Archived Just one day of training, super overwhelmed.

[Market Mana]

Sorry ahead of time for basically writing a novel here! I've got four big chunks of related questions, so I get that it's pretty unreasonable to expect a response to everything I've asked, but any help is 1000% appreciated.

I'm a cashier at my Target, totally new to the company and using modern registers (at my other job I've been working with prehistoric, cranky registers.) When everything goes well, I actually love it. I've had more genuinely nice guests in my two days as cashier for Target than in my whole six months at my first job.

However, today things definitely did not go well. I was scheduled for training but my trainer wasn't there, so I just went to work on a station.

I feel like I screwed up pretty badly quite a few times:

• I had two sisters who were using a ton of coupons and gift cards. I'd do one transaction -- four coupons for whatever products they were looking at -- then ring them up using a gift card, while handing them another gift card for whatever promo they're taking advantage of. After that, they'd start another transaction with a new set of four (but a different brand, so 4 suave, 4 dove, 4 windex, etc). Do I flash my lights and ask my GSTL to come help when the guest clearly has a million coupons, OR am I good to do four to six different transactions of different brands, letting them use a gift card each time from the last transaction (that I provided them, after the machine prompts me to because of promos)?
  
• I found the answer for this one here! ^
  
• This one was definitely my mistake but I'd only dealt with one of those pharmacy envelopes my first day while I had a trainer to walk me through it. Today was my second day. Guest swipes her card while I'm scanning and I hit total before scanning her cartwheel coupon or the pharmacy barcode that she put on the table, and we both realize I've made a mistake. Can she hit "NO" when the machine asks, "Do you want this all on your card?" and restart the payment process without charging her?
  
• Still about the pharmacy mistake: I ended up having to send her to Guest Services, and I guess those types of mistakes take a LONG time to fix, so obviously she was upset and with good reason. I was approached by one of the GS members, though I don't know if he was TL/A, and he was super nice about it but told me to make sure I scan coupons and other guest paperwork before hitting total -- was this a coaching?? Am I already screwing up any chance of Target keeping me by making such a time consuming mistake?
• This one's a less obvious mistake, but I feel like there was a faster way to do it. I had a guest who wanted to purchase four water bottles, each with its own transaction. I'm guessing they were gifts and she wanted a receipt for each so she could say, "Hey, coworker or friend, you owe me this much." I rung them up, one at a time, each transaction done with cash. There was a lot of back and forth with her handing me twenties and tens, and me handing her tens and change. Should I have rung them all up under one transaction and selected "gift receipt" (which I have no clue how to do right now, though my trainer did tell me the process my first day)? Is there a way to get gift receipts to show the price of the item, if she'd asked me to do that?

Onto part two of this ridiculously long post.

I flashed my lights so much today. I feel like I'm the only one flashing them! Is this common to feel like you're doing poorly when there are maybe five other trainees on with you but you don't see them -- their struggles and achievements -- or am I lagging behind? I don't want a pat on the back or anything. I legitimately feel like maybe I'm asking my GTSL and senior cashiers dumb questions, or too many questions, but I saw some here on TBR say that they (GSTL) really want you to ask for help and clarification when you need it.

I just feel like I can almost hear the sighs from the ex-trainers and GS team when I flip those switches (not that anyone's actually told me to knock it off! Aside from really sparse training, everyone is so helpful.)

Some newbie questions I have:

• After clocking in, do I just run up to GSTL and say, "Just starting my shift, where do you need me?" or do I get on a register right away?
  
• When I start on a register, do I function > open drawer immediately to check for + order change / file out all the bills before even turning on my light?
• If I'm told, "Your break is at X", do I ring up a guest that approached me a minute before my break and let the customers after them know that I'm about to close my register, or is that against vibe/policy and rude to do??
• Where the heck do I find out everyone's names? Is there a place other than the trainer board with pictures + faces? (I'm assuming this is probably depending on each store, but I wanted to ask in case I'm missing something big!)
• I am a big cheeseball and feel like filling out a dozen of those "#You"/Vibe cards because so many people have been helpful, but should I avoid dishing those suckers out like I've got a confetti gun until I have more to say than "X, thank you so much for being patient with me today." or "Y, you were my guardian angel on Friday!"?

And finally, part four of my five-hundred page saga!

On training elsewhere in the store:

My store has crazy amounts of business. If there's no downtime, do I just ask HR if they can schedule me for training in other parts of the store sometime that week, or does a TL have to suggest I go check out other areas?

The thing is that I have another job at a tiny one-off retail store, and actually have a ton of experience doing fitting rooms, exchanges (similar to guest services, as I hold keys and fill in for the manager-on-duty when they're on break,) floor upkeep (similar to softlines,) signage, and cash shop/office stuff (I help count deposits, fill out the deposit slip, escort the manager-on-duty to the bank, and count store receipt copies.)

That said, working at a specialized retail store is entirely different from a large department store like Target with its own established routines. Everything is on a much smaller scale. From what I've seen here, softlines is for sure more complicated than what I do at my other job -- setting up floor sets, adjusting buckets and promos, putting out go-backs, and straightening racks. I'm not sure if I'm overstepping some boundary asking to check out other areas my first week into cashiering, but I'd like to see other parts of my store and gain some flexibility.

You've made it to the end! Woohoo! Thanks for reading. If I was TL, I'd totally recognize you. #You make Target, wink wink.

 

[Kartman]

tldr

Every day it will get better...

Persevere!

 

[radiochu]

using modern registers

...are you sure you work at a Target? haha...

anyway, GSA here, and you sound just like every new cashier I've ever seen. trust me, it will get much easier. try to make friends with a veteran cashier, lean over and ask them questions whenever you need to. flashing your light is also okay. typically, GSAs/GSTLs don't care if you ask a lot of questions, as long as you remember the answers and aren't constantly asking the same things.

yes, call your leadership for help with couponers until you are more comfortable with them or if you suspect anything fishy.

unless you were specifically told you were getting coached and it was going on paper, no, it's probably not going to get logged. again, you're new. you're learning. in the payment situation you referenced, yes, if they choose no, it'll let you get back to a screen where you can go back and void all the payments to get back to the item screen and add in Cartwheel, coupons, etc. for a payment mistake specifically, no, it doesn't take a long time to fix - we have a function on the register called 'fix a mistake' specifically for these kinds of situations, which can be used after the whole transaction is done to fix wrong prices, wrong payments, missed discounts, missed coupons... ask your GSTL/GSA how to use this. it will save the guest time because they won't have to go to guest service, it'll keep your guest service TMs happy because they won't be fixing mistakes you should be fixing yourself, and it's just super easy. of course, it's better to remember not to make those mistakes in the first place.

starting shift - yes, see your GSTL. typically you won't need to stock your lane when you first get there; it should have either been done at closing the night before or by the person who ran the lane before you if there was one. so far as breaks, this is a good example of how ASANTS (all stores are not the same). ask your leadership what they want you to do. at our store, cashiers are expected to wait for the GSA/GSTL to tell them to go, and the cashier can leave as soon as their current line is clear, with the leader helping block off their line so new guests don't join, or the cashier can politely say they're going on break and point them to other lines.

I have a cashier who writes like 10 million vibe cards every day she works. or whatever they're calling the new ones now. everyone likes recognition, even for little things. visitors from district and region like to see a full vibe board when they visit. so go for it.

as far as crosstraining, just mention it to your team lead and possibly to HR. it'll stick in their minds and if they see you're a hard worker where they are they may ask if you want to at some point.

 

[Market Mana]

...are you sure you work at a Target? haha...

anyway, GSA here, and you sound just like every new cashier I've ever seen. trust me, it will get much easier.

LOL well I use something like this beauty at my other job, except ours are even missing the glossy button covers:

They hard freeze and we have to reset the whole system when they take too long, all while the customers are waiting on the items they might have already been charged for. Always fights with me over coupons. Likes to shred my receipts, too! Lots and lots of fun.

Reading your response, I feel a lot better about my relationship with my store's GS team knowing that they probably expect me to have some questions. Still feel like I'm asking more questions than average, especially as someone who's somewhat experienced compared to a few of the TMs who are just starting in retail, but it's probably better not to focus on anyone else's work, anyway!

I think the pharmacy mistake I made was a little more complicated than I'm explaining here, but I don't really know what happened, just that I charged her REDcard without using this pharm envelope she set on the station. I think it might have been some sort of coverage paper, I've only seen one other while shadowing my trainer a few days ago. Anyway, I scanned the receipt and hit "Fix Mistake > Missed Coupon" but my GSTL came over and actually told her it wasn't something I could do at the register, and it could take all day to fix, so I have idea what exactly the papers were -- only that I had my GSTL and GSA come talk to me about it (or at least not missing any extra things I had to scan) as I went on break.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my post, it's a big help seeing how GSAs/GSTLs view new cashiers.

 

[judgemental]

1. Yes the guest can hit no or if you're fast enough you can hit cancel on your side (K8 I believe) and just scan all the coupons you missed and have her run her card through.

2. No it wasn't a coaching. You'll know when it's a coaching when they specifically say it's a coaching or they have you sign a paper acknowledging that you know that you're getting coached.

3. The gift receipt really kind of depends honestly. If the guest wants different receipts do it separately, but if she just wants a gift receipt just let her know that you can easily do the whole transaction together and give her gift receipts for each item.

4. Don't even worry about flashing your light too much. Yes sometimes GSTLs/GSAs don't like it, but if you need help do it. If there are other senior cashiers around that can help you you can ask them as well. We all know the struggle of being a new cashier so I think we all try to help each other out.

5. Yes. Usually GSTLs /GSAs have a certain way of putting the cashiers on registers. Ask them where they'd want you and go to that register. Yes. Always check if your lane is clean, has cash in it and you have everything you'll need for your shift whether it's bags, empty go back baskets, paper towels to clean the belt etc.

6. What I would do is I would do it 5 mins before my break. That gives me time to ring up my last guest and close down my register. The 5 min thing also works for when you're clocking out. You have 5 minutes before to help the last guest, clean your area, etc.

7. You really just have to look at name tags or listen to other's when they're talking. It takes a while to learn everyone's names. When I left I still didn't know some people's names.

 

[redeye58]

The water bottles ish sounds like she was wanting to break bills or trying to confuse you if she was giving you $20s or $10s for each & every one.