ETL prospects, promotions, and other alternatives

Well why wouldn't you want some time in a TL role before you decide you even want to be an ETL?
I graduated college late so I can the pressure to climb faster. 18 months to promote is a long time in my eyes.
 
RUN far away. Find something out of retail. Coming from a woman that started as a tl fresh out of college. It took me 3 years to promote to etl. 20+ years later I’m not qualified for anything above starting pay with regular working hours cause all I’ve done is retail.
Why did you never try to become SD or higher? My objective was to become SD in 5 years. I'd rather not stay in retail, but I don't know what else to do. Being a low level warehouse manager is not much better I feel
 
Unless you have done the Target internship it is unlikely you would get an etl position right away unless you have connections. I've seen tls promoted within 6 months of being a tl but they had previous management experience. If you want to move up faster you are better off getting experience elsewhere and coming back to target at a later date. Internal promotions take much longer in my experience
 
Unless you have done the Target internship it is unlikely you would get an etl position right away unless you have connections. I've seen tls promoted within 6 months of being a tl but they had previous management experience. If you want to move up faster you are better off getting experience elsewhere and coming back to target at a later date. Internal promotions take much longer in my experience
I actually applied for the internship initially, but the recruiter told me to apply for the ETL role directly. So I figured I had at least a pretty decent shot. I do have external management experience, but also only at the TL level (ie supervisor)
 
I actually applied for the internship initially, but the recruiter told me to apply for the ETL role directly. So I figured I had at least a pretty decent shot. I do have external management experience, but also only at the TL level (ie supervisor)
That's fine, it's experience, I wouldn't expect a promotion to etl till after 4th quarter at the earliest if you accept the job. Once September/October roles around there is a plan in place for who is doing what. Baring you being an absolute superstar or a mass exodus they won't make changes till after. Coming in now doesn't really give you the time to develop and stand out in role in order to make that deadline. Retail has changed. Most smaller competion is gone and it's really just Amazon target and Walmart left so it's extremely competitive. Retail doesn't have the best reputation when changing markets either. It's a tough choice. You are young do not worry about shooting up the ladder. You should be looking for jobs that can teach you and help you grow and hopefully give you some form of fulfillment and excitement. Learn where you want to go in your career first.
 
That's fine, it's experience, I wouldn't expect a promotion to etl till after 4th quarter at the earliest if you accept the job. Once September/October roles around there is a plan in place for who is doing what. Baring you being an absolute superstar or a mass exodus they won't make changes till after. Coming in now doesn't really give you the time to develop and stand out in role in order to make that deadline. Retail has changed. Most smaller competion is gone and it's really just Amazon target and Walmart left so it's extremely competitive. Retail doesn't have the best reputation when changing markets either. It's a tough choice. You are young do not worry about shooting up the ladder. You should be looking for jobs that can teach you and help you grow and hopefully give you some form of fulfillment and excitement. Learn where you want to go in your career first.
I don't mind waiting a few months, esp to learn. Just not amped to have to wait 18 months for promotion into a role I believed I was ready for immediately. I feel a lot of pressure to climb because I graduated late, so I'm already running behind. My objective was to become like an executive or something eventually, perhaps like 30 years?
 
Last edited:
I don't mind waiting a few months, esp to learn. Just not amped to have to wait 18 months for promotion into a role I believed I was ready for immediately. I feel a lot of pressure to climb because I graduated late, so I'm already running behind. My objective was to become like an executive or something eventually, perhaps like 30 years?
I graduated late too and have had the Target carrot dangled in my face a lot. Well over 10 plus years as a target tm and 3 years in a TL role. There has been so many leadership changes that ive felt like ive started over 100 times. Im pretty much done trying to promote at target at this point. Ill be moving on to my own thing shortly im thinking. One of the worst things you can do is get caught up into judging yourself against other people. Don't get me wrong aiming to move up quick and have ambition is a good thing to have though.
 
I actually applied for the internship initially, but the recruiter told me to apply for the ETL role directly. So I figured I had at least a pretty decent shot. I do have external management experience, but also only at the TL level (ie supervisor)
Your recruiter should have let you do the internship then you would have been offered the Etl position if they wanted you .
 
Your recruiter should have let you do the internship then you would have been offered the Etl position if they wanted you .
I mean that goes without saying. Maybe because I was going to graduate right after my application, did he steer me towards the role itself.
Unless you worked at target you are not immediately ready .
Well I get that. That's why I figured I wanted to do the ETL internship first, but my recruiter actively steered me away from it.
 
I graduated late too and have had the Target carrot dangled in my face a lot. Well over 10 plus years as a target tm and 3 years in a TL role. There has been so many leadership changes that ive felt like ive started over 100 times. Im pretty much done trying to promote at target at this point. Ill be moving on to my own thing shortly im thinking. One of the worst things you can do is get caught up into judging yourself against other people. Don't get me wrong aiming to move up quick and have ambition is a good thing to have though.
I recognize that you can't compare with yourself to anybody except for yourself, but I just feeling like I keep spinning my wheels. I thought they graduation would propel me to new heights, but idk now...
 
Maybe. I just don't want to be held back another 18 months before moving forward, which is what I was told is the minimum amount of time in role before I am eligible for promotion to ETL
Held back?!you haven’t even started…. I would suggest focus on the position you are offered, be positive, and please don’t mention the fact that “you applied for ETL” to your team…
 
I recognize that you can't compare with yourself to anybody except for yourself, but I just feeling like I keep spinning my wheels. I thought they graduation would propel me to new heights, but idk now...
Yeah unfortunately that college degree that you school swears by really doesn't mean as much as it used too.
 
Unless you worked at target you are not immediately ready .
It depends on the area and store. We have a brand new SD in our district who has been with Target for under 3 years. They started out as an ETL right out of college and did just fine. They’re very charismatic which helps, along with being at a store that had a lot of veteran leaders and TMs, but ultimately they managed just fine without ever working as a TM or TL first.

Certain positions are easier from the start as well. Jumping right into logistics as an ETL with no prior experience is a nightmare, but the front end can be done just by being a people person who can plan.
 
Held back?!you haven’t even started…. I would suggest focus on the position you are offered, be positive, and please don’t mention the fact that “you applied for ETL” to your team…
I wasn't going to. I have the role I have. But why shouldn't I, at least to my SD/ETLs, so they know what I'm trying to do?
 
It depends on the area and store. We have a brand new SD in our district who has been with Target for under 3 years. They started out as an ETL right out of college and did just fine. They’re very charismatic which helps, along with being at a store that had a lot of veteran leaders and TMs, but ultimately they managed just fine without ever working as a TM or TL first.

Certain positions are easier from the start as well. Jumping right into logistics as an ETL with no prior experience is a nightmare, but the front end can be done just by being a people person who can plan.
Like I said if the op would have done intership with target for 6 weeks it would be different . But to claim he/she was immediately ready for etl with no experience at target that is why it was offered a tl position .
 
I wasn't going to. I have the role I have. But why shouldn't I, at least to my SD/ETLs, so they know what I'm trying to do?
Mentioning to the tm that you tried for Etl and was given tl only says to them that you weren’t good enough for the position. And might doubt you as a tl as well.
Your Sd and all the etls already know you applied for etl . Sd is who made the call for tl.
 
Yeah I got a meh degree, still thought I'd be headed to higher places though
You can be don't doubt yourself but it just takes a little longer then you'd expect. Also if you haven't worked at Target and you accept the job as a tl, you are going astonished at the amount of work it takes. Remember you are running a business that some stores are making upwards of 100 million dollars in sales. People look at retail as an entree level job but don't realize that there company isn't coming close to making that type of revenue. Sure spot has an infrastructure that supports that and it isn't all on the store but retail is generally looked down upon and thought of as easy. 100s of employees and 100 million dollars in revenue at just a single store is nothing to be looked down upon.
 
Mentioning to the tm that you tried for Etl and was given tl only says to them that you weren’t good enough for the position. And might doubt you as a tl as well.
Your Sd and all the etls already know you applied for etl . Sd is who made the call for tl.
I applied for a district wide role I think, and the store I was placed at isn't the same one as the interviewer was SD at, so IDK how exactly that works.
 
Back
Top