Archived New Flow Member

[shyyft]

Hello, I start pretty soon with my shifts starting at 4 am. I am curious what I should be expecting so if any flow members can pitch in that would be great. Also, I have few quick questions. For the dress regulations, I understand that it includes closed toed shoes. Is that the only regulation? Would a pair of Vans work? And as for coming in for my first shift, my orientation leader explained that when I come that early I may have to press the button on the side door and wait for someone to let me in. My plan is to arrive at least 15 minutes before at 3:45, go through that discussed entrance to the employee only room, and hopefully find my trainer there. I have a basic idea of how to clock in (using my # on my temporary discount card and such); should I expect to do this by myself? Do I do it before 4 am, as close as possible to it, or after?

Thank you so much for bearing through these probably dumb questions. I am looking forward to using this forum to communicate with other target employees throughout this my experience. If anyone is interested in my experience over my first few shifts I would be happy to reply to this thread updating on how they went. This is my first job if it explains some of my anxiousness at all.

 

[Pale]

Not flow but I've worked with flow a few times to have the basic gist of it down. As flow your job will be to stock the majority of the morning trucks all around the store.
After you push the majority, or all if your fast enough, of the truck chances are you will help backstock whatever didn't go out on the floor.
For Dress Regs, it's a red shirt, most flow members just wear red T-shirts and that's just fine, and khaki pants. Choose durable brands since you'll be getting dirty, sweaty, and will be moving alot. For shoes, i would personally recommend hiking shoes as they're made to be comfortable after long periods of walking. People have different preferences for shoes, so Vans might be fine for you. Just choose whatever will be comfortable, while being durable. I've went through two pairs of shoes in the year I've been with target.

For your first shift, I would go up to the doors whenever you see people start to go to them if you get there early enough. I've never worked an official flow shift, so I'm not sure how early they go in, but for ad shifts which are 6 am in Minnesota we're usually let in about 5 minutes before the shift is scheduled to start. That leads me into clocking in, most leads will let you clock in 5 minutes before your shift starts. It's a way to get just a small bit of extra money on your paycheck. Since it's your first day, don't be afraid to ask your other Flow TM's who your trainer is by name, chances are they don't bite. For clocking in it's extremely simple, on the time clock it had a button that says start shift (i think, cant remember off of the top of my head) and you just press that and then enter your TM #. It should beep once and then you're clocked in, it's the same for clocking out but with the end shift button.

And don't be nervous about asking questions, everybody you worked with was new to target at some point and asked questions as well. There might be a few grumpy assholes that are mean simply because of the fact that you're new, but most of the people you'll work with are nice. If I managed to miss a question, feel free to point it out and I'll answer to the best of my ability and knowledge. I leave you with one message.

 

[commiecorvus]

Greetings and salutations.

Welcome to The Break Room.

This might be useful.

 

[SFSFun]

For the dress regulations, I understand that it includes closed toed shoes. Is that the only regulation? Would a pair of Vans work?

Red shirt without logos (except for Target logos)
Khaki colored pants
Any closed toe shoe, BUT you will want to wear something very comfortable for standing and walking a lot. Depending on how long your shift is, you could easily be doing over 20k steps.

And as for coming in for my first shift, my orientation leader explained that when I come that early I may have to press the button on the side door and wait for someone to let me in. My plan is to arrive at least 15 minutes before at 3:45, go through that discussed entrance to the employee only room, and hopefully find my trainer there. I have a basic idea of how to clock in (using my # on my temporary discount card and such); should I expect to do this by myself? Do I do it before 4 am, as close as possible to it, or after?

Most of the team will be scheduled at 4am, so you won't be going in alone. You can get there 15 minutes early and just wait in your car until you see others going up to the door and being let in. At my store they won't open the door at 3:45 because they are busy trying to get the unload setup.

Your trainer may not be the person listed on your training schedule, but your Team Leader should be expecting you and should help you clock in and get you paired up with someone to train you. When I started on Flow, the person listed as my "trainer" turned out to be the ETL (assistant manager), and he just paired me with someone else.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Welcome!

 

[WestLoggy]

Welcome!

 

[StockerAce]

Welcome to the flow team and TBR! I work overnight flow, so it's a bit different but PaleIrishmen got the gist down. I can't stress comfortable shoes enough. Color and style doesn't matter really, so your Van's should be fine to see how they work. SFS is right that you can take over 20k steps in a shift. I hit that number, and higher, regularly (which comes out to anywhere from 8-10 miles, for reference).

And as already stated, ask questions! Your number might not work for punch in on your first shift...but you can try it. If not, you'll have to do it manually as a punch correction, which is no big deal. Just get the info from your trainer or team lead. If you haven't had computer training yet, they may have you do that your first shift, including some safety stuff. Every store is different it seems.

If you have any other questions after your first shift, feel free to ask away.

 

[Targetpirate]

WELCOME!

 

[Him]

Welcome

 

[Flow Warrior]

 

[Flow Warrior]

Red shirt without logos (except for Target logos)
Khaki colored pants
Any closed toe shoe, BUT you will want to wear something very comfortable for standing and walking a lot. Depending on how long your shift is, you could easily be doing over 20k steps.


Most of the team will be scheduled at 4am, so you won't be going in alone. You can get there 15 minutes early and just wait in your car until you see others going up to the door and being let in. At my store they won't open the door at 3:45 because they are busy trying to get the unload setup.

Your trainer may not be the person listed on your training schedule, but your Team Leader should be expecting you and should help you clock in and get you paired up with someone to train you. When I started on Flow, the person listed as my "trainer" turned out to be the ETL (assistant manager), and he just paired me with someone else.

On a heavy truck day (before E2e) [ulv 23 mill store) did 40k steps one day. average is 23k

 

[SFSFun]

On a heavy truck day (before E2e) [ulv 23 mill store) did 40k steps one day. average is 23k

Our flow TL averages 35k and the pallet puller usually does over 30k.

 

[Him]

Welcome to the break room!!