3 Reasons Why I Hate Working Retail
And the Valuable Skills You Can Learn
Why do people despise working retail? What causes it to be stressful? Maybe it’s because of the location or maybe the things you need to do to be a good performer. Well, here I’ll tell you the top three reasons why I hate working retail.
Customers
The very first and probably the most prevalent is the Customers. Now don’t get me wrong, not all of the customers are bad. Customers though can be the worst. As an example, at the current retail establishment, I’m working at, I had to deal with an unhappy customer who threw false accusations and then complained to the general manager about my service. I’m an asset protection specialist here, meaning I can’t leave my post. This customer was expecting me to help them and I told them while I couldn’t, I could call someone to help. They didn’t like that and the next thing you know, they sent in a complaint.
The ‘Customers Always Right’ Mentality
The second thing that makes one hate working retail is the mentality of “The Customer is Always Right.” Now if you ask me this, I think it’s a load of horse crap to have this view. The customer is NOT always right, but because of it, retail establishments lose loads of money on products. All in the name of that annoying phrase. I know there are probably a few people that would agree with this, just talking with my fellow peers, I know they feel pretty much the same. This is especially true here at the location I’m currently residing. Customers, honest to god, usually don’t know anything about electronics and want to cause a ruckus if they get the answers they don’t like. The flip side though, some do know what they are talking about, but they usually don’t cause problems for my fellow coworkers, they more or less actually get along with them.
Working Hours
The third and final reason for working retail that many people, including myself, despise is the hours. Retail establishments are open year-round, Sunday-Saturday except for Christmas Day, and you can get scheduled (for the most part) at any time they see fit. That means anytime early in the morning to after closing, and whichever day they choose you to work. This is rough on family life as you have barely any time to spend with them. These environments make you work the strangest hours if you don’t *specifically* state your availability to them upon hire.
What Skills Can You Learn in Retail?
What kind of skills does retail arm you within the outside world and on your Resume? Well, the most generalized skill would be Customer Service, but there is a lot more to this skill than just that. Customer Service consists of skills like Interpersonal Communication, Patience, and Being Humble. These are considered soft skills. Soft skills, if you haven’t noticed, have become a major part of today’s workforce, I’ll link another article I wrote on this at the end of this piece.
Other skills you learn while working retail is stocking, utilizing a cash register, more stocking, and setting up mods (creating displays and rearranging stock), did I mention stocking? Basically summed up, the hard skills you learn in retail are mainly different ways of stocking followed by handling money.
Even though I despise working in a retail environment, I would still recommend working at least a year in one. I say this because the soft skills you learn can be a game changer in many different jobs, especially any careers that deal with talking to and listening to other people. Example jobs would be a graphic designer or an account manager. These soft skills help you to talk to these types of clientele more successfully than others.
What do you all think? Would you recommend working for at least one year in retail? Let me know below in the comments!
If you liked what you read, please check out the link below where I delve more into soft skills and how I believe they are more important. Thanks!
Thomas Schmidt is a husband and veteran living in the Midwest. He is an Asset Protection Specialist, who is aspiring to be a CBP Officer. Currently, he goes to school for Graphic Art and enjoys writing and drawing digital artworks in his free time along with gaming and an occasional stream on Mixer or Twitch.
