Well, all I have to say is that it is too soon for Target to hire anyone who has more than B.S./B.A. education. To me, it seemed as if their corporate office pushes the DTL's to hire more educated personnel at the store level but, the store level people resist and it's natural. If you ask your interviewers, they they've been with the company for 15-25 years and that's how they got promoted to the district/store management level. So, if you have graduate-level education and solid background and they approach you with a potential offer, just decline it in the first step; 'cause you will be just a "filler' for them, they just want to have you on the record and they'll waste your time. And if you do decide to go to the interviews, just don’t expect professionalism for example they send you an interview time and before you confirm it, in a matter of an hour they confirm it themselves. They ask you to come in at 3:00 p.m. and they make you wait 2 hours before they see you. There is minimal professionalism throughout the interview process and they act as if they are smarter than you the whole time. For example the funniest part of my interview was the interview with the DTL when she insisted to spell the web address of the Target's career website to me while I was explaining that I have created a profile on that website or when she was trying to convince me that a position in Minnesota is a better fit for me... I just didn't know what to say.... You can give them a smile and observe what they do, just like what I did, or you can tell them that you are not dumb but, that would be a waste of energy. If Target gave these people minimum hiring/firing training, they would be able to play the HR role much better. After all, these people are store/district managers with high school diplomas or at most a BS/BA earned long ago, they have no HR training.
Anyway, the interview process for this position consists of three steps, the phone screen, the Store Team Leader interview and District Team Leader interview. The first two steps are just copies of each other, they ask you some behavioral questions in which you should obviously focus on "Customer" and "Communication" and the "Initiatives you took". Read Target's most recent annual report and show them how you are a good fit for the corporate culture at Target and how you can lead people and satisfy customers under any circumstance. Show enthusiasm even though you might see your interviewer taking a nap when you talk; I was not the only one who observed that, it happened to other interviewees too. If you have skills and qualifications that are beyond what the job requires, don't bother pointing them out, 'cause they won't really understand what you are talking about. For example, if you anything about Target's corporate, competitive or functional strategies just keep it to yourself. Based on my observation, these people know how to deal with seasonalities in demand or local demand for goods and products at best, anything beyond that is decided at a higher level in the company.
My last interview was with the DTL, well; the one that interviewed me was very unprofessional and when I walked out and gave her that big smile, I really was thinking to myself "What a waste of time." Let me put it in the best way I can; she was not the brightest but she falsely thought she was. And worst of all, she was lying the whole time; both with her body and her mouth. I've interviewed and hired/fired people in the past, she was acted like the worst samples they showed us in HR training.
It was a valuable experience for me, plus I was able to entertain my friends/colleagues telling them how the Target people think interviewees are not very bright.