Thoughts on working as a sales assistant

Having the experience of working as a sales assistant, I know that working in retail industry is not my cup of tea.

First complaint I have is the need to work shifts, i.e AM: 9am - 6pm PM: 1.30pm - 10.30pm, and FULL: 9am - 10.30pm. I dislike PM / FULL shifts because by the time I wake up, my family members have all left the house for work and by the time I reach home from work, my family members are all already in their dreamland. This would mean that there would be less time for my interaction with my family which I treasure a lot. AM shift is the best for me but, of course, nobody can do only AM shifts. We would have to rotate to be fair, duh.

The monotony of the nature of work is something I can’t stand too. Doing the same thing over and over again every time you report for work really suck the life out of me. Clean the shelves and fixtures, tag the products and display them, count the number of items left in the store at the end of each month for stock-ageing report… These are the repetitive jobs one has to do as a sales assistant.

The kind of customers you encounter is another issue. Polite and reasonable customers do make your day a little easier but idiotic customers just make you further dislike the job that you’re in right now.

The kind of boss also has a great impact on how much you would feel about the job. If he is arrogant and unfriendly, you are likely to hate the job as you would feel the he is treating you as if you owe him a huge favour such that you have to work very hard to hit the sales target so that his business could generate more profit. In essence, you would feel that you are being treated as a lowly person destined to be controlled by him to survive in this life.

On the flip side, I think this kind of job is ideal for students having their holiday and want to earn extra money, especially if the pay is higher than the market rate or other job types such as admin. It’s an experience too to know how a shop functions and a chance to realise the importance of customer service in retail industry and this is where good communication skills can be learned and practised.

Undeniably, sales assistants are always needed and those who perform well surely would make the customers satisfied with the service rendered. However, the repetition and monotony of the working life of sales assistants shun me away from ever thinking of joining the retail industry.

Furthermore, it does not give me a sense of satisfaction working as a sales assistant because at the end of the day, it is the company that has reaped the most benefit of me working in the shop. Customers do benefit from my product knowledge but I think that it is just minimal and they can always check out on the internet and that makes me very dispensable.

In conclusion, I want to do something that can make a difference in people’s life or have a great impact on the society and the world. This would make me feel useful as I can contribute on a larger scale, and that gives me a sense of importance and satisfaction, instead of isolating myself in a small shop for a lifetime doing something only the boss would benefit.