FCNS professor shown in Kohl's recruiting video

by Mark McGowan

Kohl's department stores are literally popping up everywhere—the company's "explosive growth" accounts for 80 or more new stores each year—and NIU is a part of it. Julie Hillery, associate professor in the Department of Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences' program in textiles, apparel and merchandising, has sent several students for internships with the Wisconsin-based retail giant. Hillery now appears in a new national recruiting video produced for Kohl's interns and managers-in-training and for use at job fairs.

FCNS Associate Professor Julie Hillery appears in a recruiting video for Kohl's.

"Kohl's asked me if I would feel comfortable talking about the internship program in a video, and they came to campus," she said. "They also filmed a lot of the video in the Batavia store, where two of my former students are managers-in-training."

Hillery appears briefly in the six-minute production.

"I've worked with Kohl's for several years with their internship program and I've found it to be a wonderful experience for my students," she said on the video. "First off, being it's a very structured program, they seem to enjoy knowing that they're going to do when they go into the store. I like the idea, too, that they're immediately involved in management decisions and they get to view Kohl's from a management perspective."

Kohl's treats its interns as true managers.

"It's a lot of responsibility, not a sales job," she said. "They have a pretty good idea after the program whether they want to be involved with retail management."

Beryl Buley, executive vice president of stores for Kohl's, also appears in the video. Buley said the company's growth demands a strong internship program to find and groom new managers.

"It's really important to have a group of people coming up through the ranks, people who are learning Kohl's," Buley said on the video. "A student can become a store manager in a couple years."

Students in Hillery's program are required to gain work experience through an internship or a co-op. She has placed about five students in Kohl's internships, a coup for her program and for the students.

"It is very competitive, especially because Kohl's is so successful. It's one of the great stories of retail," she said. "The student who interned there last summer was offered a position in the management training program, even though doing an internship there is no guarantee of employment. You have to go prove yourself."