Target Reviews in Los Angeles, CA Area

Pros

Good pay, easy to talk to management, everyone was very friendly, time off was given whenever you needed it, flexible with your hours, etc.

Cons

Your performance was directly related to how many Target credit cards you got customers to open (pointless), when people didn't show up for their shift in a small department (food, photo, garden, carts) you were coerced to fill that shift even if you had no idea what you were doing. Several times I had to work serving food, no training, wholly different POS. Just got dropped off there.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't focus so much on the Target credit cards. Listen to your employees on the front lines. "Genchi Genbutsu".. go and see.

Pros

Great way to grow as a leader. The company treats you well as an employee. The pay is competitive. Tons of feedback.

Cons

It is retail, and hard retail. The feedback is often and blunt. Recognition does come, but it also goes fast. Some leaders are strong personal leaders others are logistics only and are merely focused on getting results.

Advice to Senior Management

More personal leadership is needed. Find peoples goals and skills and allow them to grow Target using their unique styles and creative ways.

Pros

I got to meet a lot of great people who truly believe in what they were doing for the company and did their best to drive sales and deliver exceptional customer service. However, as with any other retail company, it's all about results and "brown-nosing". If you do not deliver or are not on buddy-buddy terms with senior management or district team leaders/business partners then you'll be overlooked and rarely recognized.

This is just my personal experience and I know each store/team/district is different so please do not assume this is how ALL Targets operate.

Cons

LONG hours and under-appreciation.
I worked 50-60 hours a week, which was expected for retail. During the holidays, I worked nearly 65-70 hours a week.
The ETL position is also a big revolving door for college graduates so Target is not being on retention for there are plenty of applicants who are looking for work if you do not do well in your position. The training I received for my position was not adequate at all for I trained in a much larger store and did not know where I was going to be placed until the last week of my "business college". A lot of the routines I learned during my training were not applicable for the store I was placed at was much smaller and placed more of an emphasis on LOD roles for my position.

Advice to Senior Management

Take the time to get to know your employees instead of sitting your office plugging away at your computer or looking through emails. Most people are willing to do put in the work and get YOU recognized as long as you recognize and reward them.

Pros

Really flexible hours since there are more than enough employees to cover gaps in hours. Fairly decent (but not the best) pay. Nice being able to clock in, do your job, and clock out without really having to talk to management if you don't want to. No cash handling skills necessary - drawers are not counted for, cash pulls don't exist, jumping between registers is fine.

Cons

Worked there for four years. No room for advancement within company. Management has no idea what they're doing. Most of them are people who do the intern program thing during college who have never worked a day in their life and all of the sudden are managers. Awful.

Advice to Senior Management

Make them work all the positions on the floor first before telling other people what to do. Having a snooty boss who doesn't even know how to turn off a popcorn popper makes absolutely no sense.

Pros

1. great team, team leader-the people are pretty much awesome (at least in irvine, ca)
2. everyone is nice
3. you get paid for what you do

Cons

1. sometimes it gets busy and you have no choice but to work really hard because...
2.because you are reviewed for everything that you do.
3. need to be pretty specific about what you want to do or else you'll be a cashier for a long long time.

Pros

Leadership skills learned, Exposure to networks, Target brand recognition, Starting pay, Fast, Fun, and friendly teams, Fasts paced environment.

Cons

Benefits are going down, Odd hours worked constantly, over worked during 4th quarter, Stressful environment if in stores.

Advice to Senior Management

Increase recognition to teams and ensure the teams that the corp. decisions made are the right ones.

Pros

Flexible hours.
Coworkers were friendly and cooperative.
Discounts on purchases
Two paid 15 minute breaks and a 45 minute non-paid break.

Cons

Every so often a rude customer.
Stand in one spot for most of the day.
The work is very tedious given that it is awfully repetitive.

Pros

It is a great place to work in terms of corporate culture. It has a lot of support from your peers at different stores and has almost a collegiate feel because of "Business College" training and continuous classes you can take at the regional offices. The people you will work with are awesome 95% of the time and will help you as much as they can. Bonding among team members is very strong, especially among the executive team because of how much hard work you do together and how much time you spend together. You really become like a family and learn across the board.

Cons

You will work your tail off with no changes in pay. You are in charge of your own hours so you get no overtime, even if you work for 24 hours straight. You are expected to show up to work when sick up until the point that you pass out. The work you do isn't that creative or interesting, you are literally running a Target store even though they tell you it's a business aministrative and management position. You will stay late completing the work that hourly paid workers don't finish because they don't care. There are a lot of processes in place that help the corporate culture, but also leave you at a loss because things don't get done quickly.

Advice to Senior Management

Understand more about the different roles on the executive team. Do not micromanage, once you lay out your expectations wait for them to get done. Ask questions about what you can do to help different areas because you don't know how everything works.

Pros

- Decent pay considering I was a seasonal team member. $9.00/hr.
- They pay you in money.
- High turnover rate.

Cons

- Hard to talk to approach anyone in charge.
- Won't hire you long-term even if you work hard.
- High Turnover rate.

Advice to Senior Management

I'd refrain from telling seasonal employees, "See If you like the job. If you like it, you can stay." But what you really mean to say is, "There is a chance we might not hire you long-term because of the economy."

Pros

Despite the terrible time I had with Target because I was misplaced and couldn't get out of the position, when I compare it to the company I'm currently at, it's one of the most recognized brands in the country for a reason. They know what they're doing. As far as the ETL position goes, it really depends on your store. I'd say general pros are:

* Great pay if you've got a college degree.
* Brand prestige/recognition from everyone. Who doesn't love Target?
* Opportunity to put your leadership skills to the test. You're thrown into the environment so you either sink or swim. This can be a good thing if you suck it up and stick it out. You'll know you're made of true leadership when you see how you've transformed the people around you.
* Total ownership of your work/processes, which can be exhilarating (or overwhelming).
* Exemplary management at all levels (all depending on store, district, region).
* Vacation accumulates very easily; time off is never a problem.
* Promotional opportunities are everywhere, but you need to talk/impress the right people.
* With promotional opportunities come bigger salaries.
* Advanced technology/systems to help you do the work as quickly as possible.
* Focus on recognition and teamwork at store, district, regional levels. Despite whatever doesn't happen, I still applaud the effort of aiming to foster a positive culture overall.

Cons

Unfortunately, my store sucked. Thankfully, I still like Target and can acknowledge why it's so successul, but it's not perfect. Overall cons are:

* Public company so things are naturally done in a very bureaucratic manner. S l o w.
* Depending on what district/store you're in, you could be screwed because you've got bad management and as a result, you don't experience leadership/career growth or pros above.
* Politics, politics, politics.
* Doesn't matter *how* you do things, just matters that you get the job done.
* No work/life balance. Your work becomes your life. You're working year-round.

Advice to Senior Management

* Pay attention to the invaluable leaders who transform others around them.
* Do away with the morons who somehow got a job in management.
* Keep pushing the recognition/teamwork culture at all levels.
* Keep promoting.
* Keep hiring smart people over social people. There's a big difference!