customer service representative

retail sales associate

department manager

sales assistant

store manager

Target Australia

Target was a great place for me to start out of school, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a job out of school, but as I've got older the cracks have begun to show. 

To start with the good, you can get hired just for showing up near Christmas time. Whilst this is good for young people, it means that there is always one or two people who probably wouldn't have got the job in a usual setting. In a job like target, the attitude and work ethic of one person often affects everyone else

Compounding with this, management is scared of paperwork so they never fire people. The punishment for lousy performance is to just cut your shifts (without telling you there is a problem) until you get sick of it and leave. There was a person at my workplace who would walk off the job at a precise time every day and go to the bathroom for half an hour, something that all the managers were aware of among other things and they were never let go. Again, this is probably the most secure job on earth but you will be frustrated by the morons if you actually care. 

As for the managers very few are competent and if you look into them you'll find elements of nepotism and immense 'sucking up' that got them there. I know of at least two people who got promotions soon after a friend of theirs became manager or the manager left and recommended them. Of the ones who got their on their own merit, they treat the rulebook like the bible. If you do something they don't like they will claim you were going against Target's processes, even if what you did showed initiative (and especially if what you did was more efficient than what the manager wanted you to do). I have heard stories of junior managers almost getting into physical confrontations with their superiors when one day they insist on following the rules and the next insist they can cut the corners. The schizoid hierarchy is frustrating for everyone. The managers will also talk negatively about people behind their backs, and I know this because I have been the victim of it and had the conversation with managers about someone else. 

I have made many friends here and I am very thankful for that, and it has given me indispensable experience in retail. Given I have had a pay rise of about $7 in all my time there I would not recommend staying beyond 2-3 years. You are not rewarded for experience, although the managers will gaslight you about having responsibility because of your seniority when aforementioned morons in your department aren't performing. As a casual your shifts will be very much at the whims of the store's performance which fluctuates week-to-week. It can be frustrating as someone who lives out of home to find out that student who live with their parents still get 30+ hours a week, even in hard times and your shifts are nearly 0. This is also because Target doesn't like to hang on to older workers and when you start to become 'expensive' they will give you 0 til you leave. 

A typical day at Target would begin with starting off your shift getting rid of any returns that have come from refunds, lay by or fitting rooms. These returns are to be put back in their designated areas and then after this follows the process of putting new stock out, changing back walls and front ends to new stock, price pointing merchandise and putting up POP (point of sale signs) if you have moved stock or put new stock out the signs must match the merchandise on display. After you have gotten as much stock done as you could manage leaving yourself enough time for a closing routine (3-4 hours) to detail your closing routine is usually enough. Throughout this process of cleaning you are also picking up items off the floor all day and serving customers as well as responding to code 1's (to assist register operators if the line is long) and also making sales on the floor by serving customers to the best of your ability. Even if it means going upstairs or to the back to get new stock if we dont have the right size on the selling floor or the item may be damaged. 
Throughout my 3 years at Target I have gained astonishing customer service skills and have learned how to merchandise apparel properly as well as hard goods. I know how to work in every department in the store and register operate. Management have guided me through learning all these steps and are extremely supportive and show gratitude towards the work done and show that they are proud of our accomplishments. 
The hardest part of the job would probably be when it comes to a busy day and you have to clean as well as serve customers and take customer phone calls. It does get super busy but thats where your co-workers come into play and we support each other to get through the busy day.  
Although co-workers also make the work more enjoyable with their support and its nice to have good friends in the workplace making you feel comfortable and welcomed.

A typical day at work:
For those that work for online, barely any help is provided to them. For those that work in hard goods there might be 1 or 2 people covering all the departments. Lucky to ever see 3 employees for that area. Being told how to do simple tasks that you never get wrong nor neglect. Being over worked and constantly hearing people call in sick. Work cages/rails 24/7 and never doing your other jobs other than tidy.

What you learned:
How to tidy, present and maintain a department. And how to not run a store, and of course how to run a store.

Management:
Barely on the floor. Tend to scream and belittle employees. One manager likes to tell people how to do their job all the time for the most simple of jobs. Like how to print, scan an item. Regardless of those people all ready knowing how to do it. Lack of discipline on the floor due to absence of management on floor. Regional manager also part of the problem at Target North Lakes.

Workplace Culture:
1 year ago and beyond into the past, good workplace culture. Now, toxic and demoralizing. Employees appear not interested in work due to being demoralized and management. 

The hardest part of the job:
The workplace's culture and management.

The most enjoyable part of the job:
Being able to actually work in your assigned department and serving customers that need assistance instead of tidying, working palates and working cages/rails 24/7. Also includes the overloaded back dock with it's contents dating back many months and never being worked onto the floor.

Since I was 15 years old I have been employed at Target Australia, being so young I was incredibly excited to be earning my own money and to be learning new skills that would be useful in later careers. I typically work on the Registers and up in the Layby department serving customers, processing returns and exchanges and creating and processing layby's. A typical day at work involves working behind a Register, processing sales and payments and providing customers with an enjoyable end to their retail experience. Working in tandem with other operators to ensure customers receive quick and excellent service. I like to think of myself as a team player and enjoy working with all my colleagues on the various tasks we are assigned. On select shifts I have the role of 'Supervisor' which entails running the department, assigning tasks, rectifying and issues customers have and providing authorisation for mark downs and anything else staff and customers require. It always makes me happy to see my customers satisfied with their new purchase and their experience shopping with the company. Every smile I see improves my day and motivates me to work harder and continue to provide the best service I can to each and every customer.

You do a range of tasks over different departments, it's a fun environment where you make friends with everyone. You have the entire store to walk around, so you'll never feel cramped. You'll hardly feel bored and never lonely. 

There's always something to do if you have the initiative to undertake more than the bare minimum.
Management is easy to talk to if you'd like to work in a different area, have a problem with your shift, want to change your availability etc. Very flexible with hours, given a lot of shifts. You choose when you work.

Large tea room, and you choose when you'd like to take your breaks. 

There isn't too much favouritism, anyone can be trained to be a manager, all you have to do is ask and put in the work.

Negative is that we've had a huge turnover of managers and staff over the past year. One department manager is a bully who has caused multiple team members and 2 other department managers to quit. And the store morale has greatly decreased. New team members are hired and given zero training, and are put into departments with the expectation of other team members training them. 

Other negatives include - dealing with customers (in menswear) of extremely poor hygiene, frustrating theft that occurs all day everyday (though it's fun when you watch and catch them), rare occasions of gross things in the fitting rooms.

A typical day at work at Target Country Katherine would include for myself. Opening the store before trading hours on a rotating roster, counting & keeping records of the previous days money intake from the safe and store registers, data entry, checking and signing documents, printing & scanning the stores SPL's, promotion's and clearance signs. Organizing stock from back dock to put on display, displaying neat and tidy displays for upcoming promotions. Making sure my co-workers were doing the right jobs, and helping them when they needed help and advise. Having a high customer service attitude though out the day.  

I have learnt many things from this position, as this was my first retail position. I am very confident dealing with customers, I am also very  confident with supervising staff and solving problems for myself. 

The hardest part of the day was continuously making sure the store was neat and tidy, as this store was very busy being the only big department store in Katherine. While doing the above also making sure new stock was continuously on display and promotions were promoted neat, tidy and fresh regularly.  

The most enjoyable part of my days were meeting and helping customers finding what they need and talking about there travels. Also got along with all my co-workers so everyday was fun and enjoyable.

signing on
seeing manager/ supervisor on what is needed to  be done 
replenishment of stock
listening for layby pick up calls 
recovery through the clothing (making sure everything is were is should be)
serving customers 
calling other shops if we didn't have the items needed by the customer i.e. different sizes or what is available in catalogue
checking of the changing rooms to see if cloths need to go back
walk around to see if any customers are left in the store.
locking the door 
placing back stock returned 
locating any lay-bys made into the system
sign off
I learnt: register skill, how to replenish stock, stock take, how to order things from other shops, what good customer service means.
the manager did not like to listen to lower level staff on suggestions about productivity, if any problems or concerns happened between supervisors and the general staff the supervisors were always favoured over the general staff which made a tense work environment. 
my general co-workers were fun and easy to get along with, which made it a good work environment.
the hardest part was working with management that didn't seem to take general co-workers seriously.
most enjoyable part was meeting new people and skills to start my work life (first job)

Started off great. Team and managers were supportive.
Then new management came in and personally, it crashed and burned from there.
Don't be too good in an area or you'll never ever get taught anywhere else.
I was nominated Dock Leader due to my speed, leadership, determination and coordination. Because of that, they never trained me anywhere else despite asking numerous times, I wanted more training to climb the career ladder.
Store manager said he would train me but 3 months pass and I was still doing nothing but running the dock.
Keep in mind, the dock is a 4h arvo shift. 6 around x-mas if you're lucky.
I understand "put your team in positions that they're best at" but if the pallets didn't rock up, they cancelled my shift.
No one cared if they got their job done, "the morning/afternoon shift can do it". I did care, I took it apon myself to always get the dock done and took it as a personal failure if it wasn't.
Despite my already sweat breaking effort, new management pushed me harder, cut my hours, doubled my work and still expected me to get it done.
No, Macarthur Target isn't worth it unless it's temporary and you slack off because they don't deserve your hard work.


Although overall the job was good, particularly for a first job i found that management often favourited specific employees & was much less strict with certain people + would give and take shifts from certain people. Store managers were also often quite rude to certain people and inconsiderate of personal issues that might affect someone’s productivity on a certain day (which is sometimes understandable but often not). The rostering was also not well managed, even if your availability had been clearly stated on multiple occasions most people would still often be rostered for shifts that they couldn’t do. When you tried to contact a manager to change your shift they would often not respond to messages, even after seeing them days earlier. Beside from these issues with the management of the store it was generally a good place to work. There is a variety of things to be learnt in different departments and most coworkers are friendly and supportive. Any issues that i have had with my pay slips have been resolved before i have even reported them and overal there is not much to complain about beside from the slightly disordered management and the pay, which is slightly lower than the average retail store. 

Experience working throughout the busy Christmas period- including Christmas, Boxing Day sales and long night hours. In my time there, I had worked a causal position, specialised in suggesting items, running change rooms, producing numerous big sales, assisting in men’s/children's/woman’s, home wears, confectionery, cosmetics, shoe departments, customer liaison, registers which all involve, socialising with customers. 
I further have experience in removing all kinds of security tags, processing calls as well as making inquiries to other stores, handling holds/refunds/exchanges, unpacking boxes and restocking items, paging departments, and closing the store.  
I enjoyed working in all departments which involved organising items, restocking, doing returns etc. This job allowed me to gain experience in dealing with all customers and trying to fulfil their requirements which was the most difficult part of the job for me because I wasn't used to the pressure in the beginning. My colleagues were very helpful during my time at target which helped me gain knowledge about each department.

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