handle, and move merchandise, including frequently lifting or moving items up to 10 pounds and occasionally up to 40 pounds.
- Technology Proficiency: Ability to communicate using multiple frequency devices and operate handheld scanners and other technology as directed.
- Flexible Availability: Flexible work schedule availability, including nights, weekends, and holidays. Reliable, prompt, and regular attendance is necessary to meet the demands of the retail environment.
Discover more about Target’s competitive benefits, ranging from financial and educational support to well-being programs, at https://corporate.target.com/careers/benefits.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Target is committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the application process as required by applicable laws. If you have a disability and require assistance during the application process, please visit your nearest Target store or contact Guest Services at 1-800-440-0680 for further information.
