# Target on your resume & cover letter



## asidius

Like many of you, I'm not planning on being a lifer at Target (the fact I have a Bachelor's Degree and I'm having to make $9.59 an hour is depressing).

What skills picked up at Target translate well for a resume?  For example this is what I have on my resume for Target:



> Give guests fast, fun, and friendly service to ensure they have a great experience
> Restock shelves and put away abandoned products to maintain a great looking store
> Complete various tasks in the backroom under time limits with zero errors
> Maintain a highly organized backroom by back stocking merchandise in its proper place



And my cover letter has this:



> My communication and customer service skills are excellent.  I give guests fast, fun, and friendly service at Target every day so they always leave with a smile.
> 
> ...
> 
> Finally, my time management, organizational, and multi-tasking skills are excellent. I need to complete various tasks under time limits with constant interruptions and zero errors in the backroom at Target.



My degree is in Public Relations (which I deeply regret doing now).  How can I make Target help me land my career job?


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## Hardlinesmaster

Here is some ideas:
http://www.thebreakroom.org/index.php?threads/resume-suggestions.10913/#post-183316


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## antivibe

If you're making a resume and you're applying at other companies, avoid Target lingo!
guest = customer
backroom = stockroom

Other than that, it looks like you're heading in the right direction. Good luck!


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## Mhugh220

Your bullet points tell me exactly what I would think a retail employee did. Like the Dave Chappelle skit where he guesses what Michael Jackson's genitals looked like without ever seeing them. It's obvious you did the above. 

Your bullet points and descriptions are basic. Time limits? Don't we all have time limits? A highly organized back room? Does highly make organized seem better? 

I would focus on the impact you made rather than the physical tasks you did. For example - how did your highly organized backroom impact sales? Include metrics, numbers, etc. Make quality bullet points. Also, a resume should be directed towards the job you're looking for.


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## asidius

Mhugh220 said:


> Your bullet points tell me exactly what I would think a retail employee did. Like the Dave Chappelle skit where he guesses what Michael Jackson's genitals looked like without ever seeing them. It's obvious you did the above.
> 
> Your bullet points and descriptions are basic. Time limits? Don't we all have time limits? A highly organized back room? Does highly make organized seem better?
> 
> I would focus on the impact you made rather than the physical tasks you did. For example - how did your highly organized backroom impact sales? Include metrics, numbers, etc. Make quality bullet points. Also, a resume should be directed towards the job you're looking for.



Quite frankly, I'm not sure how much what I do affects sales.  Obviously pulling the CAFs timely affects them, because it's replenishing product that could be zero of on the floor.  Its hard to say something like "Increased sales by xx% by pulling CAFs."

Our backroom metrics are also pretty terrible.  We're just about red across the board.  We're working to fix that though, the ETLs are now getting involved.

I tried to match the bullet points with my major.  PR interacts with people often so communication & customer service skills are essential.  The time limits thing is to show I can work under tight deadlines.

I have personally saved a bomb from going off in the backroom though, which I'm constantly praised for.  Few weeks ago I picked up a sales floor shift, and there was a guy in the backroom who never closed.  During my shift, I trained him on closing.  I've often volunteered to stay later because of call outs (one time I opened and closed the backroom same day).


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## Mhugh220

I wasn't trying to be rude or anything. Just offering some advice for creating quality bullet points and making your resume pop. You could say "(Task) contributed to ($$$$) in sales between (two dates)". 

Everything every TM does contributes to sales. You just have to know how to market yourself and make the most mundane tasks seem interesting. Back room is very detail oriented and requires creativity to  organize efficiently. Knowing future sales and upcoming ad sets help with keeping the backroom flowing. 

Talk about ( possibly make up) times when you used communication to benefit the store. Just don't put down things an employer already knows you do. For example, it's no surprise that a cashier handles money. But an impressive bullet would be how many attachments or extra sales you made by speaking with the Guest and promoting a product.


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## asidius

Mhugh220 said:


> I wasn't trying to be rude or anything. Just offering some advice for creating quality bullet points and making your resume pop.



Oh I know.  I wasn't trying to come off as snarky off your comment.    I apologize if I was.  I'm always open to constructive criticism.  I think I'm just bad at writing resumes & cover letters. I've written so many of them, it's hard to write one customized for a particular position.  They all sound the same now.


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## buliSBI

My educational background and job interest have been  in video production/graphics.  So my Target experience for salesfloor/cashier/CA/FA were not closely related to the jobs I was applying.  I only highlighted my Target experience to explain the gap between college and careers, and main duties/roles.

With my current state job and its detailed background check, they required I go into great detail about all my job history in my background interviews and paperwork. 

Resumes should only be one pagers of your main career history (employment if you have nothing else) and skills.  Its now being suggested to leave out objectives and just list job history.  If you submit a CV for something in PR or related.  Then go all out
Resumes should be tailored to the job you are seeking.  If you are going for something in PR, then I highly suggest using Target in detail.  You want to explain your Guest relation experience, merchandising, and multi-tasking.


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