Archived Not sure what to do..

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Hi there! I'm actually new to this forum and haven't even posted an introduction or anything. But I'm not sure who else to turn to about what I'm thinking. So! Here I am. Brace yourselves.

I currently am a Food Ave Team Member that basically does everything a FATL would do. At least I think so? I just don't have the title or the pay. I take on the most responsibilities out of everyone that is trained for FA. I do our weekly orders, inventory, stock everything, clean, train new hires/crosstrain others, and do whatever else needs to be done. I do have to turn to our GSTL or LODs to get our paper goods ordered, however (which can be frustrating, by the way). I think the store's reasoning for not having a FATL position is that we don't have enough sales or we're not a very high volume store. We are only Food Ave. No Pizza Hut or Starbucks, currently. However, there was a TL position a few years back. They just "did away with it" after the last guy left. So I don't really understand that. I've always received extremely high feedback and praise and am constantly reminded how much they appreciate what I do for Food Ave and the front. There has recently been a GSA position available and I've mentioned to a couple people that I would be interested in applying, but I'm not sure if my availability would be an issue considering I'm a full-time student as well. The current GSTL has continually told me that he thinks I would be a great GSA and I've been talked to about potentially moving up if I were interested. But I'm a bit hesitant to change positions because school is my top priority and I don't want to affect my grades or lose my scholarships and grants that I've worked so hard for. With all of that in mind, we are also scheduled to add a Starbucks this year. No one has any specific dates or information; we don't even know if Food Ave will still be there or if it's just going to be a Starbucks or what. But if we were to get that put in this year, I would be interested in the TL position and would want to apply. And with allllll of that in mind, I think being a GSA would be a great opportunity to gain some more experience for a TL position. So I'm kind of torn on what to do. I could possibly be a GSA over the summer in order to gain that experience that I want? Should I just stick with being a FATM and not worry about it? And somewhat unrelated, what exactly do they look for in a SBTL? Would being a GSA for a period of time really help my chances of being a TL since there's no opportunity to be a FATL at my store?

Thanks in advance!
 
There are TLs that are full time college students, I happen to be one of them. GSA is absolutely doable while being in college. At minimum as long as you can give me 4 days or 3 days open availability you would probably be fine. But always put school first and never waver from that idea bc if you let them talk you into opening your availability up and overwhelm yourself your school work will suffer and they won't let you close off your availability again.

And GSA is a great Segway into a TL position but make sure leadership knows that's why you want it. If they get comfortable with you as GSA they will keep you as GSA. You shouldn't be kept in that position for more than a year max.
 
But I also have to work enough to be able to cover my rent. So that means working 5 or 6 days a week. I'd only be able to close weekdays. Open weekends, perhaps.. I feel like I'd get overwhelmed and exhausted and my school work would suffer. But then again, I don't really know what would happen. I think it'd be a good opportunity and I'd do a good job, but I'm not sure if the trade off is really worth it. Although, if we got a Starbucks and I were TL, this would also be the issue. So maybe be GSA to get used to the extra stress? It's like I really want the position, but at the same time I don't simply because of school.
 
GSA is doable as a full time student, but it takes one hell of a mental toll on you. There was a GSA my age, full time student who would often look like she was almost crying because some days were just that stressful. She brought her homework with her, rarely had time for her boyfriend, or really anything. School and work and a few hours of sleep is all she knew. She moved up to Starbucks TL and seems happier, though.
 
I wish we had more info about the new Starbucks. I could try GSA over the summer when I'm less stressed about school and then apply for SBTL. If that doesn't end up working, I guess GSA could be a fallback option?
 
Everyone handles those types of pressures differently. I happen to do ok with it and keep a good GPA but I think it would be smart of you to try GSA and see how it works for you. It's easy to lower your level of responsibility if you go GSA, but TL requires commitment.
 
The TL position at FA has been eliminated.
 
The other Target in my town has a Food Ave Team Lead.
 
We're low volume and have a fatl. Food ave didn't even make that much money over costs...
 
I am a full time teacher and did GSA for 2 years. It's completely doable.

You may be able to even split your time between GSA and Food Ave. I only worked 20 hours per week during the school year, and that availability was fine for my ETL. She also made sure I had 40 hours any week I requested it. If you did 2-3 GSA shifts and supplemented the rest of your week with cashier/SD/Food Ave, you'd be fine.
 
Honestly I would just keep working FA for now. You already know how to do it and seem to be doing a great job without the stress that could cause your grades to suffer. Plus, you are already proving your leadership capabilities just as much as a GSA (if not more) by taking ownership of everything FA related. Should they open a Starbucks down the line, you will be a good candidate for TL because of your experience.
 
To me, FA doesn't really need a TL position (due to the insanely low volume they usually have). Our store has one but besides writing the schedule there isn't much difference to what they do vs a normal FATM. If you did go for GSA just be aware that they might keep you in the position for a minimum of 18 months as that's Targets requirement before you transfer to a new work center. Starbucks usually have a TL position but the hours might be a bit tougher over there if you did go for the position. As a GSA you are usually spread out a bit more since there's more coverage.
 
Hmm. So maybe just stick with FA and if we do get a Starbucks, maybe they can refer me for the position if I choose to not be GSA. I don't really want to be locked into the GSA position if we do end up getting a Starbucks this year.
 
I haven't heard of the 18-month thing, but at least in my case that certainly wasn't true; I was hired in as a GSA and was allowed to move to Starbucks TM when ours opened up, and that was only 12 months after my hire date. the only time I wasn't allowed to switch workcenters was when I was on corrective action for not being very good as a GSA (which makes no sense, because I was very good at service desk and wanted to step DOWN to a workcenter where I had proven I had better performance, but was still not allowed...?! but that's a tangent).
 
I don't think there's that large of a restriction on how long before you can move to a new position if you're a GSA. Team leads are the ones who must spend 18 months in a work center before leading a new one. What I've been told is that you must be in a position for 90 days as a TM before transferring and since GSA is still technically a specialized TM, that probably holds true. That said, your store may have certain needs (I know GSA isn't exactly a hugely sought-after spot in my store and so they might want to keep you there if you're good at it).

My understanding of the TL hiring process (I would say I'm in the pipeline and so have been asking around a bit) is that you're selected to be a TL for your leadership abilities, not necessarily for a specific role. So when they "sign off" on you, it's not necessarily with a specific work center in mind, it's just "we want you leading a team." Once you're approved, that's when they'll sort that out.

As for your question of should you switch work centers now...I guess the question is do you have plenty examples of your leadership ability as it pertains to fellow team members already? I know you already talked about the things you do to run the operations side. If you have examples of that, you probably don't need GSA experience to pass interviews.

If not, it could help but it is risky. If you're bad at that role, bye-bye promotion. If you're good at that role, you might end up being looked at as a good GSTL candidate, and if you pass interviews, that's what you might be. From what I've seen, turnover in that position is fairly high, and therefore any new TL has a good chance of being asked to do that; if you're an effective GSA, well, get used to watching lights.

I personally would recommend staying in the food area and making it clear you're interested in TL interviews and go from there. But it's up to you and I wish you luck.
 
I think I'm just going to stay at FA. I've been approached by others now asking if I'd be interested in the SBTL position once we get it this year and I've said yes. They told me that I'd be a strong candidate for the position and the GSTL has apparently said that he feels I'd be a good fit for the spot and deserving of a promotion.
 
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