CONTACT:
Federated Department Stores, Inc.
Jean Reisinger Coggan
513/579-7315
http://www.federated-fds.com/
CINCINNATI, Oct 30, 2002-- Even in a stagnant economy, Federated Department Stores, Inc. (NYSE:FD)(PCX:FD) is hiring for positions nationwide and at various levels. Facilitating this process is a newly upgraded Retailology.com corporate recruiting Web site, on which anywhere from 1,500 to 2,500 jobs from all Federated retail and support divisions are posted online at any given time.
"Federated has always taken pride in its ability to recruit and retain the best people in the retail business," said Terry Lundgren, Federated`s president and chief operating officer. "With so much talent available in a down job market, we are reaching out via Retailology.com to find outstanding candidates who might not have otherwise thought of a career in retailing. We offer some terrific opportunities for individuals interested in sales, sales management, retail operations and a wide range of specialty fields.
"Through Retailology, we`re recruiting individuals using a medium that is potentially the most convenient and consulted resource for today`s job-seeker," he said.
Retailology.com has the richest search capability of any retail recruiting site, allowing visitors to search for individual positions by location, department and/or title. It is considered a pacesetter among major company sites for recruiting employees at all levels, and was recently named among the Top 25 (of Fortune 500 companies) for Corporate Staffing Sites by CareerXroads.com.
Retailology.com was launched initially in 1999 as a college recruiting site and then extended in 2001 into a branded portal that serves as a single, electronic doorway to facilitate recruiting companywide. Complete with a tailored "site within a site" for each of the company`s retail and support divisions, this expanded portal was designed to engage potential employees at every level by providing interactive information on job openings, career paths, work culture, office/store locations, benefit programs and other employment-related items.
In the year since its migration to a companywide site in September 2001, more than 2.2 million job seekers - an average of 6,253 a day - have visited Retailology. The average visitor session length clocks in at more than a quarter hour, and some 205,000 people have begun the job application process by submitting their information to Federated online through Retailology.com. The company`s objective is to contact each potential applicant within two weeks after an online submission.
"The response to Retailology, whether you measure the level of visitor activity or the number of resume submissions, has been tremendous," says Susan Burns, Federated`s director of employment initiatives and college relations. "Over the last three years, we`ve fine-tuned the format, allowing candidates to connect directly to one of our divisions for specific information, or to explore generically the broad range of careers available in a retail company such as Federated. Retailology has been an extremely successful venture for Federated and has emerged as a well-recognized brand for corporate recruiting."
Examples of New and Updated Features
* Transcripts of more than 70 interviews capture the experiences and viewpoints of associates at each Federated division in various areas of the business and with a wide range of skills and tenure.
* A new "Connecting With Our Customer" section was developed to articulate the company`s customer service philosophy, share the experiences of exceptional sales and sales support associates, and post unedited thoughts and experiences directly from Federated customers.
* A new monthly calendar highlights holidays, awareness days/months and other observances that "Celebrate Diversity."
* A "ThinkTank" bulletin board was added to the college portion of the site to facilitate and encourage peer interaction among college students and recent grads on retail-minded topics.
Other Notable Features
* For each division and support operation, the site offers a complete list of job descriptions that include a job overview, detailed information on core responsibilities and a skills summary. Visitors then can access and review typical career paths on Retailology, in addition to real-time job postings.
* A "Career Profiles" section illustrates the career paths of executives from a cross-section of Federated divisions, along with an "in their own words" account of how they rose through the ranks.
* A "Where to Live, Where to Play" section for each Federated division and operation profiles the cities and regions where associates live, work and play.
Federated, with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation`s leading department store retailers, with annual sales from continuing operations of more than $15.6 billion. Federated currently operates more than 460 stores in 34 states, Guam and Puerto Rico, under the names of Macy`s, Bloomingdale`s, The Bon Marche, Burdines, Goldsmith`s, Lazarus and Rich`s, as well as macys.com and Bloomingdale`s By Mail.
Source: Federated Department Stores, Inc.
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