Archived Keep your head up

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Hello all... This message is to all of the target employees who are wanting to advance in the company without a college degree. Well here is a little background info on me. I worked at Target for 4 years. I enjoyed my time there but did not like how my colleagues were treated when trying to advance in the company as a TL or ETL. The ones who did not hold degrees or we're not liked simply got overlooked and given the "TL in training " or "sitting on the bench" role without actually receiving the promotions. And I can't forget about the Sr. TL's who have more experience than ETL's but cannot become an Exec without the degree... But I digress.I went to college but did not graduate. However, I began freelancing in my field (radio, TV). After a couple of years I landed a permanent job. I started at the bottom, but worked my way up the ladder. I'm not at the top but I'm in a comfortable place. My biased knew I did my have a degree but liked my work ethic. Now I'm a Television producer and freelance with ESPN, Fox, and various television networks. So those of you without degrees, please keep your head up and never give up. If you cannot obtain a degree. Find something that interests you, you never know... That's lead to your calling. Don't allow Target Execs or TL's reel you "you won't succeed without a degree". I'm a witness, hard work pays off! In no way that I'm not saying do not receive a degree. Some fields of work require that... And degrees are wonderful... I'm proud of my wife for obtaining her's! But, keep your head up.. There's plenty of opportunities out there for you to succeed without one. It may take ALOT of work and searching to find them but they are out there.I'll be honest, I kiss the fun I had at Target... But I do not miss how employees at the bottom are treated. Yeah, I know it's retail.. However we must still treat people with dignity and respect.. Never to lead them onhopeless dreams..Have a good one and remember to keep your head up high!
 
Welcome to The Break Room skysthelimit.

Thanks for the good words.
It's always nice to see when people do well and to know that success is possible without all the trappings that society likes to tell us are absolutely necessary.

Small suggestion, it might be easier for folks to read it you broke up the text a bit.
I've just found that reading on a screen is easier if you separate your sentences a bit.

You have such a good message I'd hate to see people skip the post just because it was hard to read.
 
Welcome to The Break Room skysthelimit.

Thanks for the good words.
It's always nice to see when people do well and to know that success is possible without all the trappings that society likes to tell us are absolutely necessary.

Small suggestion, it might be easier for folks to read it you broke up the text a bit.
I've just found that reading on a screen is easier if you separate your sentences a bit.

You have such a good message I'd hate to see people skip the post just because it was hard to read.

Yeah I see that now lol... I wrote it on my phone then copied and pasted it with the spaces between paragraphs.. but when i submitted it, it came back all jumbled up... I'll take some time to navigate around the site.. btw, I like this message board.. A great community! Hopefully I replied correctly lol!
 
HERE IS THE BETTER FORMAT! Also, corrected typos that were generated from my phone:


Hello all... This message is to all of the target employees who are wanting to advance in the company without a college degree. Well here is a little background info on me. I worked at Target for 4 years. I enjoyed my time there but did not like how my colleagues were treated when trying to advance in the company as a TL or ETL. The ones who did not hold degrees or we're not liked simply got overlooked and given the "TL in training " or "sitting on the bench" role without actually receiving the promotions. And I can't forget about the Sr. TL's who have more experience than ETL's but cannot become an Exec without the degree... But I digress.

I went to college but did not graduate. However, I began freelancing in my field (radio, TV). After a couple of years I landed a permanent job. I started at the bottom, but worked my way up the ladder. I'm not at the top but I'm in a comfortable place. My bosses knew I did my have a degree but liked my work ethic. Now I'm a Television producer and freelance with ESPN, Fox, and various television networks. So those of you without degrees, please keep your head up and never give up.

If you cannot obtain a degree. Find something that interests you, you never know... That may lead to your calling. Don't allow Target Execs or TL's reel you "you won't succeed without a degree". I'm a witness, hard work pays off! In no way that I'm not saying do not receive a degree. Some fields of work require that... And degrees are wonderful... I'm proud of my wife for obtaining her's! But, keep your head up.. There's plenty of opportunities out there for you to succeed without one. It may take ALOT of work and searching to find them but they are out there.

I'll be honest, I miss the fun I had at Target... But I do not miss how employees at the bottom are treated. Yeah, I know it's retail..
 
That was really nice, thanks for posting! I think a lot of people are feeling a little nervous these days. I know I am! Welcome to the board. :party:
 
A little ray of sunshine amid the dark clouds right now....
 
You won't move up at Target with a degree either in some areas, so there's that.

-pessimistic peon with a b.a.

Disclaimer: I've never actually tried to move up within the company. I'm just being a sarcastic a-hole. For what it's worth, though, the TL level doesn't seem to have any degree requirements, unless that's new. None of my TLs have degrees.
 
Welcome to The Break Room! Great job not letting the "business" of retail get you down.
 
A 4 year degree isn't a requirement for TLs per se, but it is "desired" on the job requirements. There are districts out there that will not hire someone as a TL unless they have a degree or are working on one. According to my ETL HR, Target wants stores to have a healthy mix of non-degree, degree seeking, and degreed TLs. The way it's looking, Target wants to focus on a pipeline to promote from within; however, they are not willing to go lax on the ETL requirement of a 4 year degree. I feel like a large percent of the TLs and SRTLs throughout the company don't have a bachelor's, so that is making upward mobility seem impossible. If these current TLs have no degree and no plans to get one, Target is forced to hire outside for ETLs. Many of these ETLs don't realize what retail (and Target in particular) is like until they've been in position for a few months. They either hate it, don't want to do the amount of work required, or thought that "exec" meant sit in an office and read reports, so many of them end up leaving the company for something other than retail or to go to grad school. Thus, we experience the ridiculous turnover at the ETL level.
 
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Ah, okay. Many of the TLs in my store have been with Target for a gazillion years and for the most part, they all deserve it... and probably more. After stalker-ation, at least two of my ETLs worked lesser target jobs before graduating and moving up the ladder, though. 2 of the other 3 etls are oold so I doubt they just jumped out of college like "yea, gonna sit in an office at Target, yea!"
 
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