Archived Are all new Seasonal TMs start at minimum Target base pay??

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NewSeasonal

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I'm really wondering what's up with that....I was just offered MINIMUM wage ($12) as a sale's floor new hire (Seasonal). I have many years of Retail and Sales experience and all 3 interviewing manager's, including the Store Manager noted mentioned how nice is to have someone with previous Retail experience. They made it sound they are desperate for experienced people, especially Retail experience.
Then the shocker! I was ready to laugh when the HR manager offered $12 starting hourly wage and he was insistent to accept the offer right away!

Are they kidding?? Of course I did not accept their offer but I will need to give them an answer by Wed. (tomorrow). I find it almost insulting to accept a low ball offer like that....I have worked at major big box retailers (Lowe's and Home Depot) in the last 5 years and the starting seasonal hourly pay was more than $12 - that was 5 years ago!

If I'm not mistaken, Target just raised its minimum wage to $12 earlier this year. Which means they are committed to raise the minimum wage again in 2019 to $13 to achieve their projected goal of $15 minimum wage by 2020. So no matter what the experience level of new hires is, everyone will be getting at least $13 by next year. Is my thinking about minimum base pay correct or am I missing something?

How is Management expecting to attract experienced Retail workers with ridiculous offers like mine?
 
Thanks for your replies but I guess those managers were just pretending to value an experienced worker. Obviously, they don't give a crap about education, previous work type or sales experience. At this point of my life I'm not looking for a career as I'm close to retirement age. Anyway, I now realize why Target is hiring like crazy around the Philly area. They are just looking for able bodies to do the grunt work for the upcoming Holiday season and then get rid of most of the Seasonal workers.

I know what my answer to them will be tomorrow ;)
 
NewSeasonal said:
They are just looking for able bodies to do the grunt work for the upcoming Holiday season and then get rid of most of the Seasonal workers.
Click to expand...
Did you pull that "seasonal coworker" definition straight out of the Merriam-Webster New International Dictionary? :)

Because, yes, that's EXACTLY what all retailers who take on seasonal employees do. Hence the name, "seasonal."

A few lucky ones will get to stay on, based on work ethic, reliability, and, yes, maybe even experience.

However, when you're going in as a seasonal coworker, you understand you're basically a temp. Once the season is over, so is your job. They are not at all interested in your previous retail experience as a seasonal candidate. No room for negotiation, for the most part.

Sorry to be so blunt, but, that's temp/seasonal life.
 
Ok, I understand your point abut seasonal work and how their pay is based....Like I said at the beginning, I was a seasonal worker once (a few years back) and at that time I did not expect any high hourly pay for the work. It was $13 hour and that was fine at the time.

Obviously, like someone else said above, previous work experience is not needed for seasonal work and in my case obviously it counts for nothing. Lesson learned and thank you for making me realize once again the cruel reality of Retail. I'm not saying $12/per hour is bad for seasonal work, I'm just very surprised and naïve that my previous retail/sales experience means nothing in this situation.

What threw me off during the interview process, was how important and long the whole process was! I mean, why would anyone have to sit and BS with 4 different managers and waste the Store Manager's time for just hiring a lowly seasonal worker?? Doesn't the Store Manager has anything better to waste his/her time on? I personally never had to speak with more than 2 hiring managers, including the HR manager, during previous job interviews. Obviously, Management @TARGET gave the impression they were really, really interested/valued experienced workers, when all along they only cared about filling the open positions with just bodies (like someone said previously).

Not a problem. Luckily for most of us, this is an employee market and the demand and money is there for experienced retail workers.

To those at Target who make less than $12 hourly, I wonder why they are still working there....Not to offend anyone, but there are plenty of jobs in retail paying more than what Target is offering. Look around and you might be surprised.

Good luck to all and thanks for your comments.
 
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NewSeasonal said:
Ok, I understand your point abut seasonal work and how their pay is based....Like I said at the beginning, I was a seasonal worker once (a few years back) and at that time I did not expect any high hourly pay for the work. It was $13 hour and that was fine at the time.

Obviously, like someone else said above, previous work experience is not needed for seasonal work and in my case obviously it counts for nothing. Lesson learned and thank you for making me realize once again the cruel reality of Retail. I'm not saying $12/per hour is bad for seasonal work, I'm just very surprised and naïve that my previous retail/sales experience means nothing in this situation.

What threw me off during the interview process, was how important and long the whole process was! I mean, why would anyone have to sit and BS with 4 different managers and waste the Store Manager's time for just hiring a lowly seasonal worker?? Doesn't the Store Manager has anything better to waste his/her time on? I personally never had to speak with more than 2 hiring managers, including the HR manager, during previous job interviews. Obviously, Management @TARGET gave the impression they were really, really interested/valued experienced workers, when all along they only cared about filling the open positions with just bodies (like someone said previously).

Not a problem. Luckily for most of us, this is an employee market and the demand and money is there for experienced retail workers.

To those at Target who make less than $12 hourly, I wonder why they are still working there....Not to offend anyone, but there are plenty of jobs in retail paying more than what Target is offering. Look around and you might be surprised.

Good luck to all and thanks for your comments.
Click to expand...
Even when you are not seasonal it won't matter at target. It's ran like a socialist government. We are equal in the eyes of our all mighty Lord, Target
 
There is nothing special about target im jot sure why you would expect different. The only pay starting higher is a tl or etl position. You get .50 more for a main workcenter like apparel or electronics. Target is pretending to be high end while running on a close out and bargains financial rate to give share holders maximum profit. If you yave good work experience I would want better than the burger king of retail :/
 
I don't make $12, but $11, but I choose to stay because:
  • It's easy
  • It's close to my house and other job
  • I save money with the TM and RC discounts
  • They are flexible with my schedule
  • It's kinda fun and very different from my real job
  • Need an excuse to wash my reds and khakis I hadn't worn in years
 
NewSeasonal said:
Anyway, I now realize why Target is hiring like crazy around the Philly area. They are just looking for able bodies to do the grunt work for the upcoming Holiday season and then get rid of most of the Seasonal workers.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

These aren't seasonal "careers", just bodies to do the grunt work. There should have been a job description for you to review while you applied.

I'm sure the store's leadership was thrilled to interview someone with retail experience, but they don't have any extra money to throw your way. You are seasonal (read: getting booted out in January).

Unfortunately, that's how many retailers roll.
 
You had 4 interviews? That's nuts. I had 1 and got offered the position at the end of it.

I don't know if stores are allowed to offer more than base bay for new folks by their corporate overlords.
 
Only pay grade 40 and 45 are eligible for experience pay for external hires. Seasonal TMs aren’t even allowed to be offered above base and typically normal TMs have to be approved by the HRBP to keep it unbiased. Back when I started at target I was offered .25 less than I was making at my previous job and I asked to make .25 more than what they offered just to make a lateral move and I was denied so I took a pay cut coming to target.
 
@OP
It's not that your interviewers didn't value your experience. They were probably mostly just surprised that somebody like yourself wanted to come for a seasonal position at Target.
 
Thanks again for your valued comments on my post.

At the very least this discussion has uncovered one person who gets paid less than minimum Target starting wage. Hopefully he will take it up with management to correct the situation.
I was not aware how seasonal pay is calculated & based on. Thanks to all of you, I now know how the game is played and I understand the logic behind it. Target doesn't really need me and my work experience and I don't need to work for Target if they do not value me. I'd like to work for them but not for their minimum wage. I wanted to work part-time and that's one of the reasons I applied for seasonal work. And the fact the store is very close to my house.

Wishing you all the best
 
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