The Student Room Group

Why won't I get fired from my Job?

So I've been working 16 hours a week at Zara and I'm consistently not meeting targets. I can never get stuff done on time and I always need help from other people when completing tasks. I feel like I work extremely slow and I'm very unproductive compared to other employees. I've been working there for at least 6 months now and I don't feel like I've been improving at the job, I also hate the job so much but I want to keep it cause its so hard to find jobs these days. Im waiting to get some sort of warning from a manager, then I would quit but I'm not? Should I just quit before I get fired?

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Yeah sure.
Reply 2
The question is, why do you want to get fired? You know it's tough to get a new job so instead of doing the bare minimum why not try and improve your skills and become a well respected employee?
Reply 3
Original post by Tw1x
The question is, why do you want to get fired? You know it's tough to get a new job so instead of doing the bare minimum why not try and improve your skills and become a well respected employee?

Because I'm trying my best but It's now been 6 months and I'm not improving. There's no proper training at this job and I want to focus on uni since i'm in my 3rd year now.
Reply 4
Original post by Anonymous
Because I'm trying my best but It's now been 6 months and I'm not improving. There's no proper training at this job and I want to focus on uni since i'm in my 3rd year now.

It's tough in the work place but if you seriously feel you are falling behind everyone else in work ASK for help/more training. You will be more respected for it other than just giving up. And any job on a CV is better than no job or having to explained why you were fired/don't have a reference. If you want to focus on uni then leave, don't wait to be sacked and let your employers find someone who wants a job. If you want both, work out the hours you are capable of and ask for extra training.
Original post by Anonymous
I also hate the job so much but I want to keep it cause its so hard to find jobs these days. I

There are 1,172,000 job vacancies in the three months from August - October 20211. The retail and hospitality sectors (i.e. those sectors which employ the most students) had a particularly high vacancy rate.

I don't know where you get the idea that 'it's so hard to find a job(s) these days'. In many ways, it's never been easier.

1https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/november2021
Reply 6
Original post by Reality Check
There are 1,172,000 job vacancies in the three months from August - October 20211. The retail and hospitality sectors (i.e. those sectors which employ the most students) had a particularly high vacancy rate.

I don't know where you get the idea that 'it's so hard to find a job(s) these days'. In many ways, it's never been easier.

1https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/november2021

100% agree with you, if you have no commitments whatsoever. My sister currently job searching (on maternity) - they either want a 4 hour contract - with the possibility of 60 hours overtime. Or 'flexible' meaning available to work mornings, evenings, afters, nights, weekends etc. Someone who has a commitment might struggle. Though bar work tends to be pretty flexible as does the fast food industry
Reply 7
Original post by Tw1x
It's tough in the work place but if you seriously feel you are falling behind everyone else in work ASK for help/more training. You will be more respected for it other than just giving up. And any job on a CV is better than no job or having to explained why you were fired/don't have a reference. If you want to focus on uni then leave, don't wait to be sacked and let your employers find someone who wants a job. If you want both, work out the hours you are capable of and ask for extra training.

I do ask for help but they keep saying that I've been here long enough and I just "have to learn". Do you think having a job for 6 months on a CV is long enough? Or would there be a "gap" when i start looking for more jobs after i graduate?
Reply 8
Original post by Reality Check
There are 1,172,000 job vacancies in the three months from August - October 20211. The retail and hospitality sectors (i.e. those sectors which employ the most students) had a particularly high vacancy rate.

I don't know where you get the idea that 'it's so hard to find a job(s) these days'. In many ways, it's never been easier.

1https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/november2021

Maybe It was because I was applying during the pandemic and there was increased competition due to supply and demand... Or because I had no prior experience on my CV. I got rejected from every single job I applied for, I really got lucky with this one though.
Original post by Anonymous
So I've been working 16 hours a week at Zara and I'm consistently not meeting targets. I can never get stuff done on time and I always need help from other people when completing tasks. I feel like I work extremely slow and I'm very unproductive compared to other employees. I've been working there for at least 6 months now and I don't feel like I've been improving at the job, I also hate the job so much but I want to keep it cause its so hard to find jobs these days. Im waiting to get some sort of warning from a manager, then I would quit but I'm not? Should I just quit before I get fired?


How about looking for a new job.
Its easier to fins a job whilst already employed. Once you have a new one you can leave.
Reply 10
Original post by Anonymous
I do ask for help but they keep saying that I've been here long enough and I just "have to learn". Do you think having a job for 6 months on a CV is long enough? Or would there be a "gap" when i start looking for more jobs after i graduate?


Can I ask what it is that you are particularly struggling with? I've been in charge of managing staff maybe I could help? I honestly have no idea on time frames for what is 'acceptable' but you are a student so you can always use the 'I had to put uni work first' and I'm sure that will be fine.
Reply 11
Original post by Anonymous
I do ask for help but they keep saying that I've been here long enough and I just "have to learn". Do you think having a job for 6 months on a CV is long enough? Or would there be a "gap" when i start looking for more jobs after i graduate?

It's not the length of time, it's whether the job gives you relevant skills and experience to apply for other jobs in future. Do you have other activities and responsibilities you can put on your CV?
Original post by Tw1x
Can I ask what it is that you are particularly struggling with? I've been in charge of managing staff maybe I could help? I honestly have no idea on time frames for what is 'acceptable' but you are a student so you can always use the 'I had to put uni work first' and I'm sure that will be fine.

Well basically I work in the stockroom and as you know Zara is an extremely busy retail store. So I have to find certain items of clothing in a stockroom, put them in crates and take them to the shop floor every hour. So I'm basically replenishing the shop floor, the target has to be around 80/100 items an hour but I'm only managing around 30-40 an hour which is nowhere near the target. I really don't know why no managers approach me about this and tell me that I have to improve or face disciplinary action since that would be the norm right? In that case I would just leave after my first warning because then id know the job isn't for me. The whole shift goes by and they don't say a word to me about my speed. If anything they would just send someone else down to help me out, but that shouldn't happen in the first place if I was actually good at the job. The other task is where I have to unpack stock, fold clothes and place it in the appropriate place in the stockroom. It seems easy enough, but there's just so much clothes and I don't know where everything goes and the stockroom gets messy ( I have to make sure it stays tidy too which is sometimes impossible when I have to find things quickly), also I have to be fast at that too but again I need help. So basically I always need help in everything that I'm doing which shows that I'm an unproductive worker.

And another thing, I only work 16 hours a week so it's also quite hard to remember where everything is in the srockroom after there's been loads of deliveries during the week, so compared to other employees who are on 32/40 hours a week, they are much better than me, and they seem to have picked things up very quickly after a few months. Now I've been doing 16 hours a week since June and I'm still not improving and I'm a poor worker. That's why I need to leave so they can find someone better; since I'm still at Uni, that's clearly my good excuse to leave.
Reply 13
Original post by Anonymous
Maybe It was because I was applying during the pandemic and there was increased competition due to supply and demand... Or because I had no prior experience on my CV. I got rejected from every single job I applied for, I really got lucky with this one though.

You have experience now though - 6 months in retail is nothing to sniff at if you're applying for similar roles, and you're unlikely to receive as many rejections as you shouldn't need as much training. It's good for you to diversify your employment history, even at this early stage.
Original post by lojawa
You have experience now though - 6 months in retail is nothing to sniff at if you're applying for similar roles, and you're unlikely to receive as many rejections as you shouldn't need as much training. It's good for you to diversify your employment history, even at this early stage.

But surely most people would stay at a company for atleast a year? Leaving after 6 months might look bad to employers.
Original post by Anonymous
Well basically I work in the stockroom and as you know Zara is an extremely busy retail store. So I have to find certain items of clothing in a stockroom, put them in crates and take them to the shop floor every hour. So I'm basically replenishing the shop floor, the target has to be around 80/100 items an hour but I'm only managing around 30-40 an hour which is nowhere near the target. I really don't know why no managers approach me about this and tell me that I have to improve or face disciplinary action since that would be the norm right? In that case I would just leave after my first warning because then id know the job isn't for me. The whole shift goes by and they don't say a word to me about my speed. If anything they would just send someone else down to help me out, but that shouldn't happen in the first place if I was actually good at the job. The other task is where I have to unpack stock, fold clothes and place it in the appropriate place in the stockroom. It seems easy enough, but there's just so much clothes and I don't know where everything goes and the stockroom gets messy ( I have to make sure it stays tidy too which is sometimes impossible when I have to find things quickly), also I have to be fast at that too but again I need help. So basically I always need help in everything that I'm doing which shows that I'm an unproductive worker.

And another thing, I only work 16 hours a week so it's also quite hard to remember where everything is in the srockroom after there's been loads of deliveries during the week, so compared to other employees who are on 32/40 hours a week, they are much better than me, and they seem to have picked things up very quickly after a few months. Now I've been doing 16 hours a week since June and I'm still not improving and I'm a poor worker. That's why I need to leave so they can find someone better; since I'm still at Uni, that's clearly my good excuse to leave.

I suspect most people working part-time will be less efficient than those working more frequent shifts so perhaps that's why nobody has said anything. I don't really think extra training would help with that. Perhaps you could take photos of where stuff is in the stockroom so you could remind yourself before each shift?
Original post by black tea
I suspect most people working part-time will be less efficient than those working more frequent shifts so perhaps that's why nobody has said anything. I don't really think extra training would help with that. Perhaps you could take photos of where stuff is in the stockroom so you could remind yourself before each shift?

I do that but again, things just constantly move around in the stockroom and It's just not in the same place anymore after a few days. I know part-time workers would be less efficient but when I'm constantly not meeting targets and my managers are always telling me to go faster. isn't that a sign that I'm really unproductive at my job and I could potentially get fired?
Reply 17
Original post by Anonymous
But surely most people would stay at a company for atleast a year? Leaving after 6 months might look bad to employers.

You’re right, some employers like to see a reasonable level of commitment, but that tends to be more applicable in higher-level jobs further into your career. For entry-level roles such as shop floor retail, 6 months of continuous employment should be acceptable and I shouldn’t think employers would be concerned. Remember that it’s a sector that attracts a lot of part-time and casual workers, so not everyone has years of experience. Besides, you could apply for new jobs whilst still working at your current job - you’ll never know what your chances are without trying. Zara hired you, so why wouldn’t another business consider your application?
Original post by Anonymous
I do that but again, things just constantly move around in the stockroom and It's just not in the same place anymore after a few days. I know part-time workers would be less efficient but when I'm constantly not meeting targets and my managers are always telling me to go faster. isn't that a sign that I'm really unproductive at my job and I could potentially get fired?

So you definitely have a reason to be slower than the more regular staff if the stock is in a different place each time you come into work!

Obviously, you are not working as fast as they want you to be, but they have kept you on for 6 months and it is unlikely that they will fire you in the pre-Christmas periods. Personally, I would hold tight for now and see how things are in January - if it is starting to look like they might want to fire you at that point, that would be the time to quit. But it may be worth starting to look for some other jobs in the meantime just in case something more suitable for you comes (perhaps something like working a coffee shop, where you are just doing the same thing each shift and don't have to keep up with stock moving?)
Original post by Anonymous
I do ask for help but they keep saying that I've been here long enough and I just "have to learn". Do you think having a job for 6 months on a CV is long enough? Or would there be a "gap" when i start looking for more jobs after i graduate?

You're overthinking it if it's only a part time student job. If you are not enjoying it then hand your notice in whenever you want, as long as you can afford to. If you can't afford to, look for another job in the new year.

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