Shop Assistant Review

The internship was enjoyable as I was able to interact with a variety of customers in which had different needs from finding clothes to refunding purchases. In addition, the people at Debenhams very incredibly friendly and praised me when I made 8 sales in a day tempting customers to buy our new perfumes and clothes. Because I worked on the shop floor, teamwork was necessary in order to maintain stock, I enjoyed stacking selves as our stock was selling out fast, which showed people were buying the products.

I felt highly valued by my colleagues because they were very friendly towards me and encouraged me to make more sales to customers, increasing my confidence in communicating with a variety of people. Alongside because I was the youngest in the team, with little experience of retail, my colleagues were very useful, in providing me with tips on how to make sales, store stock and manage the cashiers which greatly benefited me. In addition, we would often socialise together outside of work which allowed to develop long lasting friendships with them.

During my time there the managers were somewhat helpful in guiding me through providing the basics in how to help customers, but were often very busy so I could not ask for help as much as I could, which was frustrating at times. In addition some of the managers were nice especially during appraisals however there was one who was very dismissive of me and never highlighted my progress but rather saw me as doing the ‘bar minimum’. Despite their hectic schedules, my colleagues were very helpful in showing me how to do things, and through practice I was able to perfect my skills.

Very busy, especially during periods of discounted sales, and special occasions such as Christmas, whereby we received a high plethora of customers who were all looking to purchase different things. This meant I was whizzing around different floors to constantly refill stock, and tell customers that certain products were on sake for a limited time, which sometimes got very heated. However, I was able to remain calm in such volatile situations and calmly reaffirm the shop’s policy on verbal abuse against staff.

Not a massive amount as I worked on the shop floor thus I was mainly responsible for stocking products and managing sales of discounted products. Overtime, I was given more jobs to do such as working in the cashier and managing refunds and exchanges of products to selling luxury perfumes which was enjoyable.

The experience overall has deeply improved my skills especially in the area of communication as I have to answer a variety of different queries from refunds, finding items and price checking with different people. In addition, it has strengthened my ability to think in fast-paced situations especially, in seasonal and discounted sales as customers have a variety of different questions such as offering an opinion on particular product alongside recommendations.

The general atmosphere was friendly, but work orientated. This was evident in the fact that we had to sort out the administrative side of the store, ordering items and sending emails for specific products. I worked on the shop floor the majority of the time, which was busy but sometimes I was allocated into the office, which although friendly the work itself was very boring.

The work placement itself was very organised as we were given timetables outlining the tasks that had to undertaken during the placement. This was evident with me spending up to 4 days being spent on the shop floor (x4) and 2 days spent in the office. It was very manageable and met my personal needs as the office allowed me to refuel as I was not always on my feet.

We received a lot of training, in the first week especially concerning being on the shop floor which took longer to get used to. The company did invest loads of time on me and my colleagues who were also on the placement through allowing practice runs in the offices and acting out scenarios on what would happen on the shop floor. This was useful in building my experiences in knowing what to do when faced with a variety of situations

They were somewhat appealing especially working in the managerial sphere of the organisation, selecting brands on shop floors. However that was the only appealing and the rest of the opportunities were similar to what I was currently doing alongside my long term plan was to work in finance and not retail.

The social was very good as I interacted with my colleagues in both work and lunch hours, were during our breaks we would go to the nearby restaurant and each food together and that was very enjoyable. Despite some of the managers being unavailable, my colleagues helped get through the first couple of months settling in and I thank them for that. In terms of socialising it was very easy as my colleagues introduced me their friends who work at firms which allowed me to increase my contacts immensely.

The cost of living within the area was very expensive and therefore to save money, despite getting performance based bonuses I lived at home which wasn't too far and commuting only took 20 minutes. In terms of cost, it depended on the restaurants as I like Italian and Chinese as they were usually expensive but that didn’t take from the enjoyment in being able to socialise with my colleagues who I would call my close friends.

The nightlife in the area was very good as there were a variety of restaurants, bars and clubs which were of walking distance from the store. There is lots to do, and I took part in some of the events such as after work drinks with colleagues which was enjoyable.

To an extent yes, such as sports events held after hours which was enjoyable as it allowed me to de-stress and relax. In addition, there was the rare occasion of games and quizzes of clothing brands to refresh my memory on different products with prizes of Amazon vouchers which was somewhat motivating. However these opportunities were rare because my work hours were long and these events were held every month along me being too tired to participate as they were held late in the evening.