The New Job

If you remember correctly, I took a job with the company-whose-name-will-not-be-named back in late February. I worked full-time the week before the store opened, and after that I was only given 4 hours a week. I ended up voluntarily quitting because of the minimal hours, as well as the stressful nature of the job. I had never worked for large corporation with sales goals, upt goals, credit card goals, and conversion goals. It was a lot of goals and I felt like the management was breathing down my neck about it. I also disliked the fact that I had shifts where I was the only associate in the store, expected to greet every customer in the front of the store while setting up dressing rooms in the back of the store, as well as completing register transactions.

To make matters worse, I was instructed to assist every customer with their shopping and after setting up their dressing room add items they did not pick out. It was all to aggressive for me and unmanageable. I might have gave it a longer fair shot, but I felt patronized and unsupported by the manager and assistant managers. I was also expected to dress in the style of the store, which meant I had to by a bunch of new clothes. Especially because they had rules about the outfits. For example, one must wear accessories, dress shoes, nice slacks or jeans, a sweater, or a top with a "third piece." This meant an addition piece with the top such as a blazer or cardigan. I made the mistake of wearing jeans and a sweater (jeans require a top with a third piece) but I was lucky that the assistant manager said it was a first offense and she didn't force me to go home. It wasn't a difficult decision for me to quit.

After that, I got a job at another store-whose-name-will-not-be-named. This position turned out to be the exact same situation with the only difference being I was selling home goods instead of clothing. I just have no interest in upselling customers and following them around, trying to reach my goals just so the store reaches its goals so that the corporation can please its investors. How depressing and meaningless. I was also given only 8 hours a week and was on call for 5 days a week. Seriously? After one day of paperwork and watching safety videos and being quizzed on them, I quit again.

You can imagine how thrilled my husband is with my unsuccesful attempts to bring home a paycheck. It didn't help that I made my exclusive and subjective decisions by myself, or that I was unable to continue getting unemployment benefits.

Sigh.

The day after I had that first day at the 2nd job, I interviewed with Cost Plus World Market and nailed a sales associate job against 9 other interviewees. I participated in a group interview only, and I was wary because one of my fellow applicants had already worked at the store in San Diego. My first day was May 28th and I couldn't be happier. There are some similarities to the previous jobs however the environment is supportive and my fellow coworkers are really great. All of the customers I've had are great, probably because most of them are buying wine. The greatest aspect of the job? You get to wear t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. I WAS IN LOVE.

If you aren't familiar with the store, it is a national chain offering home decor, bedding and bath, furniture, dining accessories and kitchenware, as well as dry goods, beer, and wine. Everything is imported from over 50 different countries so there are strong ethnic themes in all departments, especially food. I work 18 hours a week at the register, on the floor helping customers, and stocking. For retail, it's great and perfect for me in the sense that there is no pressure or stress.

If you are interested, you can check out the web site here.