Last summer, I held my third job in retail. I worked at a popular clothing store mostly targeted at young women ages 18-24. Let's call it... Schmorever 21.
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| And so the evening rush begins. Source |
If you've never had a retail job and are thinking about trying it, here are some of the most important things I learned. If you have worked retail before, then feel free to read anyway and maybe nod in agreement as you go.
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| Everyone can agree that price guns are fun to use, at least. Source |
Teamwork is super important in retail (and in life). Working with people is just as important as working for people when it comes to retail. Without communication, honesty, and respect, tasks become more difficult for any sales team. In retail, you're encouraged to work with people who may be very different from yourself. On top of that, you're expected to pull your own weight so the rest of the team doesn't have to pick up the slack.
You'll learn to manage high-stress situations. In my experience, working in retail was actually pretty stressful. When I was on the sales floor, I had to be constantly vigilante about where customers were, who needed help, where items were supposed to go, and various other things. It took a lot of mental/physical energy to maintain constant awareness. It's challenging at first, but you definitely pick up strategies that make everything go more smoothly as time goes on.
Retail forces you to be flexible. Unless you're working 40 hours a week, you'll have to get used to an inconsistent schedule. Retail is an industry where many workers share many shifts. It's pretty common for a part-time employee to work something like 16 hours one week and 8 hours the next. This can be inconvenient for obvious reasons, but it also puts you in the mindset of flexibility. You'll also get used to managers switching up your responsibilities on the fly. You have to be ready to take on a new task whenever it's necessary.
Retail teaches you patience. PATIENCE IS KEY. This is probably the biggest thing I learned from retail. I won't go into the negatives, but let me just say this: if you're not patient, you won't make it in retail. You need to be able to accommodate customers no matter how seemingly unreasonable their requests might be. Some customers will probably get angry at you for things that you have no control over, but you just have to let it roll off your shoulders. Positive energy is critical.
Moral of the Story: Retail is hard. It's almost impossible to understand what the workers go through until you experience it yourself. Even if you never plan on working retail, remember the level of endurance it takes to hold those jobs.
So please be nice to retail workers, they deserve all the respect in the world!
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| Retail workers know the feeling. Source |
Kelly Vieira
Class of 2015
