Pulse | our teams, our stories, our careers.

We all do it. Some scribble lists. Some create vision boards. Some just have ideas stored in the back of their minds. There is no defined right way to do it, but we are all guilty of career planning.. It helps us in our desire to be the best we can be. As we embark on this New Year, it’s a time to pause and reflect on our personal journeys and make plans for which direction to steer next. I’m excited to share my career journey with you, what I’ve learned along the way and how Target has helped (a lot!).

I’ve always been fascinated with the art of persuasion – which lead me to pursue a career in marketing. When I landed my dream job at Target, post-undergrad as an associate marketing planning specialist, I was convinced I would never leave that area. After six wonderful years, I found myself reflecting on all that I had accomplished. I had worked on several businesses that provided very different marketing experiences, from community relations, to toys and sporting goods, even personal care and baby.

With each position and promotion, I felt myself grow and develop in ways I didn’t always know were possible . For that, I am humbled. My leaders and managers were (and still are) personally invested in me and unequivocally supportive in helping me reach my professional goals. They provided me with ample developmental and leadership opportunities – from classroom-style courses on negotiating and speaking on your feet, to the ability to present to the CMO or President of Community Relations. I am not sure if opportunities like this exist within other companies but at Target, these opportunities are infinite and continue to shape me into the leader I want to be.

After six awesome years in marketing, I’ve started a new chapter in my career journey. I recently joined the HR organization and will be leading the digital and social media efforts for Talent Acquisition! I am able to leverage my core marketing experience but apply it to an entirely different situation – how cool is that? This is just one example of the career growth opportunities that Target enables, should you crave it.

I used to believe, foolishly, that career paths were linear and logical – like a map. Pick your starting point, identify your destination and follow steps 1- 7 to reach the end. But my experience at Target has taught me that career paths can be anything but linear – like mine. They can include unexpected but welcomed twists and turns that  help you expand your portfolio of experience. My message is simple: find a company that invests in you and allows you to chauffeur of your own career while providing the support to accelerate your goals. Happy New Year!”

Click here to learn more about human resources opportunities at Target.