Trying something different
When it comes to retailers in India, Amazon, Walmart, Flipkart, etc kind of comes up majorly. But then there's the US Retailer Target as well - one of the oldest Global Capability Center (GCC) in India.
So, if you would love to know more about Target as a company, the work, culture, etc - please feel free to ask. I will answer them as much as I can. I hope that others from Target would also pitch in.
PS: this is in no way sponsored or with an hidden intentions. I just thought about doing something different, and then share more about Target as well - since it's not much known 🤞🏻
Quick context:
Please share your questions or perspectives - would really love to give an insider perspective.
How’s product culture there? Does referral work?
Honestly, the product folks are on a back seat right now. Almost 2 years back, a new Chief Product Officer joined and the product leadership is trying to turn around the things.
That doesn't mean that product managers doesn't have a say. It's just that the business comes up with problems, which then PMs take it up. And for a company as big as Target, they do a good job as well.
But then, there are some amazing product led teams as well 🤞🏻
Including leadership, yes 130+ product managers+ here in India
About referrals, it depends. Usually a ton of people apply for the roles, and leadership is very careful about the product hires. Best approach is to get a referral and get a word put in to the hiring manager and recruiter as well.
FYI: the product manager role at Target requires atleast 4-5 years is prior experience. There's no junior role. You'll be joining at L5, which is senior.
Follow up: Do they take people without Hands on product management experience into product roles?
I used to work at Target India back in 2022. Anything changed wrt to pay scale etc? I am wondering if its worth joining back or not.
@Lucifer53 2 years is not much of a time frame for a significant change. The only thing that changed is more power coming to the tech teams in India, and then Target being open about giving stocks to TMs from L5, as a part of the review cycle.
But if you have a really good package now, including stock, high chance that Target would give you beyond that including a stock element in your TC - as shared by a recruiter that I met.
Apart from that, still remote/hybrid depending on the teams, AI tooling (co-pilot, ChatGPT Enterprise), etc. A new India President as well, brewing some exciting stuff.
There isn't much of a work hours concept at Target, at least as much as I know, specifically in tech. There are 3 slots for the cabs, so a lot of folks follow that. 40 hours is expected from a team member, on paper. Sometimes it can be less than that, sometimes, it can be more as well. 10:30 am - 4:00 pm can be considered as the core hours.
About not having stores in India - It can be a problem only when someone is proactively trying to do something, or build something new. Work usually happens in siloes, for a team member - their scope would usually be defined by the folks above them. But even then, the counterparts in US are always available to support whenever required. Even if you're working at Google or something, you would have exposures to only the Indian mindset - even then, one will not be able to relate to the entire diverse mindset. So there are practises in place to address these challenges.
But yes, vast majority of the team members may not have a clear understanding on how their work fits into the bigger picture, but so is the case with all other similar companies/global products as well.
There's a very mini version of a store called as Guest Experience Center as well, which is a store like environment where teams can come and try out different things - both tech and non tech.
A lot of proactive work gets driven at a leadership level, and they would have usual been with Target for a long time. They travel to US atleast once a year as well. So that kind of makes things a little less challenging as well.
Hi Grapevine,
I'm Arnav, Director of Engg at Jio Cinema. I previously exited my startup to Scaler. Some of you may know me from ScalerPod. I've also led engineering teams at Zomato & Target.
Here to chat with you about my journey...
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