Archived Offered a position in meat, what should I expect?

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I've been a sales floor team member for about a year and a half now and honestly the working conditions at my store are fairly nice. I just graduated community college, but lets be honest, in this economy an associate's degree is equivalent to a GED, and I live near D.C., so the only people that are hiring are the government (which now isn't because of sequestration), and high skill tech jobs. I've been trying to save up for university and have been picking up shifts from the cashiers for a couple of weeks now (If your cashiers are anything like my store's, even in the current hour depression you should be able to average 40 hour weeks from picking up their shifts, lol). As an employee I'm pretty responsible. Unofficially I've never been late once (officially I was counted late one day for some reason I never bothered looking into or protesting), Never NC/NS'd, and probably called out a total of 5 times last year at most. I did get an IE on my review but that was more of a "You're a good employee but target just doesn't want to give you more than an $.08 cent raise" thing than me legitimately not being consistent with my effectiveness. Anyway the point is management knows I'm reliable and am trying to make as much money as possible, so quite a few team leads (including the meat TL herself) recommended I transfer to the new opening in meat. Obviously it's not certain yet, but with the way they're talking, I'd be more surprised if I didn't get it at this point. The meat TL said she's looking for someone to do the morning truck unloads more than anything. I've pulled a few plano shifts so I'm no stranger to the process.

Anyway, what kind of stuff would I'd be doing in meat? I'm a bit nervous for a couple of reasons. The first is that I'm a tiny, tiny man, and the thought of unloading the trucks is a little daunting. I'm assuming the meat shipments are probably smaller than the general shipments though, and it's not like you've got to be chuck norris to use a pallet jack, but the previous Meat TM that did the truck unloads was 6 foot one million, so I'm worried I'll be a bit slower than he was at it. The other reason I'm worried is that the meat TL is a very old school manager who expects everything she wants completed to be completed when she wants it. I'm not a slacker and can work fast, but if sales floor taught me anything, on days when you've got an overwhelming work load and are short handed, some stuff's just not getting done. How's the meat work load in comparison to salesfloor's?

Whether I suck at it or not, I'm definitely going to take a crack at it since the starting pay is almost definitely going to be higher than than my pay would be after this year's raise (as an aside, I assume that by transferring to meat, I won't get a raise this year on top of the higher starting pay for meat?), so it would be stupid for me to decline, but I'm just wondering what I'm actually getting into here.
 
I don't have much insight to the position and what it entails but I do know it is a lot of work. At my store we have only 3 people in meat and one is a Sr-Tl so she isn't ever really in meat. The two others tell me it's hard work but without a doubt I would take the position. If you've been on the sales floor/cashiering for the whole year and a half it will be beneficial for your future to globalize yourself by taking the position. I don't know if after you earn your bachelors that you want to stay at Target but it's always good to have that as an option. My only experience with the meat department is covering calls for their breaks/lunches and pulling batches in the back room for them.

Give it a go and let us all know how you like it!
 
I don't know if after you earn your bachelors that you want to stay at Target but it's always good to have that as an option.


God willing, I won't have to. It's not that I despise target or anything, but they don't pay well enough at most levels to justify staying if I have a choice. One of the things me and the CEO see eye to eye on is that we're both trying to maximize our income. Unfortunately, unless I move out west and join an oil company, in my current regional economic climate, my income is as maximized as it's currently going to be. While I'm with target I'll do everything asked of me and I'll do it to the best of my abilities, but if and when the opportunity for financial advancement presents itself, I intend to capitalize on that opportunity.
 
Apply for it. You will learn from it. Based on your info, you work at super t. Take all opps that come available, be a stellar tm. Learn everything you can. Be a better & smarter person in the end. Wegmans or Costco, would take you away for sure.
 
It's going to depend on how your store is staffed . For me , I always close by myself so I stay fairly busy between Meat and Dairy . Slow days I go up for back up or help out grocery when I can. If you're worried about the lifting it's not too bad . During the holidays when you're moving box after box of turkeys or hams it's get a little tiresome but the worst thing you'll have to worry about day to day is weighing up the boxes of briskets which are about 40 pounds .
 
It's really not that bad. I usually work in produce but I've worked a few shifts in meat before. Transitioning from the sales floor to food is weird at first. You're usually on your own if you close or open, so you need to prioritize. If your store is like mine, you'll end up having to zone frozen and dairy often. (Market TMs are hard to come by for some reason) Unloading the truck isn't too big of a deal because there's usually other people there to help you.

Take the raise. Oh and since food closes early (if you do get a few closing shifts), you'll be out the door by 9:15 on a good night.
 
I guess it's a good thing my store has three dedicated employees for dairy then. With the way hours have been, I'm no stranger to working alone though. I don't really mind it.
 
I was a meat TL for a little while and it's a very easy job. Mostly you'll be putting away the truck, filling the floor and checking dates. Make sure to dress warm!
 
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