Kay Faghihifard interned with H&M and honed her skills in the field of visual merchandising and customer service.
How did you get your internship?
I started working at the company in April 2024, right after a recent renovation the retail location had gone through, as a part-time sales advisor. After a few months of working there, a new position for the visual merchandiser opened up at our store, however, after careful consideration of my managers and multiple interviews, they decided that I lacked the knowledge and experience of the field to start at the VM position. So I met with my supervisor again and we decided to create a roadmap for me to work towards gaining experience to enhance my qualifications for visual merchandising positions. As a part of that roadmap, I was required to complete training (i.e. an internship) in different departments and with our visual merchandising team. That is how I got to start my internship in Fall 2024 and have continued it up till this semester, Spring 2025, working in three different departments.
Why did you choose this internship?
I genuinely enjoyed the experience I had at the company and loved that I was surrounded by passionate and creative people who shared similar interests. I also connected super well with my supervisors and they could see my goals and were willing to help me achieve them and guide me through the way. Accessibility and tapping into my existing network also played a huge role as I was already working there and was familiar with how things went and how tasks were carried out. I had also fallen in love with the concept of visual merchandising and really wanted to continue learning more about the field.
What kind of work did you do throughout your internship experience?
A big part of my internship was spent learning-by-doing as I worked on visual merchandising projects in the store. I did some training through a series of online learning materials and some readings but mostly we focused on shadowing visual merchandising associates as they were doing their job and assisting them until I was ready to carry out projects on my own. Most of the projects focused on displaying products in a sensible, artistic, accessible, and profit-focused manner for the customers to see, navigate, and shop with their comfort and ease in mind. We also carried out company-wide promotions and made adjustments to displays as needed all throughout the year and created theme-based sections based on certain holidays.
What new knowledge and skills did you develop during your time at H&M?
I learned A LOT during this internship. From product knowledge to psychology to inventory management and communication and team building skills. I also sharpened my eye for detail, harmony, and color in the setting of the garment display and worked on extending my creativity and innovation. Fashion and, more specifically, retail is an extremely fast-paced industry so being able to develop quick and effective decision-making skills was a must too. And since we are working with customers on a daily basis, optimizing your interactions with them and providing excellent customer service was also an integral part of the job.
How was the internship related to your Applied Humanities degree?
My emphasis area in the Applied Humanities is Fashion Studies, so this internship was perfect! I was at the heart of client-facing work in fashion and got to experience applying what I have learned throughout my degree in real life. We studied trend prediction and customer behavior in my courses and that is a large portion of what a visual merchandiser does.
What was your favorite or most satisfying part of your internship? Why was this meaningful to you?
One of the most satisfying parts of my internship was when my supervisor would fully trust me with a project and make few if any changes at all to what I had put together after reviewing it. I could see that the knowledge I gained had paid off and I was able to apply everything I learned to fit the needs of the project and that realization made me feel proud. Also seeing certain adjustments pay off in customer behavior fully made you appreciate the job of visual merchandising since it’s your job to create an atmosphere for the brand to connect deeply to its customer base.
What did you find most challenging about your internship? What did you learn from it?
The most challenging part of this entire experience was balancing everything! I was at school full-time, working as a sales advisor part-time, while also doing the internship, and it all needed deliberate attention to time management and correct workload allocation. I failed to create this balance and would fall short at times, but I am starting to transition into a more balanced life since I am graduating and will be transitioning to a full-time role. What I learned from this challenge, however, was that we can definitely push our limits to open new doors of our own hidden abilities. If you are passionate enough about something you will find ways to make it work. Even if the load sometimes might look or feel crazy, you know 100% that you won’t give up!
What advice do you have for other students as they search for their internship?
Be open to exploring your options, and if you really want to do a particular something, make a way for it to happen! Step out of your comfort zone and go in and take action and start the conversation. Trust in yourself and what you have and present your passion and eagerness and you will find just the right fit!