Archived TM --> TL

[BullseyeTM]

Hi all. I'm still fairly new to the company (just started in June) and was hired on as early AM flow for 12-16 hours a week. Quickly an ETL noticed my work ethic and abilities, and decided to give me 35-40 hours scheduled a week, working everything from AM flow to Electronics and other departments. The other day I was pulled aside by 2 ETLs and was asked if I'd like to be a full-time TL (department to be decided); of course, I accepted! Duh! I was quite happy and felt accomplished, and am feeling like my hard work every day is being noticed and rewarded. Just yesterday (the day after the offer) I found myself feeling unworthy, or that "why did they pick ME?" feeling swirling through my head, and also they said they would get up with me later with the next steps, so I am also feeling anxious about the wait. I almost feel like I expect them to reverse the offer, or forget about it and just have it disappear like my luck usually runs in my life . But, I know it's only day 2 now since the offer, and I haven't even gone in yet. My question is, does this seem normal, and are there any other former TMs without a college degree that were moved up to TL on here? If so, what are my next steps and expectations? I just feel so worried and for little reason at this point. I guess I just REALLY need this to happen for me and my life. Thank you for your feedback!

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Welcome! Relax for starters. Things can be scary at first. You are in training now. Your trainer or etl will work with you. Depending on your store, you don't need a college degree to be a tl.
Stay calm, please.

 

[Him]

Congratulations. Like Hardlinesmaster said, relax. Your "work ethic" got you this far, so continue to lean on that. The "hardest" thing will be to actually delegate work to different people as to get what needs to be done accomplished. "You will sometimes want to do everything yourself." Observe, observere, observe. When you are sent out for official training, do A lot of that. There are other forums on here as well as to other things. Be like a sponge, "take it all in"!!

 

[BullseyeTM]

Thank you for the reassurance you two! You're right, I need to relax and not think about it. @Him, I will be "sent out" for training as a TL?

 

[Coqui]

I was a TM promoted to TL and I have no degree. I was also sent out to another store for two weeks for my training.

 

[Yetive]

I have had many sent to me to be trained.

 

[Westcoast7]

So they basically said if you want the job then it's yours? Like insta promotion?

 

[Him]

Yes. You will be sent out to another store close to your district. When you return and look at "the grid" TL should now be next to your name. Unless they are sending you to another store, which sounds unlikely. Sounds like you will be at your home store as a TL.

 

[theanimal]

Congrats, remember that if you are being sent to train as a TL make sure you get keyed as one the first day of training so you start making the TL pay. The hardest part will be delegating tasks to your team if you stay at your store, if you get sent to another store for the position then it'll be easier. But congrats, relax, and take it one day at a time. =D

 

[monkeyman90]

did they ask you for an open tl position or did they ask if you were interested in eventually becoming a tl?

dept to be decided sounds more like TL bench then anything. its just targets way if you're approved you can take a tl position but they'll wait for a good fit. if you'd like you can go to another store in the district. target likes having talent ready to replace people who leave for whatever reason. we've had benched people take minor upgrades cause they never got a tl position. sometimes it does work out, where people who were passed over for etl/tl got a position that suited their strengths.

 

[squirrely]

I went from TM to SrTL in a year. I had lots of LOD training, but literally zero TL training. I also trained in my own store. It's a lot of work, but if you have a good team, that will help you a lot.

 

[HRZone]

While ETLS almost always have degrees. Most TLs at my store do not. With target being a company that rarely even verifies degrees. You're fine, if hard work got you to the role it will carry you through it

 

[BullseyeTM]

Thanks for the replies! I will talk to one of the two ETLs that made the official offer more about the process soon. They did mention it will take a little while to get it set up, but it was an official offer. I may be right in line to get the AP TL position, as our AP TL position just became vacant. Thanks again for the reassurance, now the waiting game, and trying not to bother the hell out of the ETLs while waiting.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Ck out our ap thread for more info.

 

[sabria]

No worries - most stores are similar to where if you are "in the pipeline" you won't be forgotten and will probably be talked about frequently in the ETL/STL meetings.

I've had a bit of experience at a few stores now - good and bad stores. Regardless of store - the ETL team is pushed to maintain a good pipeline and in my experience even at the good stores - we're always near desperate to find people who are worthy of leadership positions. Even though the store I'm at is full on TL positions - it's extremely hard to keep people in the pipeline who would without a doubt make a great TL.

If you've already had the talks you said you've had then your time likely isn't far. We love good TL's because this job (ETL) is super tough to do well until you get the right people in the right places. Sorry if that sounds bad I don't mean it that way. But at my old store in my last ETL position I had no good TL's that I could trust anything to. Our pipeline was non-existent and there simply wasn't anyone I'd even consider. I'd work a 10 hour LOD shift then stay another 4-6 hours just to be able to get stuff done/caught up that would regularly be done by good TL's or brand TM's if I had them. Then throw in coming in an hour or two early some days on top of that just so I could get my paperwork/emails/reports/etc done that I'm supposed to do as an ETL.

Sorry if that's more than you wanted to know I just wanted to emphasize how much a good TL means to the leadership in the Spot world

 

[BullseyeTM]

No worries - most stores are similar to where if you are "in the pipeline" you won't be forgotten and will probably be talked about frequently in the ETL/STL meetings.

I've had a bit of experience at a few stores now - good and bad stores. Regardless of store - the ETL team is pushed to maintain a good pipeline and in my experience even at the good stores - we're always near desperate to find people who are worthy of leadership positions. Even though the store I'm at is full on TL positions - it's extremely hard to keep people in the pipeline who would without a doubt make a great TL.

If you've already had the talks you said you've had then your time likely isn't far. We love good TL's because this job (ETL) is super tough to do well until you get the right people in the right places. Sorry if that sounds bad I don't mean it that way. But at my old store in my last ETL position I had no good TL's that I could trust anything to. Our pipeline was non-existent and there simply wasn't anyone I'd even consider. I'd work a 10 hour LOD shift then stay another 4-6 hours just to be able to get stuff done/caught up that would regularly be done by good TL's or brand TM's if I had them. Then throw in coming in an hour or two early some days on top of that just so I could get my paperwork/emails/reports/etc done that I'm supposed to do as an ETL.

Sorry if that's more than you wanted to know I just wanted to emphasize how much a good TL means to the leadership in the Spot world

No, that makes perfect sense! Kind of eases my anxiety a bit as well. I click very well with the 2 ETLs that pulled me into the meeting, so that probably explains why they would want me as a TL, to help lighten their workload in a good way. I have noticed that they are the 2 most overworked ETLs, but still somehow manage to work hard and happily every day. They must know they can trust me to do the same even with a high workload, and I honestly can say that I would, and most of all wouldn't want to let them down. Hopefully "in the pipeline" doesn't keep me on hold for long. I can feel myself performing the role of TL already in several situations with the team over the past 2 days, but have had to hold myself back from completely taking charge of the group in efforts to not give away the upcoming TL bump, or appear to overstep my bounds. I keep telling myself "not too long now", and hoping that it is true. We need more positive guidance at my store, and I feel that I can provide that from day one. I was a supervisor for years at my old job, and I can feel that leadership part in me coming out again.

We do have what seems to be a shortage of TLs, we have (I think) 3-4 Senior TLs, and only 1 remaining TL, as the other TL (AP TL) just left. It seems like we should have a couple of more "TLs". Should I expect the AP TL position since now our store has exactly ZERO bodies on the AP team? Seriously! The AP TL was the only AP individual at our store LOL! Now we are a free-for-all on theft until we get a new one. Or, should I expect a transfer in for that position? I am on the fence on wether I would like that spot or not, on one hand I would do very well with AP since I have had a plethora of security and human behavioral training in my life, but on the other I would actually like to lead TMs in order to benefit the store as a whole. I just don't know wether I should inform the ETLs that I have such experience for the AP TL position or not. I just hope that by the end of the weekend they fill me in on what their intentions are. I don't want to be a "bench warmer" for the TL position for long, I am ready to go!

 

[Yetive]

For AP, you would interview with district AP, I believe. I think you are right that you are missing a few TLs.

 

[buliSBI]

TL bench

 

[BullseyeTM]

Just an update: Well, I'm definitely not going to be a benched TL. The ETLs seem to want me to lead ASAP, and I'm already scheduled for out of store training this week. Currently, they still haven't solidified what exact position or department I will be TL of. Right now, I guess I am ??TL... LOL . But I have also been clued into the reason of this being that some major chess pieces are about to move or some heads are about to roll at my store, and they will need me to be an immediate replacement or something along those lines. Don't know exactly what is going down, I just know that something is going down soon .

Btw, this smiley <--- just made me die of laughter

 

[danimal]

Hi all. I'm still fairly new to the company (just started in June) and was hired on as early AM flow for 12-16 hours a week. Quickly an ETL noticed my work ethic and abilities, and decided to give me 35-40 hours scheduled a week, working everything from AM flow to Electronics and other departments. The other day I was pulled aside by 2 ETLs and was asked if I'd like to be a full-time TL (department to be decided); of course, I accepted! Duh! I was quite happy and felt accomplished, and am feeling like my hard work every day is being noticed and rewarded. Just yesterday (the day after the offer) I found myself feeling unworthy, or that "why did they pick ME?" feeling swirling through my head, and also they said they would get up with me later with the next steps, so I am also feeling anxious about the wait. I almost feel like I expect them to reverse the offer, or forget about it and just have it disappear like my luck usually runs in my life . But, I know it's only day 2 now since the offer, and I haven't even gone in yet. My question is, does this seem normal, and are there any other former TMs without a college degree that were moved up to TL on here? If so, what are my next steps and expectations? I just feel so worried and for little reason at this point. I guess I just REALLY need this to happen for me and my life. Thank you for your feedback!

Congrats! Most TM-turned-TLs have trouble with is being treated as a TL by their previous peers (aka TMs). Make sure they understand when you're being serious. Don't be afraid to write them up when you've given them enough warnings.
Also, since you'll be dayside, you're gonna have to fight for some TMs when you need support in your dept.

 

[SFSFun]

Congrats!

As for AP, I'd be surprised if the district isn't getting other stores to cover while they look for a replacement.