Best TL position to apply for and be in?

Since they got rid of the Backroom TL position, I’d say none. Backroom TL had a lot of responsibility, but it was was a great job most of the time since you didn’t have to deal with guests and as long as metrics were green the ETLs mostly left you alone. Then the ETL from hell arrived and added responsibility for OPU/SFS to the job, and things went downhill from there. Not enough money on Earth…😁
 
Crush the shit in the baler TL, Loading Dock sweeper-upper TL. No tolerance whatsoever dealing with customer-Karens and lazy coworkers. Leave me alone, stay the hell away and it will all get done.
 
Well I have applied for SETL and Food and Beverage TL.
 
I think it depends on several factors. Your personality, your passions... what interests you the most will be where you thrive.
 
It depends entirely on your team, what you like to do, and what your plans are moving forward. I enjoy my job as inbound gmtl even though it's incredibly challenging. If I didn't I'd choose food and beverage. SETL may be the least actual work involved but my front end is always under staffed and dealing with call outs. As of right now I wouldn't recommend any job in my area. Every store is a dumpster 🔥.
 
As someone who functions as a GSA, SETL isn't necessarily difficult but if you aren't the right fit, you will struggle. It's not just about being good at guest service. SETL has a lot of moving parts, especially with people and scheduling and it's just not the same as the other leaders duties that are more product/freight/etc-oriented. If you aren't good with that, don't consider it.
 
Last edited:
I think if you really want to be a TL my advice would be apply for any open TL position. You can change departments later but, if you wait to apply for the department you want you may have a long wait.
 
SETL is probably the easiest in terms of "workload". They're mostly guest service and de-escalation. The biggest workload management is probably drive up, surveys and breaks, but TLs from most other workcenters all have to worry about OPU/SFS and breaks anyway.

I'd say the biggest difference is S&E as a workcenter can call for backup for their workload as it's guest centric and time sensitive; you can always fall back to other teams if necessary. Where as on salesfloor, you're not gonna get any answers for calling for backup to push more consumables dry freight lmao.
 
Rarejem said:
IMO, closing TL is the one that will offer the best opportunity for moving up at Target as you will have to be familiar with the roles of all TLs.
Click to expand...
Imo it's the opposite. You don't understand or plan any parts of the store you just follow up with what little team you have left at night. Similar to the saying to jack of all trades but master of none. Also you have very little interaction with other leaders and higher ups so you have less of a chance to be noticed. I think it is one of the more difficult jobs to do really well because so much is out of your control and unless you have already worked other roles is hard to get a better understanding.
 
I can’t speak for all stores but, at my store if a leader position opens you have to go for it or wait till one in a department you want becomes available. Most the wait for a leader spot you could be a long one. This is why I advise to go for any available leader position it gets you leadership experience until the leader position you want becomes available.
 
MrT said:
Imo it's the opposite. You don't understand or plan any parts of the store you just follow up with what little team you have left at night. Similar to the saying to jack of all trades but master of none. Also you have very little interaction with other leaders and higher ups so you have less of a chance to be noticed. I think it is one of the more difficult jobs to do really well because so much is out of your control and unless you have already worked other roles is hard to get a better understanding.
Click to expand...
All of our closing TLs have promoted to ETL.
 
MrT said:
Imo it's the opposite. You don't understand or plan any parts of the store you just follow up with what little team you have left at night. Similar to the saying to jack of all trades but master of none. Also you have very little interaction with other leaders and higher ups so you have less of a chance to be noticed. I think it is one of the more difficult jobs to do really well because so much is out of your control and unless you have already worked other roles is hard to get a better understanding.
Click to expand...
From a developmental standpoint, reporting directly to the store director as closing TL is enough to get you the exposure you need to make the next step. SD’s tend to hold Closing TLs to a higher standard than their peers but not in all cases. I believe this role helps individuals see the big picture which is huge- planning is a leadership quality you should already have going into any of these roles.
 
Last edited:
SETL seems to be getting the most nods for lower workload, but it's moment-to-moment stressful in a unique way that is hard to appreciate until you've done it. Recommend it only to people with better than average anxiety/stress management. It can also be a dead end job, as SDs may not want to promote somebody who has very little knowledge of the rest of the store.
 
Used to be if you were wanting to go from TL to ETL, you had to be a leader in at least 2 different departments before becoming ETL. It may be different now. We had 2 SETL’s promote to ETL. One was grocery TL before SETL other was GM TL before SETL.
 

Similar threads

M
Finally applied for some TL and ETL positions.
Replies
11
Views
1K
Dream Baby
Dream Baby
G
Promotion to TL - Pay
Replies
9
Views
1K
OldSchoolVet
O
Dream Baby
Becoming a TL
2
Replies
28
Views
3K
Nauzhror
N
Dream Baby
How long does a TL have to stay in their department before reassignment.
Replies
6
Views
1K
Ashfromoldsite
Ashfromoldsite
Dream Baby
Transferring a TL to department that didn't have one before.
2
Replies
45
Views
3K
SuperKatj
S
Back
Top