Morgan Messana; The TJX Companies
Welcome to our VIMspiration Weekly Blogs!
We will be sharing helpful career tips, Q&As with industry professionals and career advice from past MSU and VIM Alumni!
This week we will be hearing from Morgan Messana. She is currently an Allocation Analyst for The TJX Companies. Morgan is an MSU alumna and has great advice to share! Head to Morgan’s LinkedIn to learn more.
Q: Give a brief explanation of your position and the company that you work for some background.
A: TJX is the parent company of seven off-price retail chains globally, including TJ Max, Marshall’s, and Home Goods. I was hired as a part of the company’s merchandising development program where my current role is allocation analyst and work my way up to a buyer.
Q: What does your day to day responsibilities/tasks look like?
A: Every day is different! currently, I’m an analyst for Marshall’s in the activewear and swimwear department. I start my week by analyzing how business was the previous week (Top vendors, best selling styles, and what geographic parts of the country performed the best). Then I use this information to come up with a strategy to distribute the awesome products that the buyers buy to the stores and I spend the rest of the week executing this strategy.
Q: What experience or lesson best prepared you for your current position?
A: I had an internship with Buckle that made me realize how passionate I was about product and the influence that I could have on sales. One thing I took away from my internship is how to build a merchant mindset, something that is really important working at TJX. This basically means being able to put your personal opinions on product aside and think about it from the eyes of the person who is going to be buying it and that their opinion will probably differ from your own.
Q: What was an obstacle that you faced or something you found difficult when beginning your career?
A: I think something that took some getting used to and was a huge adjustment from college was the fact that every day is a completely new challenge and you have to be ready to provide solutions almost immediately because you’re responsible for millions of dollars of business.
Q:What is your favorite part of your job?
A: My favorite part of working at TJX is how close I get to be to the product and being able to go into our stores and see that the product is on the floor because I chose to send it there! It’s so rewarding every week to see your department increase sales from last year.
Q: How did you go about finding this position and getting an interview?
A: TJX was recruiting on campus last year and I went to some info sessions where I expressed my interest to the recruiters. I then completed my interview process on campus.
Q: What advice do you have for college students starting to look for a future career?
A: Always be curious! Whether you’re at the career fair or in the middle of an interview, I’ve learned that one of the number one things that the recruiters from TJX look for is candidates who are genuinely curious and eager to learn.
Liv OConnell