Summer Intern Profile Series: Final Project & Farewell

In our prior Summer Intern Profile Series post, we concluded our interviews with a conversation with Shinjini Agarwal, J.Jill’s Sourcing intern. In our last post of the series, we’re bringing you along to hear about the intern’s final cross-functional presentation.

As the pandemic has undoubtedly reshaped the workplace, creating a need for individuals to have a renewed sense of purpose in their work, the interns focused their presentation on how companies have incorporated certain changes, such as a hybrid work schedule, for the better.

At the very beginning of the internship, the interns were challenged with the question, “How can J.Jill rework incorporating a sense of belonging into this day and age?” As they began to brainstorm, they felt it was important to define belonging in their own words before getting into research.

Some of the words they used to describe belonging were, “community,” “team,” and “collaboration.” Slowly, their discussions developed, and with supporting research and data, they began to create a list that included many proposals. They ultimately decided to shorten that long list into a total of five short-term and long-term proposals. To validate the proposals, each intern sent out a short survey to their respective department. The survey was well received, as many of the responses touched on the points the interns chose to highlight in their presentation.

Some of the ideas ranged from creating internal Teams channels focused on common interests, like Pets, Cooking, Exercise or Gardening, to implementing early dismissal Friday’s year-round by expanding working hours Monday-Thursday. Collaborative working spaces with ample sunlight to boost connectivity, as well as converting traditional meetings into walking meetings, were also ideas proposed. All in all, it was exciting for the interns to have the opportunity to present a range of ideas to the executive team and leadership, and to potentially help inform future changes to J.Jill’s culture!

When the interns were asked about their favorite part of working on the project, Shinjini Agrawal, J. Jill’s Sourcing Intern, said, “getting to work cross-functionally with other teams brought many different perspectives together, which was interesting to see.” Abigail Lennox, J.Jill’s Brand Marketing intern, agreed, adding, “the opportunity to attend in-person meetings that were set on the agenda each week to collaborate.”

The interns wrapped up their final day with J.Jill with a lively sendoff celebration. We want to thank all of our interns for their hard work and endless support this summer. They will be truly missed and we wish them every success in their future career paths (which may even lead back to J.Jill)!?