New job anxiety

Hi,

Due to struggles finding administrative work, I've got a job in retail which I haven't worked in since I got sacked from a role a few decades ago as a teenager.

I'm incredibly anxious about doing the customer service until I start my nighttime role. I'm very much an anti people person now and struggle to make eye contact, perhaps mustering up a small smile. I got a G in GCSE Maths for a reason, because I struggle with mental arithmetic. A friend says tills are easy to use but I'm just not comfortable.

Then I think about customers who may get upset, or abusive, and even though there will be managerial support I still feel in those moments, I will experience symptoms of anxiety.

Once I start night time and there's no customers, I should be OK but I really don't feel ready to be a walking friendly, conversationalist face on the shop floor. I know if there are situations that scare me (such as loud voices or theft) that I'll ignore it and hope someone else handles it.

So, I just need to know what to do to survive three weeks of this because I'm getting anxious about it.

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Edit: So a stressful day in general (on top of my long standing mental health issues) including a visit to the retail shop where I was supposed to be working tomorrow and I just thought I don't think I can fake it on the shopfloor having a) not done it in 20 odd years b) because I am so anti people at the moment. So I sent an email to the manager to withdraw my job application, lying about having another job. I'd signed up for a night time gig and I just don't have the confidence, assertiveness and initiative to do it.

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post

by Anonymous

Honestly that was unfortunate and probably counterproductive...ultimately you need to address those issues and can't just avoid them like that :/

Also realistically if you're "frontline" in retail in a shop you're probably going to have far fewer problem customers than working in a call centre or something (where everyone calling is calling because they have a problem). Working in retail on the shopfloor is mostly just kind of boring.

There's not much to be done about that job now but I think you need to make a stronger attempt at challenging the negative thoughts leading you to take such drastic actions as withdrawing from a job. Because for all you knew, it would've just been a fine albeit somewhat boring and routine job; unfortunately you focused on the worst case possible scenario, then extrapolated from that as it being the default scenario there. And then without challenging those thoughts and assumptions (e.g. thinking to yourself "ok I might get a bad customer, but my manager and my colleagues can help me especially when I'm starting out; also I may not get a bad customer at all!") you've basically taken the nuclear option of withdrawing from the role.

Additionally you need to urgently make an appointment with your GP to discuss the issues because this is self-evidently materially impacting your day to day life in a negative and significant way.