My summer with Sears Holdings Corp

As most of our readers likely know, we spent the summer in Chicago.  But why?  I had an internship with Sears Holdings, the company that owns and directs the Sears and Kmart retail stores as well as brands such as Kenmore, Craftsman, Diehard, Lands End, and others.

This was in my email signature. :)

I worked on the Business Development and Strategy team for the Kenmore Craftsman Diehard business unit and spent most of my summer analyzing opportunities for the Craftsman brand.  I was there as a Business Analyst, part of a very neat program at Sears Holdings that gives talented undergrads the chance to work for a number of different businesses within Sears while also receiving a lot of mentoring and exposure to senior leadership.  We had a weekly "Senior Speaker Series" speech about every two weeks as well as weekly cohort meetings where we interacted with impressive people or got training on specific subjects.

I really enjoyed my time there. I learned a lot, I was exposed to a lot, and I found that I really enjoy being committed to and contributing to a work team.  My boss was fantastic, serving as a great mentor and friend throughout the summer.  I also really enjoyed many of the coworkers around me and miss them already.  It was a fun place to work.

Will I be going back?  We don't know yet.  We loved the area, we found wonderful friends, and I really enjoyed what I was doing.  Sears Holdings did extend an offer to me to return full-time - a very strong offer, too - but I'm exploring other full-time opportunities just to ensure Heidi and I can weigh our options fully.  I'm still very attracted to the drum-beat of thoroughbred management consulting, so we'll see what opportunities appear in that space.

View from outside... I didn't take this one.

 View from inside: main atrium.  This building was designed to feel like a mall.

180 degree turn around from where I stood to take previous picture