Archived ETL Assignments?

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Hi all,

Could someone explain how the two 18 month 'assignments' for ETLs work? Do they have to be at two different stores? If so, is there a minimum distance the two stores need to be from each other?

The ETLs that I spoke with all did their two assignments on opposite sides of the country; I'm hoping that there might be a way to accomplish the two assignments without completely uprooting and moving to a new state.

Thanks!
 
Assignments will almost always be at different stores, in different positions. There's always the opportunity to transfer if you wanted to relocate somewhere, but it's not mandatory by any means. A lot of ETLs just stay in whatever district they were hired in until they get promoted.
 
Thank you BlackRock415! Out of curiosity, by different positions you mean switching from say ETL - Soft Lines to ETL - Human Resources or something along those lines?

As far as promotions go, does it go Team Member -> Specialist/Team Leader -> Senior Team Leader -> ETL -> STL and then on to District/Corporate? Are there positions I'm missing in the chain?
 
Depends on how well you do in each position, how well you kiss ass, how brand you are, how global you prove to be, how much Spot likes you and how much mobility there happens to be at that given moment in your district.
It can also depend on you.
There are folks who discover they are not fans of the politics, having to live on redbull and broken promises, just aren't comfortable in the smiley happy people, cheerleader glee club group speak of the ETLS or that some positions just make them happier than others.
For that matter some people are not prepared to be transfered from a nice suburban store where they can relate to most of the staff to an urban store where they can't or vice versa.
So yea, it all depends.
/snark over.

Keep in mind that just because the post is snark loaded doesn't mean it isn't the truth
 
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Yep! HR, AP, OPS, and LOG are usually second/third assignments. As far as promotions go, it all depends on what you want to do. Everyone's on a succession plan. I have no desire to be an STL, and my HRBP and DTL both know this. For me, if i stay with the company (and that's a big IF) i plan to go:

ETL-AP low risk -> ETL-AP high-risk -> Investigator -> maybe APBP, maybe continue to climb the investigations ladder.

If you have a good district team, they'll work with you to help you get where to want to go. If that's to STL to DTL and beyond, cool. But keep in mind that there are a lot of politics, broken promises, and nonsense you'll have to deal with along the way.
 
Thank you BlackRock415! Out of curiosity, by different positions you mean switching from say ETL - Soft Lines to ETL - Human Resources or something along those lines?

As far as promotions go, does it go Team Member -> Specialist/Team Leader -> Senior Team Leader -> ETL -> STL and then on to District/Corporate? Are there positions I'm missing in the chain?

If your goal is corporate, don't count on it. Yes, sometimes it happens and the stars and moons align and a STL/ETL will be considered for a corporate positions, but it's rare.

So rare that when we had a chat session with our group HRTL (or whatever), that when asked by someone who wanted to eventually go corporate he said, and I quote: "It's possible. But when we train you to run a store, and your experience is in the store, we tend to keep you in the store. I have 70+ stores to find a place for you, but when 1 or 2 positions at corporate open up, its hard to get and usually goes to someone from the outside who is more experienced in that area."

Now, I guess it's easier to get a position in a DC, but again, it's rare. But probably more common then stores>corporate. Many people in the leadership team of the RDC that serves my store came from ETL's at the store level.
 
And it depends. From what I understand, Target will put you in positions that will "challenge" you.

I've seen an ETL with a AP/Log go into an STL role, while another started in AP, then HR, then went to GE.

It depends.
 
What do you think it means that a "new" ETL has been in the same position for two+ years? We have some ETLs who have been here for quite some time, but it's because they'll never go anywhere because they don't want to. This guy thinks he's gonna make STL one day. But if he never gets "cross trained" or moved to another store, it doesn't seem likely to me. Or is this wishful thinking on my part. ;)
 
I believe the ETL succession plan model was changed somewhat over the summer so that the 18 month "turn" cycle didn't have to happen, if the person didn't want to leave their store.

However, I believe if a ETL is a poor performer, or is "needs improvement" status, they must stay in their role or store until performance is improved or they are termed (just like how a TM who is a poor performer wouldn't been considered for a transfer or other job).

ETL's would go through the cycle to be considered for STL role. You can't run a store on just GE, AP, or HR knowledge. You have to be well-rounded. Other retailers require their managers to cycle through positions before being considered for store manager positions. Target is the same.
 
@BlackRock415, thanks for the helpful info and advice (again)! Best of luck climbing the investigations ladder.

@bullseyekindaguy, I've heard of competitors moving store managers up into corporate, but Target seems to have its own way of doing things. Thanks for the info.

@mxrbook, not sure quite what you're referring to with the "new" ETL in the same position for two+ years; I'm actually a summer intern for 2014, I haven't even started working at Target yet. Once I graduate I might end up working as a full-time ETL depending on how the internship goes. And from there, hopefully I can be cross trained, learn from my coworkers, move to different stores, etc. to do my best to become good at what I do.

I'm a planner; I like to look to the future. Its difficult to start a family if work expects you to move halfway across the country for each assignment (thus the reason for the initial question). And as to STL? Who knows, maybe one day. Wishful thinking on my part too, but I consider having high aspirations a positive. Especially in retail.
 
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Thank you BlackRock415! Out of curiosity, by different positions you mean switching from say ETL - Soft Lines to ETL - Human Resources or something along those lines?

As far as promotions go, does it go Team Member -> Specialist/Team Leader -> Senior Team Leader -> ETL -> STL and then on to District/Corporate? Are there positions I'm missing in the chain?

If your goal is corporate, don't count on it. Yes, sometimes it happens and the stars and moons align and a STL/ETL will be considered for a corporate positions, but it's rare.

So rare that when we had a chat session with our group HRTL (or whatever), that when asked by someone who wanted to eventually go corporate he said, and I quote: "It's possible. But when we train you to run a store, and your experience is in the store, we tend to keep you in the store. I have 70+ stores to find a place for you, but when 1 or 2 positions at corporate open up, its hard to get and usually goes to someone from the outside who is more experienced in that area."

Now, I guess it's easier to get a position in a DC, but again, it's rare. But probably more common then stores>corporate. Many people in the leadership team of the RDC that serves my store came from ETL's at the store level.

I wish more people actually understood this. People really don't "get it" that working corporate has literally zero to do with working stores. It doesn't matter if in your career you have worked: Cashier, Sales Floor TM, Logistics TM, Signing, Plano, Sales Floor TL, GSTL, ETL-GE, ETL-AP, ETL-LOG, ETL-HL, STL, DTL. None of those positions have a damn thing to do with *any* job at corporate.

To all you ETL who have dreams of being at corporate because you have held a variety of ETL-WHATEVER positions, hate to break it to you, but it means nothing. You are about as competitive for corporate as the cart attendant. That's how much your store experience matters at corporate.

Oh, and all you ETLs that got your jobs despite the fact you have degrees in art history, psychology, sociology, etc.... hate to tell you this, but you don't stand a prayers chance of going corporate. Unlike stores, what your degree is in actually matters at corporate. If you don't have a degree in business, accounting, marketing, law, or IT all bets are off. Those are the only degrees at corporate that matter, and yes, those fields are required.

Sorry to rant, but this just pisses me off recently because we have two new ETLs who run around bragging that they will make it corporate in a year. Why? Because they think they are just that amazing their first three months on the job.
 
Yep! HR, AP, OPS, and LOG are usually second/third assignments. As far as promotions go, it all depends on what you want to do. Everyone's on a succession plan. I have no desire to be an STL, and my HRBP and DTL both know this. For me, if i stay with the company (and that's a big IF) i plan to go:

ETL-AP low risk -> ETL-AP high-risk -> Investigator -> maybe APBP, maybe continue to climb the investigations ladder.

If you have a good district team, they'll work with you to help you get where to want to go. If that's to STL to DTL and beyond, cool. But keep in mind that there are a lot of politics, broken promises, and nonsense you'll have to deal with along the way.

Ouch.....do your AP homework before you commit to your long term plan. AP is going to look MUCH different in the not so distant future. For instance, my former group now has NO APBP's, NO low risk ETL's, and got rid of 16 APTL's. There is talk of getting rid of ALL ETL AP's (except for maybe the highest of the high risk) and replacing them with TL's or Sr. TL's. I have been talking about this for about a year now, and I am telling you....the future of AP is not bright.
 
I am very much aware of the restructuring going on in AP. However, my group still has APBPs. And APTLs. And ETL-APs in lower risk stores. I have done my homework on the future of AP. Opportunities still exist if you play your cards right, it's just a lot more political these days. So yes it'll be harder, but certainly not impossible if I do choose to stick around.
 
Yep! HR, AP, OPS, and LOG are usually second/third assignments. As far as promotions go, it all depends on what you want to do. Everyone's on a succession plan. I have no desire to be an STL, and my HRBP and DTL both know this. For me, if i stay with the company (and that's a big IF) i plan to go:

ETL-AP low risk -> ETL-AP high-risk -> Investigator -> maybe APBP, maybe continue to climb the investigations ladder.

If you have a good district team, they'll work with you to help you get where to want to go. If that's to STL to DTL and beyond, cool. But keep in mind that there are a lot of politics, broken promises, and nonsense you'll have to deal with along the way.

Ouch.....do your AP homework before you commit to your long term plan. AP is going to look MUCH different in the not so distant future. For instance, my former group now has NO APBP's, NO low risk ETL's, and got rid of 16 APTL's. There is talk of getting rid of ALL ETL AP's (except for maybe the highest of the high risk) and replacing them with TL's or Sr. TL's. I have been talking about this for about a year now, and I am telling you....the future of AP is not bright.
Yep, my first Target had ETL AP, the second did not..

As far as moving stores, I disagree with having to move stores. My ETL Softlines moved to HR at my store, had a new soft lines etl.. next rotation moves went like--> HL to Log, HR to Market, SL to HR ... so I've seen several stay in the same store but I have also seen them move stores. So I guess it depends on the store and if the moves are available..
 
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