oh god, I know what you're all going to say it.

[noodlesfan]

I was sitting here and wondering what to do with my life. I decided that I should get a job first. The job I picked was to work at a bookstore. Do you guys have any advice for working and careers and such? Please, some help would do just that. (help).

Love,
Nick

[Venom Symbiote]

Well, if you're doing something retail, like a bookstore, the only advice I'd give is don't take things personally. Customers are just generally dickheads, you'll encounter a lot of people complaining about really small insignificant things that technically aren't your fault.

But in my experience bookstores aren't so bad. It's a good kind of quiet thing, good for a first job. Stay away from big department store/large retail places though, they can be hell. Target or K-Mart or Toys R Us or whatever, very demanding on their teen staff.

[T-6005]

Customers are dickheads. First rule of any job. You will be shocked by the small niggly things they get mad over.

[ninthlayer]

As stated: customers are dicks and will have beyond unreasonable expectations. If you get a job at a bookstore make sure it isn't Barnes and Noble, because they're fucking pretentious faggots.

Oh, and never expect to get off right on time. That shit almost never works when you direly need it to.

[All About Eve]

Suck up. Seriously. At this point, even if your coworkers hate you, a good recommendation for later is some neat shit.

[JohnnyNemesis]

Oh, and never expect to get off right on time. That shit almost never works when you direly need it to.

This right here speaks directly to my experience.

And oh, a comic strip that sums up retail quite nicely if you ask me (especially the fourth panel):

http://ctrlaltdel-online.com/comics/20050323.jpg

[All About Eve]

Hence why I teach swim lessons. If parents bitch, I drown their kids.

[noodlesfan]

Job interview:

Ponytail or let it hang.

[All About Eve]

Cut it.

[noodlesfan]

There must be an alternative.

[Nina]

And I mean this sincerely:

If you consider asking people on a board about career possibilities, you should not work in retail. To me this topic indicates that you'd be wrong for that type of job.

[noodlesfan]

What kind of job does the topic indicate that I would enjoy?

[Nina]

Who enjoys their shitty filler job (the job people have to earn money to later do something better with their time)?

You could work in an office? Be a pizza driver? I dunno, but...I just dont recommend selling food/clothes/whatever.

[nieh]

How does this topic tell you anything about what job he should get? And why would it suggest an office job over retail?

[All About Eve]

Yeah, all he's doing is asking how to get the job, not how he should do it. I see nothing indicating he'd be bad at it aside from how often he annoys people on here, but that's totally unrelated.

[Nina]

He's asking for help like this. That honestly doesnt sound like he wants to do it.
I dunno. I've worked in retail all the time and from my experience customers are NOT dicks. I'm always friendly, etc. I *want* the job, so I'm friendly. I just dont think he's like that. But it's just the impression I had, notice my carefully chosen words okay :P

[nieh]

He narrowed it down to a book store on his own, so it's probably the closest thing to an enjoyable job he can get at the time. Why should he go for an office job (which normally requires 40 hours a week, 9-5 every weekday) when he's only 17?

[Nina]

You know, I honestly didnt consider that at all. Office job was the first thing that came in my mind that is not really retail. Also, why do you need to work that much in an office? I once worked 10h/week in an office.

Also, "Do you guys have any advice for working and careers and such?" doesnt sound like he's completely settled. Just saying. I dunno what the deal is, to me he sounded like he was open for advice, and I gave him my advice. It's not supposed to be correct, it's merly an opinion based on my impression I have of him (why cant I consider his general self?).

[ilovellamas]

I have had 3 retail jobs and two where I dealt with customers over the phone; two garden centers, target, and a pizza place. I loved my job at both garden centers, generally disliked target, and pretty much hated the pizza place.

By far, hands down the worst customers were at the first of the two garden centers. I have quite some stories, which I won't clutter up the thread with... but I loved selling plants and flowers and garden decor... but at least once a day, I'd get someone unbearable. It caused me in turn to be a much nicer and more understanding customer, because I learned how much a customer calling you a "fucking cunt" because the store is out of something can hurt your day.

I found the nicest customers were at Target, but they were also the dumbest. People who think it's okay to try on clothes in the middle of the store- and I don't mean trying on a jacket. Some lady trying on a bathing suit, some guy taking off his pants and trying on various pants on the wall and not understanding when he got asked to leave. But usually the dumb people just made me/us laugh. I generally liked the customers at Target, but I rather disliked the job.

I don't think that liking the job means you appreciate the customers, and you can be friendly but still have a plate full of asshole served up. I was always nice to the customers, even when they were horribly mean and made me want to crawl into a hole... I'm not confrontational and I've always preferred to "kill 'em with kindness". So I don't quite understand how this thread indicates noodlesfan shouldn't work in retail.

[Nina]

Okay, let me put this as simple as possible: Do you think he could work with customers? Good for you if you do! I personally think he couldnt, thus I suggested something else.

[ilovellamas]

Well my point wasn't that he *can* do it, my point was that really enjoying retail doesn't necessarily mean you like your customers, you know? Maybe he can't do it, I have no idea! However, just because it doesn't sound like he really *wants* to do retail doesn't mean it's not for him... It sounds like he's thought about it, though, and narrowed it down quite a bit. I dunno, most people (maybe just Americans? haha) have a retail job at some point in their lives, just because it's *so* available. Plus, I have a feeling that, upon interview, if he's not the kinda person who would work great with customers, I think they wouldn't hire him and he'd search for a different job. :)

[noodlesfan]

I don't generally like people, but that doesn't mean that I'm incapable of keeping my cool for a few hours a day.

[Nina]

Nobody said you couldnt "keep your cool". at least I didnt! But I for one hate it when people do retail jobs although they dont like working with the people, srry2sy. Which is what my opinion is based on.
Has nobody ever wondered why Americans are portrayed as lazy, unfriendly services in movies? No? Didnt really think so either ;P

[ilovellamas]

I don't generally like people, but that doesn't mean that I'm incapable of keeping my cool for a few hours a day.
Well, admittedly, retail does require more than "keeping your cool".

Nobody said you couldnt "keep your cool". at least I didnt! But I for one hate it when people do retail jobs although they dont like working with the people, srry2sy. Which is what my opinion is based on.
Has nobody ever wondered why Americans are portrayed as lazy, unfriendly services in movies? No? Didnt really think so either ;P
Thing is, retail places often pay more than lots of other jobs in the US, and there's a huge availability. We have so many huge walmarts, targets, best buys, etc, etc. And my starting wages at the 2nd garden center was $9/hr, which was a couple dollars more than most of my other jobs, and they gave you a raise to $9.50 after a few months. Most office jobs were offering $7.50 or maybe $8... telecounseling paid $8... etc. So it seems logical that people will go for jobs where they make a little more money and are likely to actually get.

[khaaaaan]

The whole "customer problem" in retail depends very much on your approach to the subject I think. If you know that customers can be asses but just don't care and smile, it's not that big a deal. Also, if you just smile everytime a customer approaches you, they tend to be less of an ass towards you. It's kinda like ignoring annoying people on a bbs. It's not a fucking problem unless you make it one!

[ilovellamas]

That's very true. At Target, they made us greet every single "guest" and do the whole fake kindness thing, which was really annoying for me, but it worked. It actually carried over to real life, haha. And it's not fake anymore, it's genuine. But maybe part of why I liked Target customers more was because we were required to be so nice to them. And the first garden center was the first retail job I had, so I didn't know how to deal with mean people haha.

[Little_Miss_1565]

Has nobody ever wondered why Americans are portrayed as lazy, unfriendly services in movies? No? Didnt really think so either ;P

You're making me wonder why more Germans haven't been portrayed as pretentious knowitalls.

[khaaaaan]

Haha, that's pretty good.

[noodlesfan]

You're making me wonder why more Germans haven't been portrayed as pretentious knowitalls.

Their reputation for scat-porn is bad enough.

[wheelchairman]

You're making me wonder why more Germans haven't been portrayed as pretentious knowitalls.

Or feminists as overzealous and bitchy people? I mean do we have to play such a stupid game?

[Little_Miss_1565]

Or feminists as overzealous and bitchy people? I mean do we have to play such a stupid game?

My not liking a lot of people on this board has nothing to do with being a feminist. Nice try, though.

[wheelchairman]

My not liking a lot of people on this board has nothing to do with being a feminist. Nice try, though.

My statement had nothing to do with your actual reasons. That should be obvious. It was underlining how retarded it is to get offended over the stereotypes one nation's media has with another one. Something with your background, your intelligence, and good ol common sense should've alerted you to.

[Little_Miss_1565]

There's a big diff between "getting offended" and "calling someone out on a bullshit statement." As it's such a frequent pastime of yours, I thought you might have understood.

[JohnnyNemesis]

1565 was obviously not offended at the national stereotype thing, but by the "knowitall" thing. IMO Nina's getting a bad rap here, though.

[All About Eve]

Why can't we all just get along/have sex?

[wheelchairman]

You haven't called her out on anything. You called Nina a pretentious little know it all because she stated how Americans are shown in German media. You haven't even explained how it's incorrect. So forgive me for thinking it was nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction. And I'm well aware that service is simply better in the US than in Europe, but European media really wouldn't want you to believe it.

[noodlesfan]

Mommy and Daddy just a had a little fight Nick. Nobody needs to call the police.

[Little_Miss_1565]

No, Per, I thought it was shitty and pretentious that she felt the need to add a "No? Didn't think so" to her rhetorical question. Nevermind that she's taking a 17 year old to task for wanting to get a very basic entry-level hourly position. So many people never learn to get along with others because they never have to. At this point I expect American stereotypes out of the European contingent of the BBS so it would be an exercise in futility to correct her on that.

[Rag Doll]

sooooo back to helping noodlesfan...

if you won't cut your hair, pull it back. pulling it back shouldn't be a problem. if you have really specific questions, feel free to PM me...i do the hiring for a large retail store at the moment.

[wheelchairman]

No, Per, I thought it was shitty and pretentious that she felt the need to add a "No? Didn't think so" to her rhetorical question. Nevermind that she's taking a 17 year old to task for wanting to get a very basic entry-level hourly position. So many people never learn to get along with others because they never have to. At this point I expect American stereotypes out of the European contingent of the BBS so it would be an exercise in futility to correct her on that.
The no-didn't-think-so thing is just vernacular. I don't see how it's offensive, or uh... significant in any way. And all she's said in this thread is that if you don't work well with others, this might not be the job for you. She even offered other ideas a 17 year old could do part time in the United States.

[ilovellamas]

And I'm well aware that service is simply better in the US than in Europe, but European media really wouldn't want you to believe it.

Oh GOD, ain't it the truth!

[Nina]

The ridiculous thing about this is, it was a joke. And both llamas and 1565 took it seriously and replied in a serious manner.
1565, you honestly arent to point the finger at me and call me "knowitall". That's the last thing I am, and you should look at yourself for a chance. That's all I'm going to say because I cant believe how defensive you all get (and 1565 just insults me out of nowhere) because I wrote a common stereotype that I dont even agree with.

[ilovellamas]

Bah, well I obviously missed the joke. :( But I didn't really find it offensive or rude or anything... or knowitall-ish... but I did figure that the ;P at the end implied that the last comment was kidding. Soooooo yeah.

[Nina]

You're right...I should have said how defensive she got, not "you all". You didnt really get defensive in my eyes...unless I misunderstood you, of course :P

[ilovellamas]

haha you didn't call me defensive, you said I responded seriously, which I did. :) But you called me llamas, which I think was a first, haha.

edit: oh, I hadn't realized that "That's all I'm going to say because I cant believe how defensive you all get" was directed at me, as well. Whoops.

[wheelchairman]

But you called me llamas, which I think was a first, haha.

Wow. Surreal....

[ilovellamas]

A what huh?

[Sunny]

i don't see what about noodlesfan's behavior suggests that he might not do well in a retail position... er.

most of my friends either worked retail... or as starbucks baristas, which appears to be a decent entry-level gig. have you considered it? free starbucks! ;p

and christ, don't get me started on american customer service vs. european customer service. it's ridiculous.

ps. ponytail. definitely.