I'm Lost! Should I be suspicious because I was released, let go, from Target on December 17th?

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redeye58 said:
Candidate A: laid off from software industry 2 yrs ago; has had a few freelance gigs but nothing permanent; has volunteered at community centers (networking) & served as a mentor at several nearby middle/high schools.
Neatly dressed (business casual), answers short & to-the-point, good eye contact.

Candidate B: laid off from retail job 8 mos ago; lots of interviews but no call-backs; no activities listed since lay-off.
Dressed slacker neat-ish, fidgets in chair, looks around bored, rambling answers that trail off. Has retail experience but doesn't offer additional details about previous tasks.

Who ya gonna pick?

Re: holiday hiring - retailers may be desperate but they're not stupid.
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Candidate A!
 
eatcowsnotCAFS said:
To the original poster, with every ounce of due respect, is there anything about you that someone might perceive as "strange", or something that might really put off someone who didn't know you? The reason I ask is simple. In interviews I've done, and in my store at least, we really don't turn people down for lack of experience, unless they're going for a managerial job. This is retail. For the most part, it's entry level jobs. Figure it this way, everyone. They knew from your application that you had lack of experience before they even had you in for the interviews, so there was something very off-putting about the interviews. If your lack of experience bothered them, they wouldn't have called you. Did the same thing happen with the other jobs you've been applying to?

Make sure you're following the basics of basics with job interviews-- good hygiene, proper dress (no jeans ever!), shake hands, be courteous. Google "job interview etiquette" and you'll find quite a lot of information to help you out.

Also, they might not have like your answers... at all. With that many interviews for Target, by now you know the deal and you know the kind of questions they ask. I can't post the questions, but I can tell you that if you google "Target interview questions" you'll find those too. They're "situational" questions.
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out of all the 11 job interviews i've had this year the past 8 months, i always dressed professionally with a suit and a tie, was clean-shaven, good hygiene with deodorant, with hair-cut, with a buzz-cut, wore dress shoes i had that hair-cut when i got hired during my Target Interview during the Fall of last year in which I got hired seasonal, i absolutely never wore any street clothes, but the fact that I was able to get hired seasonal at Target last year but unable to get hired for other retail jobs, also fast-food jobs at McDonalds, overall, customer-service jobs, despite getting interviews, just no job offers yet
 
If you have any college education (other than Business or Marketing) or have had any job experience beyond retail and the food service industry, you will find some hesitation on being hired into those areas.

Restaurants and retailers will usually want to hire someone who is willing to work for minimum wage, take whatever hours they are given, and is willing to stay with the company for more than 3-5 years.

I, myself, had a hard time moving up within my last store because they knew Target was not going to be my lifelong job.

I ended up applying for everything I could. Private and public sector. Even for jobs outside of my area. And above my experience. I even threw my resume to staffing offices so I could get me name in somewhere.
 
buliSBI said:
If you have any college education (other than Business or Marketing) or have had any job experience beyond retail and the food service industry, you will find some hesitation on being hired into those areas.

Restaurants and retailers will usually want to hire someone who is willing to work for minimum wage, take whatever hours they are given, and is willing to stay with the company for more than 3-5 years.

I, myself, had a hard time moving up within my last store because they knew Target was not going to be my lifelong job.

I ended up applying for everything I could. Private and public sector. Even for jobs outside of my area. And above my experience. I even threw my resume to staffing offices so I could get me name in somewhere.
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I don't have a college degree, and no job experience beyond retail and the food-service industry, overall, customer-service industry, since retail and fast-food, restaurant jobs make up the overwhelming vast majority of customer-service jobs, like I said before, I'm completely comfortable and content, willing to work a minimum-wage job, take whatever hours given, as long as it is a permanent job, as long as it is not temporary, and willing to stay with the company for more than 2 years, and i've had interviews at Home Depot this year, Target again, OSH, McDonalds, Sports Authority, Walgreens, a Movie Theater, Goodwill, a Discovery Science Center near where I live, which is a Museum, and still no luck getting hired, and I always dressed professionally with a suit and tie for literally all of the interviews
 
i was on the website CityData, this person on there, who is a Retail Hiring-Manager, has been involved in Retail for over 10 years now, she told me this:

"Yes. Roughly 25% of a store's yearly business happens between Black Friday and about the 2nd of January. So, stores hire a LOT of people to act as fillers...salespeople on the floor with customers, greeters, etc as they are able to let their more seasoned employees run the store, handle the cash registers, etc. I have seen people literally asked "when can you start" when they handed in an application. Also, corporate will often relax the hiring rules (fewer interviews, quicker background checks, etc) at that time.

Yes, the experience, qualifications matters a lot more during the non holiday times."
 
I got hired on the spot and took the drug test the same day. But I think it is polite and professional for anyone to call back once they've made a decision post interview, I say the same if they look over the application and choose not to interview them. Its been my experience that bothering them helps my background check took a long time (almost the entire two weeks) and I called them a few times and they seemed to appreciate it. Same with my previous job (Wendy's) I bothered them several times and they were happy to hire me on the spot.
 
TokusatsuComic80s90sLover said:
Well I don't know, i would imagine i need a Degree in order to get hired at the Hospital, but i'm volunteering to gain more cashiering skills so I can get rehired at Target or another retail, customer-service job
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There maybe entry level jobs open at the hospital. Ck with hr or ask co workers.
It's a great place to network too.
 
One of my nieces studied medical coding & works at a hospital in the billing/filing dept.
She started as an unpaid intern.
 
When you talk to people, get to know them & share common interests, they're more likely to remember you &/or refer for an opening.
This happened to a friend of my husband. He was at a job fair & struck up a conversation with a guy who happened to be a fellow ham radio nut. The guy took down his info & called him a few weeks later for an interview. The surprising thing is it's in an industry outside his field but talking to the guy paved the way because he offered tips & insight he wouldn't have given to just anyone off the street.
 
When I was in dire need of a part time job to supplement a pay cut at my full time job, a member at church knew about my situation and was able to get me a job at her family's pizzeria.
 
redeye58 said:
When you talk to people, get to know them & share common interests, they're more likely to remember you &/or refer for an opening.
This happened to a friend of my husband. He was at a job fair & struck up a conversation with a guy who happened to be a fellow ham radio nut. The guy took down his info & called him a few weeks later for an interview. The surprising thing is it's in an industry outside his field but talking to the guy paved the way because he offered tips & insight he wouldn't have given to just anyone off the street.
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yeah because I was having a discussion with my Cousin's Husband a few months ago about this topic, because I was telling him I had been trying to get a job at Home-Depot, because my best friend since Middle School works there, has been working there for 2 years now, my best friend had no job experience prior to getting hired at Home-Depot, Home-Depot was and still is his first job ever, he was 22 at the time, now he is 24, the same age as me, but anyway, this is a copy of the discussion me and my Cousin's Husband conversation regarding networking when it comes to getting a job:

"when I said to him "It's not what you know but you who know" he disagreed with me by saying:

"It's more of what you know not who you know. Knowing people may get you a second look but if you don't know what you are doing then you won't last. Education is the key to the workforce."

Then I responded to him by saying "I read an accurate percentage, in fact, even a person who works for the Department of Rehabiliation, says that at least 70 percent of people get jobs through networking"

Then he says: "How many of that 70 percent are able to keep those jobs for more than 6 months?"

Lastly he says "If it was who you know not what you know" then colleges would cease to exist.

What do you think about what he said?

Is he right or wrong?
 
In the middle, I'd say.
Some fields you'd def have to showcase your skills (engineering, atty, medical) so it's WHAT you know.
But for something close to entry-level or similar skill-sets, it's more WHO you know.
Networking is free, a good skill to pick up & it can't hurt.
Just don't confuse it with name-dropping.
 
If they are helping get you into fields that you are clearly underprepared for, I do agree with him. But networking is not like that. I'm was studying computer science in college and would have graduated with the same qualifications as every other CS graduate. My friend's dad works as a contractor for the Army in that field. He offered me a paid internship the summer before graduation. This opportunity was lined up because of who I knew, not because I was the most qualified. It does help to know people in the field you want.

You mentioned you were volunteering in the hospital. Perform well and get noticed. The more people you meet and impress, the better chance you would have getting into an entry level position with the hospital. I would hire a hardworking volunteer over Random Applicant #12 anyday.
 
redeye58 said:
In the middle, I'd say.
Some fields you'd def have to showcase your skills (engineering, atty, medical) so it's WHAT you know.
But for something close to entry-level or similar skill-sets, it's more WHO you know.
Networking is free, a good skill to pick up & it can't hurt.
Just don't confuse it with name-dropping.
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so my cousin's husband was probably thinking about professional career jobs instead of entry-level service jobs, minimum-wage jobs?
 
Even in the professional field, if there is more than one candidate, and all other things are equal, if one of them gets a nod by someone the interviewer trusts, they have a leg up.
 
Retail Girl said:
Even in the professional field, if there is more than one candidate, and all other things are equal, if one of them gets a nod by someone the interviewer trusts, they have a leg up.
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also, i'm guessing i am right, correct, that retail, entry-level retail jobs are less picky, less choosy about who they hire during the holidays for seasonal, temporary jobs than they are for permanent jobs during the normal time of the year?
 
Target Annie said:
yes
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yeah, one-thing I do not know the answer to yet, is to retail entry-level service jobs, such as retail, when hiring around the holidays, do they do reference checks, do they call for references when they are hiring for seasonal temporary jobs? or is that only when hiring for permanent job positions?
 
When I was filling out job applications left and right, very few in retail type places asked for references...I know Target didn't. And I know those places that I've worked and asked for them, they would never dream of calling them. For an entry level job, it's pretty pointless and everyone knows the reference will say you are the best thing that ever happened to them. For higher up jobs, they would be more likely to check.

But how people filled out an application, especially a paper one where it's easier to do your own thing, said way more than people could imagine.
 
We have a number of people working for us who are family members and friends of TM's
If one person is a hard, reliable worker and they recommend someone we are much more likely to take that person over someone with equal skill levels.
So in that case it is who you know.
 
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