Lazard Capital Markets Retail internship: people watching at the mall?

burnincrab:

Honestly, sounds like BS work to me, they just want people to run around, visit malls, and collect some info. I wouldn't do it personally. BUT if I were a freshman, I would potentially think about doing it just for some experience.

Retail Merchandising Internship- Mall and Outlet Centers Lazard Capital Markets Posted: May 16, 2012 DIVISION Research JOB DURATION Full year APPROXIMATE HOURS PER WEEK 2-10 NUMBER OF OPENINGS 10 SALARY LEVEL $10 Per report TRAVEL PERCENTAGE No Travel

Employer Profile DESCRIPTION Retail Merchandising Internship- Paid If you love to be in mall or outlet centers, this is the perfect internship for you. We are looking for students to visit retail malls and outlet centers and report on activity, promotions and customer preferences.

Responsible for providing critical merchandising analysis, in addition to recording promotional posture, inventory levels, and reporting mall traffic patterns. We are looking for students to go to specialty apparel retailers and outlet centers and report their findings (sales trends, traffic trends, inventory positions, promotional activity, etc.) back to us. Interns’ findings will be used in our proprietary research that provides detailed and unbiased investment advice of consumer/apparel driven publicly traded companies for institutional investors. Our internship program will help participants become acclimated with analyzing a retailer’s fashion hits, misses and risks while monitoring leading sales indicators. We will work with interns so they can learn about equity research and see how the information they provide us is used in our investment decision –making process. Interns will receive our research data on a monthly basis.

Hours: Hours are flexible. Store visits are to be completed on Saturday and Sunday when the malls are the busiest to observe shopping preferences and behaviors. Students are expected to submit 5 reports per week or more.

Days: We require our store visits to be conducted on Saturday or Sunday, with written reports emailed by Monday morning 9:00 AM EST.

Locations: Mall and Outlet Centers across United States

Payment: $10 Per submitted report

Requirements: Interns must be able to effectively articulate their weekly findings (we require write-ups in a supplied format). Prior retail experience is a plus, and certainly an interest in retail is a necessity. We are looking for students to report weekly as consistency is important. Please take this requirement into consideration when applying.

Outlet malls: We are also in need of students to report on outlet stores. Please indicate in your cover letter if you are able to visit outlet malls on a regular basis.

Year round program: Our program is ongoing. If hired and in good standing, you may work during the school year, summers and breaks.

Must be U.S. citizen. No exceptions.

Contact: Please send resumes and cover letter in Word or pdf format. Each resume received will receive a personal reply. Please indicate any retail experience you have. Additionally, please indicate if you are able to visit local outlet centers on a regular basis.

About Lazard Capital Markets Research- Our industry-focused professionals strive to identify the emerging themes and trends that drive the outlook for their sectors and then rigorously apply their insights to determine how they may affect the financial results of the companies in their coverage universe. Our research is broadly recognized not only for its intelligence and thoroughness, but also for its clarity and focus on achieving absolute objectivity.

QUALIFICATION Must have interest in retail and be able to visit retail and outlet centers on weekends

Where did you get this?

To answer OP's question: "Our internship program will help participants become acclimated with analyzing a retailer’s fashion hits, misses and risks while monitoring leading sales indicators. We will work with interns so they can learn about equity research and see how the information they provide us is used in our investment decision –making process. Interns will receive our research data on a monthly basis. "

If that is true then you could definitely find something to talk about / spin it for interviews.