When people think of the part time jobs that most high school and college students have, two types in particular come to mind: retail and food service. While I had my time to shine in food service at Eat’n Park as a hostess, that only lasted about 3 months when I realized it was not for me. Since November of my junior year of high school, I have been working at American Eagle Outfitters. Most people who don’t work in retail don’t realize what it teaches you:
How to work with difficult people
People get angry if you don’t have their size. People get angry if the line at the register takes too long. People even get angry if you ask if they need help. Not only this, but people will steal, mess up a table of shirts you’ve spent hours perfecting, and thousands more scenarios. Working retail has definitely taught me how to deal with all sorts of situations revolving around difficult people.
How to handle working at weird hours of the day
I have gone in at 5:00 in the morning to do inventory. I have gone in at 9:00 at night and stayed until 7:00 in the morning doing floor sets. I have stayed until 2:00 in the morning straightening the store after an extremely busy day. Working retail will definitely prepare you for working hours other than typical daytime shifts.
Working with a team
You especially learn this if you get scheduled for a closing shift in the middle of the summer. No one wants to stay cleaning up the store until 2:00 am, so working as a team with your coworkers and managers is absolutely necessary.
When a person at a store says there is nothing in the back, there really is nothing in the back
Before I worked retail, I would get frustrated when I would ask an associate at a store if they had my size in the back and they would reply “no” without even checking. After working retail for almost four years, I now know that most likely, the associates have spent so much time in the stock room that they probably do know what is and is not in the back. However, I have also learned that it is usually better to go and “check” for the customer, even if you know what they are looking for is not in stock.
Why people dread holidays
Don’t get me wrong, I still love every holiday. However, my eyes have opened as to why people dread holidays, particularly Thanksgiving and Christmas. Malls are opening earlier and earlier for Black Friday, and it’s a little difficult to enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner with my family knowing that I have to go in to work at 7:00 and stay until the wee hours of the morning. Immediately following Black Friday, the Christmas season starts, resulting in absolute chaos in the store.
People who have also worked a retail job can probably relate to most, if not all of these. Those who haven’t can perhaps sympathize with us retail workers a little more after reading this!