I wasn’t really expecting much out of my first job when I was applying to any and every job this last May. When I was offered a job at Old Navy, I was just happy that I got a job. I wasn’t expecting to love my coworkers and the fast-paced nature of retail as much as I do. That being said, the last two months have been filled with nothing but learning experiences.
1. Time is an illusion.
While I am at work, time either goes by super-fast or agonizingly slow. It’s great when time goes by fast because that means I have been busy during my shift. It’s worse when time goes by slow due to the traffic in the store being slow or not having much to do. It’s one or the other, and that is the part I dislike the most.
2. Think on your feet.
You never know what a customer will ask you or what kind of problem you will come up against, but you have to be able to react quickly and correctly in order to make sure you keep your customer happy or the problem gets resolved. This can be stressful because if you are a new hire like me; you don’t always have the knowledge needed to solve a problem.
3. The smallest thing can be a hazard.
Everything that is on the floor can be a hazard. Hangers, pieces of clothing, and trash all end up on the floor one way or another. The most important thing is to get items off the floor so you don’t run over them with a cart or no one trips and falls.
4. Your memory will fail you.
In our store, we change the location of items almost daily, so I have to be able to look around and get a good grasp on where all the items are. However, no matter how much I work and even if something doesn’t move for a while, I can’t seem to remember where it is. This comes to bite me in the butt when I am in the fitting room returning items to the salesfloor.
5. There can be so much to do at one time.
More often than not, I will be up on the register. While up on the register, not only do you have to talk to the customer and ask them questions, you have to correctly scan their items and remove any security tags from the clothing that they are purchasing. Then there can be coworkers asking you questions, phone calls to answer, items to call prices for or to grab for the customer. This was definitely the most difficult aspect of the job for me to master.
6. You will develop a rhythm.
When I first started working at Old Navy, I thought that there was so much to do and pay attention to that I would never be able to get it all down. After a lot of practice and help from my peers, my rhythm came and now I feel like I can contribute in a good way to my store.
7. Organizing sucks.
Sometimes customers come in and absolutely destroy a table of folded clothes. That is when a worker will have to come by and organize everything by color and size, then refold everything. This can take so long and often you have other tasks to do also, so this long task gets dragged out even more.
8. Customers aren’t always right.
This is something that is sad to say but true. The sales signs in our store are very specific but cause us a lot of problems. People often don’t actually read the sign and just look at the percent off. So, when the customer gets up to the register they are confident in their belief that their item is on sale. When you break it to them that it isn’t in fact on sale, they get very angry and pass blame on our sale signs. This is one of the most aggravating things about retail because we can’t tell them that they are wrong, we just have to accept the blame and move on.
9. It is not for the faint of heart.
When I first started, I didn’t know if I was going to make it in this line of work. There is so much to learn, remember and do all at the same time and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do it. I’m glad I stuck it out because now I have most of it down and I truly enjoy my job.
10. Your coworkers are your lifeline.
Without the kindness of my coworkers, I don’t know where I would be. They were so patient with me when I was learning tricks of the trade. They make me excited to go to work. I couldn’t be happier with all the friendships I made through this job.
11. People can be unbelievably kind.
Again, when I was still learning I would do a lot of fumbling around, uncomfortable with the fact that I didn’t know what I was doing. I would apologize time and time again because I didn’t want a customer to get mad at me for not knowing what I was doing or for taking too long. In the end, people surprised me. Everyone was so understanding and I often got pieces of advice from people who had worked in retail before. That gave me the courage to continue with the job and I am so happy I stayed with it.
All in all, I couldn’t be happier with where I ended up with my first job. I have often been so happy to go into work and that is a feeling I hope to find in every job that I have in my life. This experience was important to have, and I am glad that I was able to have it somewhere as great as Old Navy.
