Interview Response for Marketing Executive at Target Corporation
Interview Response for Marketing Executive at Target Corporation
I have never doubted my passion for serving customers as I love to share and interact with different people. Due to my prowess in languages, and my special ability to communicate effectively with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds, I find the advertised marketing executive position in Target Corporation a perfect chance for career growth. My decision to apply for the opening in your organization is also tied to my desire to utilize my interpersonal abilities, which I perfected when I worked as an intern in another organization called Joy’s Ltd. As one of the top multinational retail stores in the United States, Target Corporation presents me with a good opportunity to utilize my communication skills, which will enable it to improve its competitiveness in the global market (Hahn, Kwak, & Palys, 2005). Thanks to my major in International Business, which I managed a score of 3.5 G.P, and the knowledge and skills that I have gained throughout my internship, I will develop new ideas that will be of great importance to the firm. The competencies that I have gained from the course include international marketing, management skills, and developing strategies for ensuring efficient operations in overseas markets.
What Most Interests You about Working for This Company?
My primary grounds for opting to work for Target Corporation is because of my desire to engage in international marketing and be part of the growth of the company on the international front. Since it is in the competitive retail sector, it is faced with stiff rivalry from other multinationals, such as Wal-Mart and Amazon. Currently, the firm operates in the U.S., Canada, and India, and competes with other local and international supermarkets. I would want to be part of its plan to expand its operations to different countries across the world, such as Brazil and Canada. As a fast expanding corporation, its operations will give me a good opportunity to utilize the outlined skills. I am aware that the organization operates at an operating income of $5.53 billion with an employee base of over 300,000. It also deals in multiple products, including clothing, electronics, and jewelry, toys, and gardening supplies. My role at Joy’s Ltd. as a sales assistant created a good platform for me to improve my communication skills, which will assist me to carry out the job effectively.
Describe a Time when You Had to Handle Multiple, Competing Priorities. What Did You Do? Provide Specifics.
As an intern at Joy’s Ltd, it was challenging to balance the assigned tasks with my coursework. To create a balance between the two priorities, I was forced to work extra hours and do most of my coursework in the evening. At Joy’s Ltd., I was involved in attending to the customers and developing new accounts for them. I was not used to such pressure; therefore, I had to devise strategies on how to strike a balance between the two. Since I was working for 6 hours a day at the company, I dedicated my free time to catch up with the lessons that I had not covered. That helped me to do both tasks efficaciously and avoid being overwhelmed by the stress I got from the double workload. Thanks to the experience, I realized that effective time management is all that is required to handle competing priorities. Even during the times when I had to work for more than 6 hours at Joy’s Ltd., during the night, I had to extend the course work time to catch up with my peers. If a similar situation were to happen while working with Target Corporation, I would easily manage it as I have gained the requisite understanding of the importance of good time management; therefore, I have the resolve one would need to manage any stressful situation at the organizational level.
You Are Competing with A Lot Of Other Business School Applicants. Why Should We Pick You?
Although numerous people are applying for the marketing executive job, I believe I am well positioned to surpass other applicants because of my additional and hands-on skills. While majoring in international business has played a key role in sharpening by knowledge of marketing, I went further by engaging in practical activities when I was working with Joy’s Ltd. In addition, other activities, such as the Youth for Understanding Program and the student exchange program in the United States, helped me to acquire the requisite competencies when it comes to working with other team members. Participating in the exchange program in the United States gave me the opportunity to learn more about the culture by interacting with other learners from various parts of the globe. Moreover, unlike many applicants, I have a deeper insight into the business environment of Target Corporation (Hahn et al., 2005).
What Are Some Qualities That An Individual Possesses That Makes It Difficult to Work with Them?
As a large multinational organization, I will have to work with teams of people from diverse cultural backgrounds. For that reason, one must have the qualities that make it easy to interact with colleagues. Working with Joy’s Ltd. and participating in the student exchange program in the United States enabled me to improve my skills in dealing with people from different parts of the world. I have excellent communication and teamwork skills, which put me in a better position to form good relationships with my fellow employees. Therefore, some of the qualities that can hinder human resources from working with one another include poor interaction abilities and low emotional intelligence. According to Carmeli (2003), emotional intelligence is the pressure exerted by the sentiment aspect in making decisions. The lack of it lowers the probability of members of a team having an open and honest interaction with each other as everyone is more focused on pushing their interests in making certain verdicts rather than being sensitive to other people’s feelings. As a result, having a low emotional IQ can be a hindrance to social engagement in an organization.
What Is Your Greatest Weakness? What Have You Done So Far to Try to Improve in This Area?
Having grown in China, I identified myself with people of my race for quite some time. This was so much that I did not stand working or attending social events that would attract people from other races. However, after taking part in the Youth for Understanding Program, it helped me to change my perception of other racial groupings. Since the United States is a country with multiple races and cultures, interacting with students from other backgrounds has helped to appreciate other races. Back in my motherland, I was mostly surrounded by people from my race; thus, I saw no need to have anything with non-Chinese individuals. However, I did not understand that I only felt that it was okay to ignore minorities because I was part of the majority. I was hard hit by the reality when I went to the United States, where I suddenly became part of the minority. At first, the situation kept me looking around for people of Asian descent specifically Chinese, to interact with them only to realize that they also had a totally different culture from their counterparts in China. The experience helped me to appreciate the importance of diversity in an organization and the significance of knowing how to interact with persons from varied backgrounds.
What Would You Consider To Be Your One Greatest Strength?
My greatest strength relates to my capacity to communicate effectively in Chinese, Mandarin, and English, which is my second language. Additionally, I can work with people from different backgrounds, which assists in nurturing strong work team with the other employees. Since Target Corporation is a multinational firm, it requires employees from diverse cultures that can easily synchronize with other employees. During the student exchange program, I was able to take the lead role and direct students from other universities and of different races during team building activities (Maguire & Pitceathly, 2002). Communication is a vital skill for structuring strong relationships as I experienced all through my childhood. My excellent interaction abilities have helped me to interact and coexist harmoniously with people from different backgrounds. In addition, the skills enabled me to become a valuable part of every team that I joined, including when I was working as an intern and during the exchanged program.
Where Do You Want Your Career to Go in the Next 5 or 10 Years?
When posted in China or any part of the world as a marketing executive, I plan to be dedicated to helping the company to increase the number of its customers. In the next 5-10 years, I will ensure that Target Corporation achieves its global expansion plan. At the same time, I would want to gain the requisite experience and further my education by pursuing a Master’s in International Business Management. As a result, I will have a better chance of advancing my career and clinching other top positions at the organization. In addition, since Target Corporation is a company that will continue to grow, working for it will give me the opportunity to work on the international front. My drive to pursue higher education related to the field of marketing can be attributed to my passion for a sales job. Working for Target Corporation and advancing my academic knowledge will position me to achieve my ambitions of leading large employee teams in the future. Within a span of the next five years, I plan to enroll for an online course so that I will keep on working for Target Corporation even after attaining my master’s degree.
Have You Ever Faced an Ethical or Value Conflict in Your Job? Explain the Situation and How You Handled It?
The ethical challenge that I was faced with was when I was confronted by my friends who wanted me to connect them to different posts in the company I was working. Although they were not qualified for the sales assistant job, they wanted me to lie to my employer so that they would be considered for the job. Due to my influence, and the trust that I had with my boss, they knew lying about their qualifications would make him hire them without conducting a detailed investigation. Although this may have gone unnoticed, once it was discovered, it would have ruined my reputation, in addition to leading to low sales as a result of relying on incompetent sales assistants. I refused to fall for their trap because it is unethical to lie about one’s qualifications. Hiring based on friendship can also ruin the reputation of the organization among its stakeholders.
Tell Me about a Time when You Had to Solve a Problem with Very Little Guidance or Direction.
I have been acquainted with solving the problems since primary school level. When most of my friends engaged in conflicts, they would usually run to me for solutions. What is more, I helped to address the various group issues that faced the leadership of our student organization. When I was appointed to head the University of Toledo student organization, I was faced with a major issue of selecting the right assistant. Two of them were equally qualified, and they both wanted the position. This forced me to strike a deal between the two, where I ended up creating a new post of chairman of the operations of the board of student leaders. The initiative helped to solve the issue and created an opportunity to focus on other factors. Although conflict resolution, especially at the organizational level, is not a skill that I had been taught, the idea to create a new post was based on my desire to create a harmonious working environment for all the parties involved.
What Additional Questions Can I Answer for You?
As a marketing executive, is it important to advance my career in the same field, such as taking a Master’s in International Business Management, or should I consider enrolling for a Master’s in Human Resource Management, based on my aspiration to become an executive manager in the future?
What does the term ‘diversifying the workplace’ signify? Does the practice contribute to the competitive advantage of a multinational retail company?
References
Carmeli, A. (2003). The relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudes, behavior and outcomes: An examination among senior managers. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18(8), 788-813.
Hahn, L., Kwak, L., & Palys, J. (2005). Target Corporation. Retrieved from http://economics-files.pomona.edu/jlikens/SeniorSeminars/sagegroup2005/Reports/Targetreport.pdf
Maguire, P., & Pitceathly, C. (2002). Key communication skills and how to acquire them. BMJ, 325(7366), 697-700.
