Archived Career Options After College LOA

[Captain]

I'm a cart attendant/cashier currently on temporary LOA for college, and will be graduating in May of this year with a BS degree. I was wondering if there were any career pathways open for that when I return that I can dive on into.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Be an intern, is your best bet.

 

[Mhugh220]

I second the internship route. Plenty of TMs have a BA,BS, or even a MS and stay at TM. TM to ETL is the longest career path. External hire or internship is much shorter. So quit and apply for ETL when you graduate or do the internship.

 

[Mhugh220]

When you return Target won't be there with open arms ready to give you an executive position or any other promotion. There will be no parade or party to congratulate you on your educational accomplishments. They will let you know the bathrooms need to be cleaned and when you are needed for backup, but that's about it. They might dangle a TL position to keep you interested but a degree means squat when you're already a TM. Externals hires almost always get the job before internals.

 

[HRanon]

^ I have a BS and I'm an HRTM, hired as a seasonal hardlines a year ago actually... I think my leadership team is serious about developing me for the ETL interviews because we've actually been working on it. I opted not to take another job (slightly better paying but still hourly) recently and the DTL on his next visit made sure to walk up and shake my hand and tell me he was glad I was staying with Target.

I'm actually looking for other jobs now though. It's not that I don't think they're serious about helping me, it's that I don't think I'll make it from internally. The odds are against it. I think I need to work elsewhere for awhile and then apply for the internship or ETL interviews.

 

[commiecorvus]

^ I have a BS and I'm an HRTM, hired as a seasonal hardlines a year ago actually... I think my leadership team is serious about developing me for the ETL interviews because we've actually been working on it. I opted not to take another job (slightly better paying but still hourly) recently and the DTL on his next visit made sure to walk up and shake my hand and tell me he was glad I was staying with Target.

I'm actually looking for other jobs now though. It's not that I don't think they're serious about helping me, it's that I don't think I'll make it from internally. The odds are against it. I think I need to work elsewhere for awhile and then apply for the internship or ETL interviews.

Every few years Spot tries to work on it's problem of internal hiring but it never works out very well.
I'm really afraid that glowing orange thing is not the light at the end of the tunnel but the carrot on the stick.

 

[Captain]

Ok, so for those of you saying quit and then apply for ETL, I am already a rehire (been with Target for close to a decade, but a rehire nonetheless). Will already being a rehire affect rehire status?

 

[Mhugh220]

I was a TM, quit for college, joined the Air Force, and then became an ETL-Log. They never questioned my previous employment as a TM. When you apply for ETL your resume and application goes to corporate. A recruiter from Minnesota will call and do a phone interview. If you pass you'll move on to the STL interview, then DTL, and then VP of the region. Pass all and you're in.

As a recruiter I wouldn't question the rehire status. My concern would be that you've been a TM for nearly a decade and haven't progressed to TL. They may take that into consideration but that may not be your case.

 

[Captain]

As a recruiter I wouldn't question the rehire status. My concern would be that you've been a TM for nearly a decade and haven't progressed to TL. They may take that into consideration but that may not be your case.

Even if the entirety of that time has been while I have been in high school and college?

 

[Mhugh220]

@Captain you wouldn't fall into the category I described. Actually Target should be all over TMs like you - worked Target for years, went to school, and still wanting to work for Target. I'll always feel internal hires make good ETLs - with or without a degree.