3 pieces of advice for working in retail...

Most of us work in retail or customer service in some capacity during our lifetime, be it during term term, summer holiday jobs or before we find our (hopefully dream) job after we (hopefully) graduate university.

These type of jobs can be some of the worst and thankless jobs there is, and if you get to work with cool people and the public are nice, it can also be one of the funnest! With new technology being introduced all the time, they may not be around much longer!

What are some pieces of advice you would give to yourself having worked in retail/customer service?

To my teen self getting my first job I would say:

1) Check your payslip and keep track of your hours worked every week!

2) The customer is most definitely not always right, don't let them treat you like :poo:

3) It's a part time retail job, don't feel obliged to cover every shift they ask you to (and with hardly any notice)!

What have you learned from working in retail? Have any horror stories about your jobs? Or do/ did you absolutely love your job? Let me know!

Reply 1

Juno

Look after yourself. Make sure you know what break you are entitled to, and ask when you can have it (you might need to remind people).
See if you're allowed a bottle of water to keep hydrated - especially in this weather. Constantly talking to people will make you more thirsty.

Reply 2

summer1311

Original post by Juno

Good advice! Definitely agree about the breaks part, some managers forget or purposely deny you the breaks you're entitled to!

Reply 3

.A_C.

Don't trust ANY of your 'fellow' employees - don't get into staff room gossip either, just sit back and listen.

Customers are SO annoying.

Depending on what you are doing, try to hide away from customers and employees view, to get away with doing no work. Getting paid NMW means it is worth it to take these risks. Your employer don't deserve your hard work. This includes taking a 'toilet break' once in a while to waste 10 mins.

After a month, the novelty of having a job/ a new job will wear off, and you'll start to HATE everyone, hate the job, hate everything... You will be telling EVERYONE in your head to go and FUK themselves!!

Managers and employees with tenure will take advantage of young people, or new employees because they think they know better. Discrimination exits at work, try not to let anyone get the upper hand over you, stand your ground. Don't let anyone think they can dominate you, or make you feel uncomfortable. Some establishments are incredibly toxic to work in, and this will show by the attitude and work ethic of employees.

Being young, a student, on minimum wage = DANGER. Your employee will take full advantage of you, make you do more work than your older counterparts, will look down at you, will disrespect you, will not talk to you etc..

Watch your back.

If it's too toxic, leave. Don't even phone them up to say you are leaving, just make sure they feel incredibly inconvenienced that they have to find someone else to do their dirty work.

Reply 4

username1439610

The point that stands out for me is number 4. In my last job, I worked in a company that sold high value products with very little security. As a result, we were a high risk target. One time I saw a shoplifter come in, walk to the hard drive section (at the front of the store may I add), pick up 2 SSDs, and leave. He walked right past me. Yes, I could have stopped him, however, is it really worth risking your life over a poorly paid job? Instead, I immediately pulled out my radio and called my supervisor. You could tell he was a shoplifter the moment he walked in, however, there was nothing I could have done other than inform my superiors.

3 pieces of advice for working in retail...

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