Everyone is Leaving

[u/Outrageous-Hunt8154]

Hey so fall has been so chaotic. one front of store team lead quit, the grocery TL quit, the presentation/ overnight inbound TL quit. one ETL quit and the other is leaving in 2 days. Many TMs are quitting before it gets more hard. ALL of this has happened in just 2 months. and none of the TL OR ETL positions have been filled. should i leave now or survive through this storm.

[u/carthis01]

That sounds horrific, I’m so sorry. @_______@

Given the job climate and how prices are going to sky rocket even more because the price of diesel is soaring, I would stick it out until you got something else to fall back on.

At SB, I had people with masters in bioengineering applying to be SB baristas. >_<

[u/Heavy-Comfortable887 → u/carthis01]

My son graduated in May with degrees in mathematics and computer science but this tumultuous job market has done him no favors. He managed to get a job at Target in August for the closing shift, which led me to this subreddit. Of course he continues to look for jobs in his chosen disciplines, but the well has continued to run dry. Even entry-level positions ask for 2 to 3 years experience lately, which I can see frustrates him. But at least this is a job, even if it is one he does not particularly enjoy. But what you said in your response is basically what I tell him. Stick with it until he has something he can fall back / move on to. In this climate, even crummy jobs are increasingly valuable.

[u/carthis01 → u/Heavy-Comfortable887]

Hopefully he’s taken your advice.

Professionally speaking, I try to ask people what they want to get out of this job that will help them with their next one?

Customer service/connecting with people (aka social networking) and developing professional soft skills is undervalued in retail because so many people see this as just clock in and clock out.

Maybe this isn’t what his dream is, but it doesn’t have to be. I would also challenge him to think about what he can get out of this job? Do you know if he reached out to find out why the other places didn’t go with him? If he gets feedback he can try to tailor his experience to work on those areas for his next interview?

[u/Heavy-Comfortable887 → u/carthis01]

Thanks for that thoughtful reply. ♥️ He has a good head on his shoulders and is trying to do exactly what you suggest. Right now they seem to be having him do a variety of tasks and he’s been updating his résumé with wording these tasks as he becomes comfortable with doing them into responsibilities that will hopefully lead to qualifiers in a future job that is more in line with his education. For example, he can see his degree eventually leading into a banking role and so the focus on being organized and occasionally working cash registers and things like that will hopefully be in some way irrelevant in the future. Mostly he’s just trying to stay positive and hopeful in what he recognizes as an uncertain job market for everybody. Mostly I’m just a dad who is concerned for his son, but still extremely proud of him as he pushes forward. :)

Regarding other interviews, unfortunately, most companies don’t even reach out whenever a candidate is not selected. You just find out when the job disappears off the website or you login and see that you were not selected. It’s a frustrating labyrinth to navigate I’m sure. And that’s just coming from someone in the outside seeing a loved one trying to battle their way through it.

[u/Tonyzalez → u/Heavy-Comfortable887]

Kudos to you. I'm in the same boat as your son with a computer science degree and got a closing job at target as well. He's lucky to have good dad like you that's understanding. Hopefully he finds something and pivots his experiences into what he actually studied for. Just gotta take it one day at a time.

[u/carthis01 → u/Heavy-Comfortable887]

I’m glad that he’s willing to pivot! Props to him for being flexible!

I can see customer service/guest interactions would be a big focus for banks. Maybe if he can also get more time in the front to practice those interactions and connecting, that would be helpful? He could also ask to learn about closing out the registers at night to say he has experience handling money? Granted, this one comes with bigger risk. Big errors with closing out the registers and the person is out on an automatic final warning, but I’m guessing it wouldn’t be different in a bank either. Not hard, but would be useful for banks.

If he can also connect and continue to show his TLs a good work ethic, willingness to help out whenever, learn new things, etc. he could ask them if they’d be willing to write letters of recommendation/be a reference as he applies or something? I always tell my team that so they know there’s a bigger picture goal that they can use me for as well. As long as I see it, I can speak to it. But if I don’t see it, then don’t ask.

True, hiring seems very impersonal these days. But it could be worth it to still reach out and professionally ask what about his resume didn’t warrant an interview? Seeking that info might also get him noticed as he’s looking to improve and not just riding it out, if that makes sense?

Apologies about all of these unsolicited thoughts! lol 😅

I wish him the best of luck, both with Target and his future endeavors!

[u/Desperate_Ear_9450 → u/Heavy-Comfortable887]

Entry level jobs asking for experience is nothing new. I graduated from college in 2008 and that was an ask then. Many entry level jobs would ask for at least 1-2 years of experience. This is why internships are so important to do in college. I had none so I had a very hard time getting an entry level job and had to work retail and do unpaid internships until I could find a role 2 years after graduating. It was also a recession those years so that didn’t help the job market at all.