Retailer, which opens its El Con Mall store Sunday, takes an aggressive hiring approach.

Tucson Citizen, Tuesday, July 20, 2004

By TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen

VAL CAÑEZ/Tucson Citizen

Target executive team leader Jennifer Angiulo (right) has sponsored Jane Rishel on her summer internship. Rishel shadows Angiulo as the staff prepares to open the Target store at El Con Mall on Sunday.

A job fair got Jennifer Angiulo in the door at Target near the top of the pay scale as an executive team leader, the equivalent of an assistant store manager.
Retail had not been her line of work.

Angiulo had put in 10 years as an accountant since age 17, and three years ago was fresh from getting an accounting degree at the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management.

On the spot, Target hired her in 2001 as an executive team leader for the soft lines section (clothing, etc.) at the store at 5255 E. Broadway.

Then she took over hard lines - everything else but groceries - at the store at 6500 E. Grant Road.

Now Angiulo is putting the finishing touches on opening her first store, the Target at El Con Mall, set to welcome customers Sunday.

This time, Angiulo heads up the customer services section - "the front lines" - check-out stands and food and refreshment services near cash registers.

"I enjoy working with people," said Angiulo, one of five executive team leaders at the El Con store. "In accounting you don't get that too much."

Angiulo, 31, oversees 55 employees.

"This is more like a family," she said. "They bring their families in to meet me. Target is very good about families. I'm a single mom. I can switch hours with other executives. It's all about prioritizing. My son (Alexander, 8) is very active in sports. I run over to his games."

Angiulo excels in what Target calls the Three E's: energy, enthusiasm and execution, said Peter Mead, Target's district manager.

The company focuses on those points when hiring team leaders, he said.

"She's a good egg," Mead said. "A lot have the (three E) qualities, but they can't share their vision with the team. That's what (Angiulo can do): Take the heat and shed the light."

Setting up the store moved at lightning speed.

Target moved in June 17 and three weeks later the store look had taken shape, although the shelves were thinly stocked.

Target had a five-day fair to hire employees for the new store, which has about 200 employees.

We have so many positions and so many personalities," Angiulo said. "Not everybody deals with guests. We have team members who have never had a job. They may have skills we are looking for. We can train them."
Target has a close relationship with the UA Center for Retailing and Consumer Sciences, which provides a link between the classroom and the real world.

The center helped place at least 11 recent retail graduates with major retailers, said Melinda Burke, the center's director.

"The role for the center is to prepare students for leadership roles for various retailers so they can hit the ground running," Burke said.

Angiulo took a single class at the center: introduction to retail.

"It was a great class. That kind of triggered me (to get into retail)," she said.

Angiulo sponsored retail center student Jane Rishel for a 10-week summer internship. Rishel, a 20-year-old junior, is shadowing Angiulo and is organizing the pre-opening party for "very important guests."

Rishel gets to do one-night stints as team leader in departments across the store. Rishel compares her leadership role as president of the Students in Free Enterprise chapter at the retail center and her team leader duties at Target.

"I'm so used to leading and doing at the same time," Rishel said. "Now I'm leading and stepping back. They come to me with questions and I make sure everybody has something to do and I think about what to do next."

Rishel talks to employee groups, something that would have given her shivers a year ago. Now Rishel carries herself with confidence.

Rishel credited the Center for Retailing, formerly the Southwest Retail Center, with her transformation. "They break you out of your shell," she said. "They empowered me to get in front of the entire group (of students) and talk to them."

STORE AT EL CON

Employees at new store: 200

Hiring: No. Managers have filled all positions, but always are taking applications.

To apply: There is an in-store employment kiosk where people can apply for a job online.

Number of stores in the area (including the new one): Six - El Con Mall, 5255 E. Broadway, 4040 N. Oracle Road, 6500 E. Grant Road, 3901 W. Ina Road. Its Oro Valley store is at 10555 N. Oracle Road.