Archived Best work center/position for independent, hard-working individual?

[Hardlinesmaster]

The unemployment office.

This is not a company that likes hard working independent thinkers. Seriously. They need people to drink the koolaid. Doing other people's work isn't seen as a good thing because assume you will do it then on.

I know my posts can be a little...snarky....sometimes, but what is the koolaid reference? Is it from a movie? I hear it in the store. Here. It's time to know!

Back in the '70s a man named Jim Jones had a cult that moved to Guyana and he convinced a few hundred people to drink kool-aid that was spiked with cyanide.

Don't forget the others who passed away there too. Non members.

 

[talan123]

I am getting too old...

Think of it as "Incestuous Amplificatioon."

 

[pfreshdude]

Why not do Pfresh? It is a good paygrade, you mainly just work by yourself, and it is a challenge and for someone who likes to do alot of work there is ALWAYS something you can do. Also, leadership doesnt have too much say in your day. I like it, and while you are on the floor and helping guests, I generally never have to cashier or answer phone calls unless they are in Market.

 

[Bucky]

As the signing person, I am a biased. But I would say signing. I take my breaks when I want without even having to check with anyone. If I have a lot of work one day, I will skip a break and make it up tomorrow. And each new ETL that comes along is amazed at how much I know about all parts of the store, from food ave to RX to backroom. Plus, I do all the ordering. So, everyone comes to me when they need something. If it is someone I don't particularly like, I will smile and say, "What is the part number? I need that to order it. You will have to get that for me first." Just to keep the rabble in line. LOL. Receiving is cool too. But you are a slave to that buzzer. Keep leaning on it buddy. That makes me get there faster.

 

[Dr Laytex]

Receiving is cool too. But you are a slave to that buzzer. Keep leaning on it buddy. That makes me get there faster.

Tapping your foot and sighing while I'm checking you in also makes me move faster.

 

[Retail Girl]

Heck...any position on our salesfloor on the two week out schedule will apply to this: one person electronics, one person softlines, one person hardlines. One for the morning, one for the evening. Woe to any guests who need assistance or the front end who needs back up.

 

[insiteful1]

Heck...any position on our salesfloor on the two week out schedule will apply to this: one person electronics, one person softlines, one person hardlines. One for the morning, one for the evening. Woe to any guests who need assistance or the front end who needs back up.

Hardlines in the morning?!?! I want that store!!!!

 

[Retail Girl]

Well, the morning one would just be weekends. Otherwise hardlines doesn't consist of anyone but the CTL before sometime in the afternoon, depending on the day.

 

[greydot]

Ask & be willing to learn something new.

Thanks, but is it really HR that I ask? Shouldn't I go to a TL or something also?

Additionally, it is possible just to cross train and try something out for a while, then go back if it doesn't work out, no? Or switch back and forth on different days?

Since you are on FLOW your easiest way is to approach the Plano TL. Tell them that you are underscheduled and would love to cross train in that area as it seems interesting to you. First they may have you come in and just help get out the push for the team. Should some time arise they can start to train you. This is a way to kind of "work both workcenters". Or if there is an actual opening on the team, just apply and see how it goes.

 

[Deli Ninja]

Ask & be willing to learn something new.

Thanks, but is it really HR that I ask? Shouldn't I go to a TL or something also?

Additionally, it is possible just to cross train and try something out for a while, then go back if it doesn't work out, no? Or switch back and forth on different days?

Knowing all areas, is a way being global at spot. More hours for you. Just ask & say I can do it. If you are trained correctly, no problem. Not sure, just ask us, we will help you.
Swap shift is a good thing too.

On of the big problems in my store, I feel, is that you have to pester and rag on people for training, even in your own area. You're hardly ever given all the training you need anymore, not to mention that there's a chronic PDA shortage. I'm surprised no one's stashing one in the Jewelry boat at the moment.

 

[Nov17]

Ask & be willing to learn something new.

Thanks, but is it really HR that I ask? Shouldn't I go to a TL or something also?

Additionally, it is possible just to cross train and try something out for a while, then go back if it doesn't work out, no? Or switch back and forth on different days?

Knowing all areas, is a way being global at spot. More hours for you. Just ask & say I can do it. If you are trained correctly, no problem. Not sure, just ask us, we will help you.
Swap shift is a good thing too.

On of the big problems in my store, I feel, is that you have to pester and rag on people for training, even in your own area. You're hardly ever given all the training you need anymore, not to mention that there's a chronic PDA shortage. I'm surprised no one's stashing one in the Jewelry boat at the moment.

Oh that's funny, because when i first started, on flow team, I didn't actually receive any official 'training', just some guy who gave me a basic explanation of how to read the labels and find the appropriate place for things to go. The rest I learned through mimicry and asking questions here and there.
Pretty sure that goes for my store as well. I have no knowledge of how 'training' works here, if it does exist.
I'm a bit too cowardly to confront anyone about this, and maybe afraid of change, so i may stick with flow for now.

 

[Santee]

I trained myself in all the equipments available to me (WAVE,Crown,Bailer,power jack,heck even the PDAs).never been asked if I was "certified" or trained.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

I trained myself in all the equipments available to me (WAVE,Crown,Bailer,power jack,heck even the PDAs).never been asked if I was "certified" or trained.

Hr will ask eventually..

 

[TiedAndDropped]

I trained myself in all the equipments available to me (WAVE,Crown,Bailer,power jack,heck even the PDAs).never been asked if I was "certified" or trained.

I've been asking to be trained on the WAVE and stacker for years, but it never happens. Never got any real backroom training either, so when I got tired of waiting for my pulls to be done I trained myself - with a little help from backroom day TMs.

A few times I've been asked to stay an hour or two beyond a scheduled shift in instocks to help out backroom day, and they don't seem to care that I'm not certified.

 

[mrknownothing]

You'll do great in a food area. Market/PFresh is not so bad once you get the hang of it. Moving from the floor to a food area was the best Target choice I ever made. More money and less B.S.!

[cue rebuttal from pfreshdude]

 

[artforoxygen]

Depends greatly on the team, but Instocks. I did have to pick up slack of others a lot of the time(crappy coworkers in general) but when you divide the task lists it becomes very self-oriented. I loved finishing a difficult list before the rest of team who had easier lists.

Agree with this completely. I think backroom is a higher pay grade tho..

I was able to keep my paygrade when they "kicked me out" of the backroom. Not sure who's fault that is but I'm not complaining.

 

[pfreshdude]

You'll do great in a food area. Market/PFresh is not so bad once you get the hang of it. Moving from the floor to a food area was the best Target choice I ever made. More money and less B.S.!

[cue rebuttal from pfreshdude]

Well I wont disagree. Being salesfloor you pretty much have no choice what you do and in the order you do. They say do X, you do X. You tell them your done with X, they tell you to do Y next, and you do Y. While there are certain things in Pfresh that you need to do first you work independently and dont have too much contact with the LOD other than the Sales Walk mostly. Now, market hours at my store have been cut and it does suck, but ive just decided to say "screw it" and ill get done what I will get done with and do my best, ive decided to stop caring about alot of things in market now and whatever happens will be directly the fault of my CTL since they are there about 50% of the alloted hours and always during the day when we can actually do things other than zone and push.

 

[TargetOldTimer]

I read your initial post and thought, he would like signing.

Its definitely a job for a hyper, OCD, perfectionist! LOL!

I would go for plano and communicate to your ptl that you would prefer to set by yourself.

 

[Parker51]

Just trying to get some opinions, which I'm sure will be quite varied. Anyway, I ask because I'll have some freedom to steer where I'm headed soon - I'm a backroom TM who is currently working remodel during our Pfresh transition. I can definitely go back to backroom, could do Plano, and was also told Market was the best place for me. I could probably petition for work centers other than those as well.

I'm a hard worker, detail-oriented, and I like to go as fast and as smart as possible. I don't mind working with a team, I'm friendly with pretty much everyone at the store, but I HATE being held back by a team. When I have to stand around waiting on a lazy person or else do their work for them before I can do my own, I do go slightly crazy. I really love the variety and independence I've had during remodel - my favorite part so far was being told "This week you're moving cosmetics to a temp section, all by yourself, figure out how to do it." I took that and ran with it, think I did an awesome job. I think signing would be great but we have an awesome signing person already.

So who has a fun, fast, but somewhat independent job at Target?

You sound like you might be an ideal candidate for bike builder. I'm pretty much left alone as my store's builder, though I suspect that I've earned that status from reliable work over a long period of time. I'm probably not the fastest, but I likely have the least assembly errors, defective returns, and throwaway losses among other stores in the district. I will order and replace parts for bikes that are broken out of the box, or for fixable returned bikes that can be sold as new. Only down side is that it's hard to get a lot of hours, especially year-round. Even in larger stores that sell lots of bikes, the approach seems to be to train several bike builders to minimize turnover impact. Best arrangement is a small store with a large bike display, so you get the PG7 promotion as the primary builder. To keep my hours up, I combine bike building with sales floor, and occasionally signing during the holiday workloads. You might be able to combine bike building with evening back-room for a similar sweet deal.

 

[Punch Correction]

Go for SFT.

 

[Unreturnable]

Probably no one will care, but here is an update on my Target career:

I'm still a student, doing one or two classes a semester, but I need money for mortgage and an upcoming wedding, so I have to get that from Target. Started Backroom truck days, moved to Remodel, back to Backroom. Became official Backroom trainer, trained for Receiving backup, now being moved to permanent Receiving with emphasis on leadership development. I would have loved Signing, but we have a 10-year veteran at the Signing position who isn't moving anywhere. So, as much as I'd like to be myself and be quiet and independent, these days I walk around with a walkie and communicate with LOD and TLOD and everyone else about everything everywhere and work on my leadership, all for the money. It's not too bad so far. Thanks for all the replies to my original post!

 

[Softlines Owns My Soul]

One time we had some put kool aid in the water cooler, it was fantastic

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Probably no one will care, but here is an update on my Target career:

I'm still a student, doing one or two classes a semester, but I need money for mortgage and an upcoming wedding, so I have to get that from Target. Started Backroom truck days, moved to Remodel, back to Backroom. Became official Backroom trainer, trained for Receiving backup, now being moved to permanent Receiving with emphasis on leadership development. I would have loved Signing, but we have a 10-year veteran at the Signing position who isn't moving anywhere. So, as much as I'd like to be myself and be quiet and independent, these days I walk around with a walkie and communicate with LOD and TLOD and everyone else about everything everywhere and work on my leadership, all for the money. It's not too bad so far. Thanks for all the replies to my original post!

You are green, that is plus. good job.