-I loved the internship. It was fun and informative... But ultimately, I ended up leaving Target. Why? Because the experience in the internship looked good on a resume and I was able to find something better without the BS, politicking, and ass kissing.
Take the intern. Take everything you can learn from it... AND LEAVE.
BTW if you wondering....
-My ETL mentor left Target shortly before I did
-2 other ETLs left the company due to stress after going to other (high volume) stores
-My STL had to start therapy after accepting her role because of the stress and headaches of being a retail manager
Take it for the experience. ETL life is alright for a few years but time much better spent building a career somewhere else. I've seen ETLs from new to seasoned leave Target to pursue less stressful jobs. Also iSign said- "target is good at training managers for other companies"... Very true. Look at Car Max or Home Depot. A lot of their managers are former ETLs or STLs.
True my fromer stl is a regional manager now for carmax. I wonder though how are the interviews to become a intern???? Its it just like talent day???
I was an external hire (but I had previous management experience at Kmart), so I can't speak to the internal hiring process. But, the interview was pretty standard... Tell me about a time type questions. Most questions (I won't share exact questions, but you can go to glassdoor.com for them) involve team situations, time management, etc.
Interview process was straight forward... First was on campus with an STL/ETL-HR, second was DTL/STL, and final was the group leader. In between I heard from the group recruiter. I always received a followup e-mail and phone call within the time they stated. The whole process only took 8 weeks from career fair at my campus to offer.
As an internal hire, you will probably need to speak to your ETL-HR and STL for sponsorship (again, not an internal hire, but one of my team members was going for the internship). Have a firm grasp of your wins and opportunities! And speak to them!!
Just a couple words of wisdom/"just be aware":
-Should you choose to continue in an ETL role, know that relocation options are EXTREMELY limited. So if are looking to move or relocate, there is 95% chance it will NOT be approved. Doesn't matter how good you are, or how much you ask, you won't be able to relocate outside of a limited scope (i.e., spouse, military, etc).
-You do not get to pick your workcenter, both for the internship and ETL assignments. As a matter of fact, you will probably get the opposite of what you want, should you say something to your ETL... I mentioned to my ETL that merchandising was an opportunity, well my ETL assignment would have been in Salesfloor.
-As you said earlier, spending time as an ETL will take away from other opportunities. Do the internship, stay as an extended, then leave! Don't deal with the stress as an ETL. I strongly suggest getting out of retail all together... Unless you go corporate...
-Which reminds me, don't expect to be able to go into corporate by working as an ETL or intern. You will better chance as an external hire.