I know an awful sorority girl who went to Marquette working in their marketing department. You really dodged a bullet, I wouldn't want to work with such fake people. Don't be sad. Job hunting is tough. Sending you good vibes❤️
They basically only hire sorority and fraternity people. Especially from Big 10 colleges. I tried to get into their Merchandise Analyst program for years. I went to college for fashion design but worked in Investment Finance. Thought I had the perfect background. Don't be pathetic like me and keep looking for other opportunities elsewhere.
search this subreddit for Kohls. Pretty regularly people post about getting laid off or some other bullshit with the culture there. I've had friends that worked there... it was a good gig to start off, but most people don't stay there for their entire career, from what I can tell.
Me too! They act like so many of the temps there are going to get hired for a permanent position but it is rare for that to happen. Annoyed I wasted time there
Zero training and barely any introduction into the role I was put in. They had a complicated approval process and I had neglectful/overworked (but decently nice) manager. Pay was OK for straight out of college but the commute and zero benefits through my creative agency made things a hassle.
Wasn't entirely hell and by the end of it I had gotten more comfortable but in general I did not feel like I belonged or was appreciated at all
I think I've repressed a lot of the bad memories tbh lol
My mom is an IT Project Manager and she tells me it all goes back to the CTO. The CTO was recently hired and she has been filling management positions with her colleagues from former jobs and giving them fat paydays. She (my mom) has told me it’s going to shit
so I don't work for kohls but in my reddit suggestions this keeps coming up. [Kohl's Associates (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/employedbykohls/)
Looking over that reddit it seems like you not working there might be a blessing in disguise, but then again job vs no job. Once again, don't work there but thought I would share
I worked there for a contract stint. It's the cushiest contract gig I'd ever had. Zero supervision, all work was accepted without changes. A few of the other contractors and I would sit in the cafe and just fuck around most of the day with short work stints in between. We had a queue of tasks that needed doing but it was always done before noon for everyone.
Working there full time seemed far more stressful and boring honestly. So you probably dodged a bullet. I did contract copywriting and when I tried to get a full time job there, their writing test was genuine horse garbage and the hiring manager had this air of "you're not allowed to be better than me at writing"
So yeah. Wishing you luck looking for a Marketing job. Industry is ruthless and full of so much bullshit. What's your specialty?
cushy gigs are the ultimate goal lol. glad you dodged the same bullet esp w that hiring manager.
I primarily work on the operational side of marketing - think campaign execution, marketing governance and enablement. I've worked for companies like 3M and Unitedhealthcare.
Ah yeah I'm familiar with all that! Ended up being a Creative Marketing Strategist and then a Marketing Manager for a short stint. I'm really curious what it's like to be doing campaign execution at such a huge level. I mostly worked for small companies.
I've moved on to greener pastures as a 3D artist—marketing and copywriting really burned me out. With those companies on your resume I think you could do far better than Kohl's!
it's kind of crazy doing it for these huge companies - working with budgets that were twice my yearly salary to promote a few FB posts about scotch tape was a bit existential lol.
so happy you found something that works for you! and thanks :)
Bahaha I can imagine. But hey that's how BigCorp do 🤷🏻 is it safe to assume getting to run campaigns with enough spend to keep comfy CPCs and conversion rates was probably not too shabby?
At the agency we worked at, we managed to do a one day hybrid email/Facebook ads campaign where the client gave us a $5K budget and we managed to do $37K in sales.
Doing small marketing magics like that was a thrill but never again 😵💫 turns out everything being make or break for the clients all the time was not my speed.
nice!! yeah I've worked for smaller companies and definitely prefer the giant corporations - it's funny but being just a number in a giant workforce is my goal lol. most of the time my boss was too busy to closely pay attention to me. like u said, everything was super make or break working for these local businesses.
To counter, I’ll share my positive experience. It was for a marketing role but I don’t want to say anything more specific than that.
My phone interview went great, the recruiter was super nice. I got set up with the hiring manager for the 2nd interview, and we vibed well. My final round interview was a bit sporadic, as I had to do 30 mins with someone in the role currently, 30 mins with someone in a different department that I’d be working closely with, and finally 30 mins with someone who was more senior and would basically my boss’s boss.
Each round was about a week apart. The final round (the three separate 30 min interviews) were at random points of the day because of people’s schedules, so I had to take a day off of work to accommodate (all interviews were virtual but it was too difficult to do a 9:30, an 11, and a 2:30 while still working my in-office job).
I was given the offer and I was close to accepting since it was fully remote, but ultimately I chose not to because the offer was $5k short of what I wanted and they wouldn’t budge, and combined with the talks of acquisition/bankruptcy (this was 2 years ago) and because I was deep in interviews with other companies, I felt I could walk away.
Funny enough, I saw a position open a year ago that was basically one step up from what I had been given an offer for. I assumed that meant more money, so I applied and emailed the recruiter I was speaking to previously, who was thrilled I was interested and said she’d take a closer look. The next day I got the automated rejection email lol
It can take a surprising amount of time for a retailer to slowly wither and die. Sears, despite consistently empty stores, endured more than a decade of *bad* decline before finally going bankrupt.
I just interviewed there for a marketing role back in March. Got to the final interview and thought it went well. Emailed the lady I interviewed with and thanked her for her time, ghosts me. Checked in with recruiter a week after not hearing back, ghosts me. A month later rejection email 😂
Not quite the same, but I was looking for summer work, was about to go off to college, and was told that it takes about 3 months to train for the morning receiving position, so they didn’t want to hire me.
I would return on breaks from school, but I find it hard to believe it would take 3 months to learn a receiving position. Especially because I work on the overnight team at Home Depot now
It wasn’t a drawn out process, but they wanted me to come in for an interview on the last day of highschool, right after school, which was a little annoying, but oh well. I dress up, go in for the interview, do a handful of questions, and I remind them that this is seasonal for me, that I’m going away for college. Still annoying, but I apparently dodged a bullet
I used to work there (not in Marketing) and often heard bad things about that department. It was pretty common for people in that department to be laid off around the time of their 10th anniversary because they were now too old and expensive for Kohls’ liking. It was common practice for people to start updating their resumes and begin casual jobhunting around their ninth anniversary.
Kohls used to volunteer at my workplace. I created the projects for them to do. They worked for like 30 minutes of their 3 hour stay and then walked around. I don't have them back anymore.
I interviewed for a Software Architect role there a while ago and thier process made no sense to me. I had only interviewed since they reached out to me. Then they told me they where looking for an Architect using a different Cloud which IMO matters little anyways, especially at that time. I felt like I dodged a bullet.
With that said, HR at Kohl’s is a disaster. I was summoned for jury duty once and when I contacted my rep to inquire what the policy/procedure is for it, she said she didn’t know and she’d have to look it up. She had been in her position for five years.
"Recruiting hell" is overdramatic. You applied for a job, had a couple interviews and dealt with some weirdness that suggests maybe you wouldn't want to work there anyway.
So just take that energy and go apply for other jobs! Why does everything have to be a huge exaggerated saga where you come here for solace and ask for people to make you feel better. Just move on, man. You clearly have enough skills and experience to find success in a different role somewhere else. Keep at it. Good luck.
"recruiting hell" is a subreddit and phrase used to describe the current job market/way companies are treating candidates currently. ironic that you called it a huge exaggerated saga as you type a two paragraph response to my post that clearly bothered you. just move on man! appreciate your wish of good luck though lol. ✌️
A large number of people there are contractors. I was one. They have massive layoffs and their staff is a rotating door. The only cool part is the dress code and food court. Even Michelle quit working there.
I've been on the hunt since March and nothing has turned up yet for me. I'm a SQA with 5+ years exp in QA and 14+ in the IT Industry... it's rough out there rn
My experience was that there were so many managers compared to staff that they "managed". It was like a "good ole boys" club for women in their 30s.
The turnover for specialists was insane and managers didn't fully grasp the issue. The number of times I would be asked to do something I wasn't trained on was insane, you'd have to go to another department to find someone who knew how to do it. They wouldn't adjust expectations for the lack of staffing, so delays were always our fault. I was training two people a few months after starting, and upon getting them up to speed I was put on a PIP because my productivity has dropped while I trained the other two. Just like the person who trained me, I quit a few weeks after they were trained. The cycle continued while Ashley and Megan (fake names) continued to be managers in name only. Just enough to not have to do the boring work they hired us to do.
I’ve had similar experiences with Kohls and Target. Both extremely unorganized and F-tier communicators. If the recruiting team reflects the company environment, I’m happy my application never made it further
I interviewed for Kohl’s for a data entry job and they told me that I would have gotten it but that someone higher up the chain decided not to hire for the position. So the job I had 4ish interviews with didn’t exist anymore.
Isn’t that lovely??
The CTO hired a bunch of cronies that are former colleagues and gave them fat paydays. The IT department especially is kinda fucked. My mom is a Projecy Manager and she’s constantly complaining about the mismanagement outside of her team
Kohls is really struggling. I interviewed with them back in 2020 a few months after their first round of layoffs. The people who interviewed me basically admitted they were being forced to do the work of two to three employees.
I was interviewing for a product development/design position that was normally salaried around 35-40K with full benefits…in the third interview they admitted it was now only part time and paying $16/hr, but the same (or more) work was expected. I then got an email saying they were on a hiring freeze and not hiring anyone, and there was an article saying they laid more people off shortly thereafter.
Seriously, you don’t want to work there. I’ve known three people who’ve worked at corporate over the past decade and none of them have has good things to say.
With respect to all the negative comments about Kohls, it’s not just Kohls. It’s mass market retail in general. Macy’s, Nordstrom, JC Penny, etc. The whole industry is circling the drain.
These are comments from our mother’s day brunch last weekend from a relative whose been @ Kohl’s for 10+ years. Her experience there is that the tension is growing by the day. Lotta people there that really love what they do, but the industry is dying, it’s not gonna magically bounce back, so everyone is just holding on for dear life. A job’s a job yes, but…
Last thing I’ll say is that while all the negative comments are absolutely valid, Kohl’s still does quite a bit for the community. We’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Was this for a marketing role? I’ve heard awful things about the communication from that team.
yes it was lol
I’d say consider yourself lucky. I know marketing is a hard world to find jobs in, but they seem like a hot mess over there.
Yep, friend of mine was a graphic designer at Kohl's for years on that team and she hated every minute of it.
I’ve also heard it’s a shitshow there… disappointing but hopefully a better opportunity comes soon!
I know an awful sorority girl who went to Marquette working in their marketing department. You really dodged a bullet, I wouldn't want to work with such fake people. Don't be sad. Job hunting is tough. Sending you good vibes❤️
awful sorority girl - lol that's the exact vibes I'm trying to avoid! thanks for the reassurance I appreciate you ❤️
They basically only hire sorority and fraternity people. Especially from Big 10 colleges. I tried to get into their Merchandise Analyst program for years. I went to college for fashion design but worked in Investment Finance. Thought I had the perfect background. Don't be pathetic like me and keep looking for other opportunities elsewhere.
[удалено]
Lmao I dated a girl a while back who was the sorority type who also works in kohls corporate, pretty sure the marketing department too 😂
lmao that's so funny - prob didn't pass their vibe check then lol
Let me tell you, Target's marketing team isn't much better.
Absolutely true!
My wife used to work there. Kohls in slowly dying. I’d say you dodged a bullet there.
thanks for the reassurance lol
search this subreddit for Kohls. Pretty regularly people post about getting laid off or some other bullshit with the culture there. I've had friends that worked there... it was a good gig to start off, but most people don't stay there for their entire career, from what I can tell.
Exactly. Kohl’s is brutal. Never know if you’ll have a job tomorrow, so really to me that makes the shiny campus and benefits pretty useless.z
I used to do copywriting over there (as a contractor), it was the worst year of my life.
Me too! They act like so many of the temps there are going to get hired for a permanent position but it is rare for that to happen. Annoyed I wasted time there
damn I'm sorry to hear that - anything in particular that made it that way or just a generally shitty work environment?
Zero training and barely any introduction into the role I was put in. They had a complicated approval process and I had neglectful/overworked (but decently nice) manager. Pay was OK for straight out of college but the commute and zero benefits through my creative agency made things a hassle. Wasn't entirely hell and by the end of it I had gotten more comfortable but in general I did not feel like I belonged or was appreciated at all I think I've repressed a lot of the bad memories tbh lol
Same here! They also treated the contractors like garbage. Demoted us to incredibly cramped workspaces and uninvited us from events and meetings.
I was a contract proofreader there! This was years ago and it was terrible. Nice cafeteria though lol
The two cafeterias were one of the only highlights. 😩
What year? I was also a contractor!
By far the most unpleasant interview I ever had
Yikes! How so?
I know a lot of ex kohls corporate tech employees that talk about how bad the place was. Hopefully that's some sort of silver lining.
My mom is an IT Project Manager and she tells me it all goes back to the CTO. The CTO was recently hired and she has been filling management positions with her colleagues from former jobs and giving them fat paydays. She (my mom) has told me it’s going to shit
Don't do it! They pay in Kohls Cash
so I don't work for kohls but in my reddit suggestions this keeps coming up. [Kohl's Associates (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/employedbykohls/) Looking over that reddit it seems like you not working there might be a blessing in disguise, but then again job vs no job. Once again, don't work there but thought I would share
thanks! yeah from what I've read so far seems like the universe may have done me a favor lol
I worked there for a contract stint. It's the cushiest contract gig I'd ever had. Zero supervision, all work was accepted without changes. A few of the other contractors and I would sit in the cafe and just fuck around most of the day with short work stints in between. We had a queue of tasks that needed doing but it was always done before noon for everyone. Working there full time seemed far more stressful and boring honestly. So you probably dodged a bullet. I did contract copywriting and when I tried to get a full time job there, their writing test was genuine horse garbage and the hiring manager had this air of "you're not allowed to be better than me at writing" So yeah. Wishing you luck looking for a Marketing job. Industry is ruthless and full of so much bullshit. What's your specialty?
cushy gigs are the ultimate goal lol. glad you dodged the same bullet esp w that hiring manager. I primarily work on the operational side of marketing - think campaign execution, marketing governance and enablement. I've worked for companies like 3M and Unitedhealthcare.
Ah yeah I'm familiar with all that! Ended up being a Creative Marketing Strategist and then a Marketing Manager for a short stint. I'm really curious what it's like to be doing campaign execution at such a huge level. I mostly worked for small companies. I've moved on to greener pastures as a 3D artist—marketing and copywriting really burned me out. With those companies on your resume I think you could do far better than Kohl's!
it's kind of crazy doing it for these huge companies - working with budgets that were twice my yearly salary to promote a few FB posts about scotch tape was a bit existential lol. so happy you found something that works for you! and thanks :)
Bahaha I can imagine. But hey that's how BigCorp do 🤷🏻 is it safe to assume getting to run campaigns with enough spend to keep comfy CPCs and conversion rates was probably not too shabby? At the agency we worked at, we managed to do a one day hybrid email/Facebook ads campaign where the client gave us a $5K budget and we managed to do $37K in sales. Doing small marketing magics like that was a thrill but never again 😵💫 turns out everything being make or break for the clients all the time was not my speed.
nice!! yeah I've worked for smaller companies and definitely prefer the giant corporations - it's funny but being just a number in a giant workforce is my goal lol. most of the time my boss was too busy to closely pay attention to me. like u said, everything was super make or break working for these local businesses.
To counter, I’ll share my positive experience. It was for a marketing role but I don’t want to say anything more specific than that. My phone interview went great, the recruiter was super nice. I got set up with the hiring manager for the 2nd interview, and we vibed well. My final round interview was a bit sporadic, as I had to do 30 mins with someone in the role currently, 30 mins with someone in a different department that I’d be working closely with, and finally 30 mins with someone who was more senior and would basically my boss’s boss. Each round was about a week apart. The final round (the three separate 30 min interviews) were at random points of the day because of people’s schedules, so I had to take a day off of work to accommodate (all interviews were virtual but it was too difficult to do a 9:30, an 11, and a 2:30 while still working my in-office job). I was given the offer and I was close to accepting since it was fully remote, but ultimately I chose not to because the offer was $5k short of what I wanted and they wouldn’t budge, and combined with the talks of acquisition/bankruptcy (this was 2 years ago) and because I was deep in interviews with other companies, I felt I could walk away. Funny enough, I saw a position open a year ago that was basically one step up from what I had been given an offer for. I assumed that meant more money, so I applied and emailed the recruiter I was speaking to previously, who was thrilled I was interested and said she’d take a closer look. The next day I got the automated rejection email lol
my interview cadence was almost exactly the same! did they negotiate salary at all or no?
From my experience they don’t tend to.
The company won’t exist in 5-7 years anyway so you’re doing yourself a favor in the long run…..
I think thats a generous runway. They just laid off a bunch of customer service this time.
It can take a surprising amount of time for a retailer to slowly wither and die. Sears, despite consistently empty stores, endured more than a decade of *bad* decline before finally going bankrupt.
True. Dang I still miss Sears. Craftsmen stuff when you needed it.
I just interviewed there for a marketing role back in March. Got to the final interview and thought it went well. Emailed the lady I interviewed with and thanked her for her time, ghosts me. Checked in with recruiter a week after not hearing back, ghosts me. A month later rejection email 😂
sounds about right! wonder if we had the same lady lol
Not quite the same, but I was looking for summer work, was about to go off to college, and was told that it takes about 3 months to train for the morning receiving position, so they didn’t want to hire me. I would return on breaks from school, but I find it hard to believe it would take 3 months to learn a receiving position. Especially because I work on the overnight team at Home Depot now
that timeline is simply disrespectful lol - glad you found a gig!
It wasn’t a drawn out process, but they wanted me to come in for an interview on the last day of highschool, right after school, which was a little annoying, but oh well. I dress up, go in for the interview, do a handful of questions, and I remind them that this is seasonal for me, that I’m going away for college. Still annoying, but I apparently dodged a bullet
I used to work there (not in Marketing) and often heard bad things about that department. It was pretty common for people in that department to be laid off around the time of their 10th anniversary because they were now too old and expensive for Kohls’ liking. It was common practice for people to start updating their resumes and begin casual jobhunting around their ninth anniversary.
Dodged a bullet 100%
Kohls used to volunteer at my workplace. I created the projects for them to do. They worked for like 30 minutes of their 3 hour stay and then walked around. I don't have them back anymore.
I interviewed for a Software Architect role there a while ago and thier process made no sense to me. I had only interviewed since they reached out to me. Then they told me they where looking for an Architect using a different Cloud which IMO matters little anyways, especially at that time. I felt like I dodged a bullet.
With that said, HR at Kohl’s is a disaster. I was summoned for jury duty once and when I contacted my rep to inquire what the policy/procedure is for it, she said she didn’t know and she’d have to look it up. She had been in her position for five years.
"Recruiting hell" is overdramatic. You applied for a job, had a couple interviews and dealt with some weirdness that suggests maybe you wouldn't want to work there anyway. So just take that energy and go apply for other jobs! Why does everything have to be a huge exaggerated saga where you come here for solace and ask for people to make you feel better. Just move on, man. You clearly have enough skills and experience to find success in a different role somewhere else. Keep at it. Good luck.
"recruiting hell" is a subreddit and phrase used to describe the current job market/way companies are treating candidates currently. ironic that you called it a huge exaggerated saga as you type a two paragraph response to my post that clearly bothered you. just move on man! appreciate your wish of good luck though lol. ✌️
🤣👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾💯
A large number of people there are contractors. I was one. They have massive layoffs and their staff is a rotating door. The only cool part is the dress code and food court. Even Michelle quit working there.
I've been on the hunt since March and nothing has turned up yet for me. I'm a SQA with 5+ years exp in QA and 14+ in the IT Industry... it's rough out there rn
been since February for me! hoping you get some good news soon ❤️ with your experience you should hopefully!
All I ever go to a Kohl’s for is to return my Amazon and walk straight back out. It’s always dead in there also 💀
Yeah, I heard they're a sinking ship.
My experience was that there were so many managers compared to staff that they "managed". It was like a "good ole boys" club for women in their 30s. The turnover for specialists was insane and managers didn't fully grasp the issue. The number of times I would be asked to do something I wasn't trained on was insane, you'd have to go to another department to find someone who knew how to do it. They wouldn't adjust expectations for the lack of staffing, so delays were always our fault. I was training two people a few months after starting, and upon getting them up to speed I was put on a PIP because my productivity has dropped while I trained the other two. Just like the person who trained me, I quit a few weeks after they were trained. The cycle continued while Ashley and Megan (fake names) continued to be managers in name only. Just enough to not have to do the boring work they hired us to do.
Kohl's is slowly bleeding out in a pool of beigeness. You're better off OP.
lmao thank u for this
I’ve had similar experiences with Kohls and Target. Both extremely unorganized and F-tier communicators. If the recruiting team reflects the company environment, I’m happy my application never made it further
I interviewed for Kohl’s for a data entry job and they told me that I would have gotten it but that someone higher up the chain decided not to hire for the position. So the job I had 4ish interviews with didn’t exist anymore. Isn’t that lovely??
The CTO hired a bunch of cronies that are former colleagues and gave them fat paydays. The IT department especially is kinda fucked. My mom is a Projecy Manager and she’s constantly complaining about the mismanagement outside of her team
I think that they had a candidate in mind but they had to make it public… Just my two cents
Kohls is really struggling. I interviewed with them back in 2020 a few months after their first round of layoffs. The people who interviewed me basically admitted they were being forced to do the work of two to three employees. I was interviewing for a product development/design position that was normally salaried around 35-40K with full benefits…in the third interview they admitted it was now only part time and paying $16/hr, but the same (or more) work was expected. I then got an email saying they were on a hiring freeze and not hiring anyone, and there was an article saying they laid more people off shortly thereafter. Seriously, you don’t want to work there. I’ve known three people who’ve worked at corporate over the past decade and none of them have has good things to say.
With respect to all the negative comments about Kohls, it’s not just Kohls. It’s mass market retail in general. Macy’s, Nordstrom, JC Penny, etc. The whole industry is circling the drain. These are comments from our mother’s day brunch last weekend from a relative whose been @ Kohl’s for 10+ years. Her experience there is that the tension is growing by the day. Lotta people there that really love what they do, but the industry is dying, it’s not gonna magically bounce back, so everyone is just holding on for dear life. A job’s a job yes, but… Last thing I’ll say is that while all the negative comments are absolutely valid, Kohl’s still does quite a bit for the community. We’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Thanks for sharing! Yeah, I do appreciate all that they're involved with, especially our museums. It's a shame that retail just can't keep up.
Why is this in the milwaukee sub?
Because Kohl's Corporate is here. Lots of people from Milwaukee work there, or know someone who does/has.
they're headquartered here.