Great Team Values, Wicked Smart people -- but frigid temperatures and stale/stalled senior leadership
Pros
Overall, Target is a great company to work for and if you do your due diligence to build a large network (vertically and horizontally), there will always be opportunities for new experiences. Most of the employees are from the Midwest but very open to diverse perspectives (within reason). If you speak up in meetings and show collaborative efforts, you will be rewarded. The corporate responsibility is amazing and the "Fast, Fun, Friendly" brand (although initially feeling cheesy) is much appreciated for employees that work very hard. Your co-workers will quickly become your work family --so be prepared to have stories to share at the Team Table for lunch and to fill out Great Team cards weekly! Everyone is incredibly smart and generally will work hard regardless of level of position. Even the "Average" Target HQ employee, particularly within core merchandising, has extremely high work ethic and exceptional analysis skills.
Cons
Minneapolis is a beautiful city during summer and early Fall -- however, winter is pretty brutal and runs right into spring. Those who are native to the frigid sub-zero temperatures seem to find adequate activities to participate in. But, if you are not used to -10 degree daily weather, you will like find yourself hibernating for 8 months of the year! Promotion and talent planning could use re-thinking -- even if you are a rock star, you will need to wait your turn for promotion and the pipeline gets very backed up at the Sr. Buyer and/or Director level. Most senior leadership "grew up" at the company and have only had Target experience, which presents an issue with truly creating innovative solutions to complex retail business challenges! The company is also used to getting things "right" before moving forward with a strategy and this has hindered the speed to market on really simple, great ideas that other retailers are already doing. Make sure you negotiate before entering the company -- you will find it very difficult to make up on any $$ lost once internally negotiating during lateral moves and/or promotions.