Thread regarding Target Corp. layoffs

FWIW: I was very lucky to be in the first group of Best Buy layoffs, so the bandaid was pulled quickly. There, there was a formula: "kill" the employees at the top of their pay grades. Unlike TGT, BBY's Joly was clever NOT to announce mass layoffs and kept it out of SEC requirements by terminating lets say 40 people every Tuesday morning. This has been going on for months. I was also lucky because I received a generous severance package. I loved my job, and still miss it, but this was a terrific bonus. Also, by being first out the door, I had fewer terminated employees to compete with for jobs in the Twin Cities. Yes, there are jobs out there, but probably not in Minnesota outside of IT and finance, because if you don't come out of healthcare or med device, there isn't much left. Call Amazon right away. The pay is fabulous if you can get on board and they offer full relocation.

If you need to stay in the Twin Cities because of family obligations, the most effective routes are these:

1. Join a powerful networking group like Samsnet or Starbucks if you are in sales or marketing. Go to the meetings and have a good attitude. Alumni from these groups have been through this themselves and are more inclined to help you. You'd be suprised how many alumns are out there. Lee Hecht Harrison (the outplacement firm) also has a fabulous alumni network.

2. Be humble. We willing to take a lesser job. Every company is filled with middle managers who used to be senior managers or VPs somewhere else.

3. Write an email blast to your entire gmail and LinkedIn address book. (There are ways to import your LinkedIn contact emails into your email contacts. Do this.) Attach your resume. The response I got was astonishing.

4. Have coffee with people you think of as your enemies. Seriously, I have gotten three corporate jobs through the lobbying and connections of the people I would have least expected it from.

5. Send something unexpected with your resume to a top executive of a company. This will force the admin to open it, and execs handing down a resume gets looked at immediately. I got into final interviews for a major employer in the TC this way.

6. If you do get laid off, YES YES YES take advantage of the free training dollars from the state. People from BBY did things like get PMP certification or to take software classes.

7. If you do get laid off, join a coworking space like CoCo. You will feel good about yourself, get time to focus on your job search and networking, and will have comeraderie. The free coffee alone pays for the membership plus you get rid of the @#$@#$ noise of coffee shops.

8. Let go of the anger. Don't give Target the power to do that to you. I know it sounds like successories crap, but your attitude is what you can control and what will get you that next gig.

9. Think long and hard about the temptation to become a consultant--the roller coaster of chasing work isn't for everyone. If you do want to go that route, be crystal clear about your niche. There's a lot of competition from other refugees from retail layoffs.

You WILL survive this. I guarantee you.

Saw an article on Linkedin yesterday: "Layoff rumors? Position yourself for success after the pink slip" (http://goo.gl/ROnVUr). Impeccable timing.

1.) LinkedIn: Learn it, use it, and love it. It is the biggest and most usefull tool out there right now, and corporate recruiters are falling over themselves trying to integrate it into their own systems (via Workday, Oracle, etc.) Indeed.com is still ok, but a lot of the older sites have become trolling grounds for lower-tier recruiters.

2.) If it looks bad for your area: Walk (don't run) to the nearest exit. Seriously: There are lots of great opportunities out there right now, but it would be best to try and "beat the crowd" and get out before the wave of unemployed Target folks hit the streets.

3.)Forward any documentation you would like to use for references or work examples to your personal email. (Make sure you redact any reference to "Target" or other sensitive information.)

4.) Depending on your area of expertise, look at the more reputable recruiters: Baker Tilly, Robert Half, SALO, etc. Be open to perm and consulting gigs. (If you are a decent worker, you will have very little downtime between gigs.) Sure they get paid for placing you, but they have their own reputations to protect so they are a little more thorough. Avoid out-of-town recruiters: They truly are only interested in warm bodies they can throw somewhere.

5.) Keep calm and carry on: There is life outside of Spot's Kennel Club, and it is pretty sweet. Good luck!

If you are impacted by the layoffs, you will have the opportunity to work with outplacement services that Target pays for (I think for 3 months?). If you quit OR are laid off, you can use the workforce centers (google them) for resume help, exploring new careers, mock interviews, job searching, etc. I was impacted by Target layoffs in 2014 and honestly felt "above" using these services as I have a background in HR but went to a few workshops any way and actually learned great stuff. Best of all is its free…. Also, if this layoff is as big as rumors are speculating, a Target specific dislocated worker program with more grant money might be made available to those impacted in this wave. If you have ANY interest in changing careers or furthering your education (for reduced or free!), you should pay attention to your mail and email, watch for info on this and respond by the deadlines.

My best advice if you believe you might be impacted is MAKE SURE YOUR MAILING ADDRESS AND PERSONAL EMAIL IS UP TO DATE AT TARGET. Otherwise you won't hear about a lot of these services that are offered.

Also, recruiters and headhunters are watching all this unfold very closely and if you have a up to date Linked In, you WILL be contacted quite a bit in the first weeks/months that you are laid off with job opportunities. Target is no where near perfect, but it does have the reputation for hiring (mostly) smart, competent people who want to succeed.

Best wishes to those of you who are worried you'll be impacted (….or worse, worried you won't be :) There IS life outside of Target and plenty of employers who will want to snatch you up right away. Assuming it's a fair severance package, that along with unemployment benefits will hopefully allow you to take your time as you find a career that you will be happy with. Good luck!

My entire career was also with Target - over 30 years - until I was part of the HQ layoff's last January. Initially the experience was horrific; I couldn't believe "Target" would do this to me after all my years of dedication and service. But the good news that this feeling doesn't last for very long. I soon realized I'm not defined by my employer and that there is life after Target.

Target does partner with MN Dislocated Worker's Program and this organization is phenomenal! They provide one/one support, classes, networking opportunities, job search apps and sites, etc. They will even create your resume for you.

I would encourage you to print out or forward documents to your personal email sooner rather than later. You'll need things like reviews, job descriptions, internal resumes, etc. I waited until my last week to do this and then Target deactivated my ID two days before my last day. The HelpDesk said it was a fluke but it would take 48+ hours to restore my information so they wouldn't support it.

Best of luck to you and know that there is life outside of the 'ol red and khaki world of Target!

Remember to breathe...this isn't the worst thing ever.

This is also a time to decide what else.

Try Walmart, they have increased their minimum wage

Try Indeed.com

Be careful with headhunters. They are paid by the employer, so to them you are simply inventory - and they will have a lot of comparable inventory very soon. No reason not to use them - just have other strategies working for you. I understand - after 20 years - why you seem a bit fearful and nervous. This is challenging, but doable. Ignore the bashers and idiots on this board who offer nothing but discouragement and smart-assed remarks. Associate with and listen to those who can and will help. Start now - results require action and persistence!

I'd hit head hunters. It really depends on where your skillset lies, but I'd start calling recruiters right now. Once you find a handful that you can work with they will help you polish up your resume. Also, hit LinkedIn (If you haven't already), open up the profile, link with as many people as you can, indicate that you are open for job offers and do not lock your profile have it displayed publicly. Update your profile once a week as most companies and recruiters look how fresh your updates are (that indicates that you are truly ready to move on and looking for job). This can be an easy start as initially just need a paragraph describing your background. Join LinkedIn groups, like things, etc. Again, it raises your 'activity profile and that helps. List your resume on different job boards (e.g., monster.com) - recruiters will find you. Call recruiters - if they do not deal with your kind of skills some of them to the person you need to contact. Find someone on linked in who has a similar job to yours and copy their resume from LinkedIn - that's a good start (you'll need to modify it so it is factually accurate). Once you are set here you might want to look into your skill set and look into alternate career - the for-profit sector will be depressed for a while, so if you have good Excel skills, or communication skills, or whatever, think about sectors or industries that might need those skills. I'd stay away from newspapers, craigslist, etc. For me it was a major waste of time as for every position they publish there is a hundred people applying, it gets ultra competitive and your chances drop below 1%. I'd be proactive, find some emails at places where you might fit and send emails to those folks, it does not hurt to say something like I am looking for opportunities and while I understand that you might not have any openings right now please consider me if something opens up. Emails like this get forwarded a lot, so you never know what's going to happened - worked for me in the past (the hardest part is finding emails). The overall job market conditions improved over last 6 months and you'll find something - again, it all depends on what you do and want to do - the higher up you are, the more difficult it'll be to find something that matches. The issue is that you spent 20 years here, you have some seniority and tenure here, it is likely that you were comfortable in your role. Be ready to accept that this might not be the case at your new place of employment, be in peace with it, you'll need to start building your brand and reputation and it'll take years - as long as you accept that you'll be fine. I'd jump on all of this ASAP - this ship is sinking much faster than any of us realizes.

Best Buy is hiring...

Here's what I did...make a list of every one of your friends/family/neighbors who does not work for Target. Figure out where they work. If you would want to work there, make contact. Avoid blindly applying for jobs on company websites because that s*** almost never works. Start with your network. I've gotten almost every job I've had that way.