It's already Friday! At the beginning of the week, I walked into the doors of Sierra Trading Post with no idea about what the week would be like. This week has been filled with shadowing lots of people in different departments, eating good food at local hot spots, and learning a ton about Sierra Trading Post! There is something oddly exciting about not knowing what the future holds. I never imagined this week would be so incredible, but Sierra set a high bar for places to work. Their casual, family-oriented work environment is surely one of the factors for their growth as a company.
The last couple days, I've had several appointments with department managers to get an overview of their work.
Merchandising
On Tuesday, I got the unique opportunity to sit in on a vendor meeting. Various vendors from all over the world come to Sierra Trading Post to pitch their products and ultimately, to convince Sierra's buyers to buy them.
A representative from La Crosse Technology came all the way from Wisconsin to show Heather Jahnke, home goods buyer, the latest weather stations that La Crosse is offering. Since Sierra regularly carries their products, the meeting was fairly simple.
Heather looked at her spreadsheet to see how many of each weather station she bought in the past and then compared that number to how many actually sold. If there were lots of units left, Heather would pass on buying more. To prepare for the Christmas shopping frenzy though, Heather buys more of certain products to ensure they're in stock for the holiday season.
The meeting was very interesting and I soaked up a lot of information in a mere hour!
Copy
Do any of you readers receive Sierra Trading Post Catalogs in the mail? Besides a booming Internet retail site, STP has 12
different mail catalogs that are sent out on a regular basis. If you're like me, details are important when shopping for a product. In both the catalog and on the website, there is text listed below each product that includes specifications (size, weight, measurements) and a short description of the item. There is a whole team of 7 copywriters who work diligently to write a description for each item that Sierra sells. They write by looking at a sample of the item. Before an item makes it into the web store and catalog, it goes through these departments: quality control, photography, color correction, and then the copy department.
I had fun learning from Steph, the PR and Copy Manager for Sierra Trading Post. To cap off my time in the department, I sat with Ashley Arneson, one of the excellent copywriters. She even let me try my hand at writing a description of a sweater!
Photography
There is a talented photography department at Sierra Trading Post. They shoot photos of all the products for the catalog and website. Even though I didn't spend too much time in the studio, I got in on a fun shoot early in the week. They took photos of all the managers for the company BBQ. Check out my photo below:
Here are my final thoughts for the week at Sierra Trading Post:
Best Fringe Benefit: free coffee in the mornings at the espresso bar in the retail store. (They just let me put it "on the tab.")
Best Memory: walking into my cubicle to the sound of my phone ringing...after searching for it with no success, I figured out Bert put it in the ceiling since I had left my ringer on the highest level!
Favorite Department: the "Creatives" in the catalog department. They were super friendly and were hastling me to declare "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob"
Most memorable Employee: Darron,Receiving Supervisor for Sierra Trading Post's Fulfillment Center. (He was super passionate about his job and took time to give me a personal tour of the center.)
Most Challenging Job: Copywriter- This job is tedious and requires the writers to keep their wording fresh and accurate day after day. I definitely have respect for the writers for writing so many product descriptions!
Favorite Local Food: A huge breakfast burrito from R & B
Best Attraction in Cheyenne: The Old Fashioned Melodrama
If you haven't gathered by now, then let me say it blatantly: "
The One-Week Job Program is about so much more than just trying jobs for a week each."
I am growing so much as a person since I'm being forced out of my comfort zone. I'm getting to meet new people in new places and try tasks that I've never tried. Trying different jobs is truly a gift since I don't want to live my life wondering, "What if..."
I'm curious to hear what you blog readers might be putting off? Is there something that you're dying to try or a dream that you're compelled to pursue, but you're not working on it?
I want this blog to be a place where people interact so feel free to comment or if you don't want it public, email your response to me: bestweekjob@gmail.com
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