Career Advice - Finance major going into Retail

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>So I have always been interested in fashion, well, the business side of fashion. My dream is to work and live in NYC and work with a company that is involved with fashion. I am a Finance major, so I am interested in working in a Corporate office.</p>

<p>I just got an internship with Saks 5th Avenue. (Sadly the New York location was not an option for this summer, so am staying in my home town where they have a store). The internship is called "Manager in Training". I tried really hard to find a finance or accounting internship with the company, but they did not have on available for this summer so I got accepted into the managerial internship program. While I am super happy about this, I have heard from some other people who did these type of manager internships (Like Macy's, Target, etc.) that once you accept a manager job with a store, you generally stay at the store and cannot move into corporate. Is this true?</p>

<p>If I do well, I really want to accept this job. I am scared to tell them I want to work in corporate for fear they may not hire me since they will figure out I was not interested in the Manager position. I know people say do not accept internships if you do not like the position, but out of 30 jobs I applied for they are the only one who accepted me and I generally do love the company, just not the position.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any advice or know anything about the retail industry? Is it possible for me to move up in retail companies (like from manager to a position in corporate). </p>

<p>I do not know much about the subject and have a hard time finding info about it.</p>

2

<p>I was a management trainee, and later an operations manager for a large retail chain. I had an MBA in marketing and HR. I moved into the corporate office in the training department, then HR, and finallywas the head of management training. For those sorts of jobs, they like people with field experience. </p>

<p>With accounting, finance jobs they definitely prefer experience in a retail company, not necessarily in the field.</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much! I feel better now. I guess I should not apply what some people have experienced in those jobs to the whole field. I will totally go for it. :)</p>

4

<p>I know a girl that was a store manager for GAP for several years, and now works in their corporate offices. Companies often love to promote people who they see can be successful.</p>

<p>Fashion/retail is a very competitive business to be in, in the sense that tons of people want to work in that industry. Saks is a great name, and though your first few years might be hard working your way up, it’s a great company to work for.</p>