Archived Job at Target vs. Macy's

[Wings]

Hello all! I'm new to the board but have lurked for a few days reading about life at Target. Have any of you Target workers worked at Macy's or know anyone that has? I have been offered seasonal part time positions at both Target and Macy's and I'm torn as to which position to accept. Macy's has offered me more money but that store is almost twice the distance of Target (so the extra money may get eaten up in gas). Macy's can't guarantee me hours but the guy I met with at Target (the store manager, don't know Target-speak for his title) told me he can guarantee me at least 15 hours per week. However, after reading some of the posts on here, working at Target kind of scares me lol. The position I have been offered is in Softlines. Any help/advice you may provide is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[redninja]

I used to work at Target (full time and then part time) and am currently working part time at Macy's. I worked at Target for almost two years doing salesfloor/softlines brand. I never had problems getting hours, but my store is one of the highest grossing in my region and we were always desperate for good workers. Target and Macy's do their scheduling very differently; depending on your position at Macy's you can pretty much pick up as many hours as you can work depending on what's available. There are a lot of hours this time of year but that will drop off in Feb. At Target I was often scheduled way too many hours for a part time job and this was never addressed despite my speaking to management because I had a "useful" (ie, weekend) availability. I ended up feeling like they were just taking advantage of me after a while. Macy's has a really awesome "self serve" scheduling system where you can go in and set availability and manage your shifts. Target scheduling was done almost entirely by computer and their HR self service (used to be called MAX, I think it's changed since I left) was atrocious.

Other things: if you are salesfloor at Target you will be expected to do everything from customer service to pushing freight on the floor to cashiering, often at the same time and often with a "this needs to be done yesterday" attitude. Macy's sales associates are expected to do one thing: assist customers and ring them out. If there is downtime, we use it to straighten up the floor and put things away. All associates have individual sales goals and other metrics they get scored on. Macy's also places very high emphasis on selling Macy's credit cards and going above and beyond to retain customer loyalty. Compared to my average day working at Target, working at Macy's is a walk in the park since I don't have to try and push product to the floor, clean up the sales floor and get interrupted every five minutes in the middle of a task to go cashier. I also really like the scheduling flexibility Macy's offers- be aware you cannot set availability for weekends, you have to be available all day.

I don't know if this will help you make your decision, but I like working for Macy's better than I did for Target. So far the store where I currently work is much better managed than my Target was. Honestly, if it comes down to which job has the shorter commute, I will always take the shorter commute (as you pointed out, you may just be making up the pay difference in gas.) Retail is pretty much retail. I hope this offers you some insight? I'd be happy to answer other questions you might have.

 

[Wings]

Thank you redninja for your info. That was definitely very helpful. I was offered Softlines at Target and originally a Sales associate position at Macys but received a call today that they have a Star Selling Ambassador position open that they think I'd be great for and it's an additional $1 per hour (which is now $3 per hour more than Target has offered me). I think I'm going to have to go with Macy's. Thanks for your help!

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Go for macys.

 

[redcharmander10]

Like yourself, last year I was offered seasonal part time positions at both Macy's and at Target (first at Macy's, then at Target). There was a brief two-week period in which I had two jobs, but ultimately I went with Target because it was a shorter commute from home and school (3 miles vs. ~10), and I felt that it had a more laid-back atmosphere.

At Macy's, I was there long enough to undergo orientation, training, and three days of work. It was my first foray into retail and it was challenging for me. Although the same is true for both stores, I felt that at Macy's I was especially pressured to always be doing something, whether it be engaging customers, doing go-backs, etc. A Sales Associate at Macy's is basically the Target positions of Sales Floor, Cashier, and Service Desk rolled into one. After three days of long shifts in dress clothes and dress shoes (a killer for 8hr shifts), when I went for orientation at Target I immediately felt more comfortable in a red T-shirt, khaki pants, and regular shoes. Although this may seem like a minor difference, for me it was big. Also, Target started me out at 0.10 more an hour than Macy's. And finally, I felt more engaged doing Hardlines at Target than dealing with clothing for hours at Macy's.

In the end, I don't regret sticking with Target. First it was a relief that I didn't have to work the insane Macy's holiday hours last year. And I felt that the more casual atmosphere of Target was a better fit for me, and even though my TM discount is less than at Macy's, I actually use it on a regular basis.

I do miss some things from Macy's. Working at a mall, lunches were more fun for me since I got to go to the food court and go shopping at other stores. Also I miss the self-scheduling. Although it was tough, I liked being able to work 20+ hours JUST from working on weekends.

Overall though I'm happy with things ended up, and I hope you will be too 🙂

 

[pellinore]

A few other things to consider when making your decision.....

1) If you are looking to stay on past the holiday season, which store is most likely to keep you on?

2) Which store is most likely to give you a "one up" for learning to work at other places? Target team members, when they leave their store, and go to another retail situation the knowledge from Target has helped people start at a better wage....and a few past team members started out at stores at a higher level of management with higher pay because of the Target experience.

3) Which store do you think will better prepare you for a "next job?"

4)Target's work pace is often pretty busy and you're expected to give 110% of your effort all the time. The work load is often a lot more than you can ever do in a shift, but you do learn a lot.

5) The work environments seem very different.....compare that aspect of the job.

6) Which company was the friendliest and most attentive at you whole job application process? This can be a tell-tale sign of how they treat workers. Meaning...if you already feel like you're being treated "as a number" before you start....what will it be like after you are there?


Whichever job you choose, be sure to be kind to the store you AREN'T choosing.....right now you know you could be hired at either place.....and if the store you choose to go with doesn't work out, then you at least know you are already have a bit of a chance to get a job at the other store.

Once you start your job, don't be afraid to ask questions. The more you can learn the better you'll become at whatever you do next.

Good luck!

 

[sher]

I used to work at Macy's and hated it. You do less manual labor at Macy's for a tiny bit more money, though. I used to just walk around in circles at Macy's. make things look a little neater as I went around, but there were people that were there just to make everything look nice. My issue with Macy's was their little grading system, the sales goals, and the star rewards pushing. I worked in the Men's dept and it was nearly impossible to meat goals. The people who met/exceeded them were the sharks who were overly competitive. They'd "steal" customers and such. It just wasn't a fun place for me to work. They basically taught you how to manipulate people and it was just tough for me, personally. I think many people can excel at that, though. But if you have any reservations about pushing things on people, maybe don't do it. My macy's did allow us to set availability for weekends, though. Everyone was required to work on those one day sales... and they have a million one day sales. And some of em last 2 days because of the pre-sale events. Every week, or two, the supervisor has a little chat with you to say how you're doing on sales goals and star rewards cards and I just had a shitty supervisor. She never commented on the things I did right... only the things I wasn't good at. Macy's customers are nicer than Target's, in my opinion.

I don't like Target anymore, either, though. There's more pushing us to add items to guests baskets and it just reminds me of macy's a bit, but in a different way.

That was completely unorganized, but hopefully some of that info is helpful in some way.

 

[sher]

To clarify on the pay, I made 25cent more at Macy's and Target only gave me a 9cent raise lol. Macy's (allegedly) automatically gives a raise of xx cent after so many months and here, it's a lot more than 9 cent. I'd say if you're okay with pushing stuff and they offered you more than on call, take Macy's.

If it's an on-call position, ask about the options, first. I forget which option number I had, but I was only guaranteed 8 hours each weekend and I got a few more during the week. If you wake up at 7am on Sundays (or maybe it was a different day) you could pick up extra hours on the website, and people post their hours for trade on the site all the time. If you check the site daily, and are available a lot, you can pick up quite a few shifts on the site. People can post them as late as about 2 hours before the shift is supposed to start.