I'm Lost! My first day went great/follow up questions.

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Nov 25, 2019
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Well great is a bit of an overstatement. It was as good as a first day could've went... kind of. I went in, punching in and out was easy, and I started training. The trainer was nice, but I feel like she slacked a little bit on some information. So that brings me here. Most of these questions have to do with fulfillment.

1.) Does your body (aka your feet) get used to the work? I worked 7 hours today and my feet are in so much pain. For fulfillment it’s just walking, walking, and more walking. And you want to be quick, too (my trainer was walking so fast that she was pretty much at a slow jog). I just know that I will not want to get out of bed in the morning.

2.) For fulfillment, can you take a break in the middle of a ship from store pick? I know you can’t for OPU bc you are timed, but I’m not sure for SFS. I ask this because I was in the middle of a pick and I could’ve used a break. I was getting restless, hungry, and dehydrated. I imagine that it will get easier for me to find a good break schedule after I’m done with training and not under constant pressure and supervision.

3.) Speaking of being dehydrated, how do you guys stay hydrated? I don’t think water bottles are aloud, and the water fountain sucks. My mouth literally had no moisture in it at one point. I guess I just need to get used to drinking a bunch on my breaks. For my meal break, I went across the street and got a huge water and chugged it in less than a minute, and I did the same when I got home.

4.) HOW DO YOU FIND CLOTHING? This is where my trainer went a little lazy. She didn’t explain the map of the store very well. When I was on my own, I would spend so many minutes trying to look for one piece of clothing. I know that I could ask the walkie, but i refuse to go on the walkie every time I need to find something. That would just annoy everybody. I could ask people that work in softline, but again, I don’t want to annoy them every 30 seconds trying to look for another item. It just sucks because the majority of the orders that I did was clothing. It’s so embarrassing because my TL probably thought that I should’ve been going a lot faster. It took me more than 4 hours to get just 2 orders done on my own because of clothing.

5.) They still didn’t have me fill out a W4. I wanted to ask HR about it, but they were very busy and gone by the time I got off. Should I just do it myself on paperlessemployee? I probably can’t get paid for any of the work I did since I don’t have the W4 filed.

Thats about it. I’m sure these things will get easier as I go on and get familiar with everything.
 
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Your feet will eventually get used to the pain if you remain at the job long enough. In the meantime, soak your feet in hot water at the end of the day and try to find some shoes with a lot of cushion in them, memory foam soles are fantastic (Target sells inserts of these if you don't want to buy new shoes)!

For a dry mouth, if you have pockets keep some hard candy to suck on throughout your shift.

For finding clothing, ask your TL or trainer to show you how to use the RFID gun. This will save you a lot of time tracking down items. It will also get easier as you pick because you will get more familiar with the layout of clothing and where items will likely be found. Don't be afraid to ask for help from style TMs; they can find items quickly for you because they know their areas and asking them will also help you learn where to look.

I would not take any breaks in the middle of a pick, especially this time of year. Better to finish first and get the cart back to the packing station to secure the items. It may take your body a week or so to adjust to the demands of the job, but again, it will get easier the more you do it.
 
As for your feet - a hot water soak is good, but adding epsom salts will make it even better. Use very warm water (as warm as you can comfortably tolerate) and stay there until the water is cool. Wear good shoes and good socks; this is not the time to be concerned about looks - support is what you're after. Take your breaks and put up your feet on another chair. If you have long shifts and have a second, suitable pair of shoes, take them to change into halfway through. Also, take an ibuprofen before going to bed; it'll help your muscles recover faster.
As for hydration - my store allows SFS TMs to have a clear water bottle, with a cap, on their cart. Has to be clear (so it's visible that it's water only, not coffee, etc.) and with a screw-on cap so no leakage on product.
About soft lines - the SFS TMs at my store will ask for SL assistance more than any other area. Usually, it's something like, "Soft Lines, can someone help me find something in Boys'?" over the walkie. Or, "Soft Lines, did we get any girls' snow pants on today's truck?"
 
Good socks help, too.
At my store we always asked the soft lines team for help if we couldn’t find an item in a reasonable amount of time. Our softlines team was amazing, they knew where the most obscure items were, and hats off to them, if they couldn’t find something no one could. With their help we could really keep down the pick times.
 
Well great is a bit of an overstatement. It was as good as a first day could've went... kind of. I went in, punching in and out was easy, and I started training. The trainer was nice, but I feel like she slacked a little bit on some information. So that brings me here. Most of these questions have to do with fulfillment.

1.) Does your body (aka your feet) get used to the work? I worked 7 hours today and my feet are in so much pain. For fulfillment it’s just walking, walking, and more walking. And you want to be quick, too (my trainer was walking so fast that she was pretty much at a slow jog). I just know that I will not want to get out of bed in the morning.

2.) For fulfillment, can you take a break in the middle of a ship from store pick? I know you can’t for OPU bc you are timed, but I’m not sure for SFS. I ask this because I was in the middle of a pick and I could’ve used a break. I was getting restless, hungry, and dehydrated. I imagine that it will get easier for me to find a good break schedule after I’m done with training and not under constant pressure and supervision.

3.) Speaking of being dehydrated, how do you guys stay hydrated? I don’t think water bottles are aloud, and the water fountain sucks. My mouth literally had no moisture in it at one point. I guess I just need to get used to drinking a bunch on my breaks. For my meal break, I went across the street and got a huge water and chugged it in less than a minute, and I did the same when I got home.

4.) HOW DO YOU FIND CLOTHING? This is where my trainer went a little lazy. She didn’t explain the map of the store very well. When I was on my own, I would spend so many minutes trying to look for one piece of clothing. I know that I could ask the walkie, but i refuse to go on the walkie every time I need to find something. That would just annoy everybody. I could ask people that work in softline, but again, I don’t want to annoy them every 30 seconds trying to look for another item. It just sucks because the majority of the orders that I did was clothing. It’s so embarrassing because my TL probably thought that I should’ve been going a lot faster. It took me more than 4 hours to get just 2 orders done on my own because of clothing.

5.) They still didn’t have me fill out a W4. I wanted to ask HR about it, but they were very busy and gone by the time I got off. Should I just do it myself on paperlessemployee? I probably can’t get paid for any of the work I did since I don’t have the W4 filed.

Thats about it. I’m sure these things will get easier as I go on and get familiar with everything.

1) Not really. My feet are a mess. I've got a nasty at the ball of my left foot that keeps coming back. I've got a blister on one of my right toes that won't go away. You learn to ignore the pain though. I don't even notice it when I'm working. Good shoes and inserts do help.

2) I'm OPU, but I'd guess the answer to that is a hard no. Pick productivity (units picked per hour while in a batch) is an important SFS metric. If you are stopping to take a break while in a cart, you are hurting you and your store's metrics.

3) Electrolytes. I have an insulated 32 oz water bottle that I fill up with Gatored or Vitamin Water. I keep it at he OPU hold area and drink as needed.

4) Give over it and ask. Picking clothes well comes with experience. For now ask so that you can learn and get that experience.

5) Don't know. I'm not HR.
 
Invest in good sneakers.....I prefer New Balance and Asics.

You can go on break in the middle of a ship batch. You just have to exit out of the cart so the timer stops. The cart will show up as a paused cart. Just hope back into the paused cart when you break is over.

Always bring bottle water and plenty of food. I eat before work, eat a second breakfast at first break, and then nice size lunch. I eat a lot and haven't gained a thing since being in flex. I'm trying not to lose any more weight so I bring lots of healthy food.

Kids clothing is easy to find - character clothes, Cat and Jack, and Art Class are all usually clumped together. Women clothing is hard because a lot of it looks the same. I use an RFID. You'll get quicker the more familiar you get with your store.

Good luck!
 
Welcome feel free to send me a DM if you have any fulfillment questions
 
I second all of the "ask softlines" questions. As a softlines/apparel/style (whatever our next name will be) lead I'm pretty close with our pickers. I would much rather take a minute or two to help rather than have something get INF'd. It all counts for our sales and part of my job is to drive sales.
 
I tell all my tm to try to time their breaks between batches. either go early on break or go late. some say pausing a batch don't count against your pick time but I don't trust the system. be smart and go before or after the batch
 
I second all of the "ask softlines" questions. As a softlines/apparel/style (whatever our next name will be) lead I'm pretty close with our pickers. I would much rather take a minute or two to help rather than have something get INF'd. It all counts for our sales and part of my job is to drive sales.
I've called our softlines folk magical cause they can litterally look at the screen and within 10 steps hand you the item... i return the favor in tech.
 
Good shoes are key I wear athletic works they are so comfy. Buy a foot bath with heating and massage putting your feet in those will make a world of difference that's what I used to do when my feet used to hurt after a shift but don't worry your feet will get used to it eventually. Using a mydevice is your friend and don't let them intimidate you if you need help tell them. Buy a giant water jug and fill it before work and chug it. Drink before,after and during work. Do not be afraid to take a break during designated breaks and lunches.
 
1. When I started working my feet swelled up like balloons. Make sure you have light weighing shoes. I was wearing heavyweight shoes. Sketchers are popular at my store.
4. If you go to target online, set it to your store and click on a product Like romaine lettuce. Scroll down and it will say in stock on aisle g1 or whatever. Click on the in stock and there is a map of your entire store. They even changed our map right after our remodel so it’s very accurate.
5. I have been at target almost 8 years and still haven’t filled it out.
 
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