Hi,
I am about to start my first job as a cashier at 99 Cents Store next week. Well, technically a cashier, but they will tell me to do anything they want. It’s merely a position label. I have no job experience before, so I am not sure what to expect at a retail store. If anyone who has worked at 99 Cents before or some other retail place, can you tell me how your job was? What sort of experience did you have, anything you can share, like useful tips, or important things to keep in mind?
OK. So they just called me and told me that I can start tomorrow in the afternoon. Would they start training me right away, or is there further testing going on?
By the way, I told them that I have class in the afternoon on Monday, so I can only work in the morning. Tomorrow is a holiday, so I can still come in. Would it be okay to ask them to change my schedule? I don’t even know what my hours are yet.
You should tell them about your class schedule on the first day. I’m surprised they didn’t ask this already before hiring you. They should understand that you are unable to work during your classes.
As for what to expect, you are working retail (which can be a chore) at a discount store. So you’ll probably attract a lot of low-income individuals which will bring with it some challenges. You may be more inclined to interact with difficult customers or rude people. That’s just a part of retail but you’ll probably run into it more at a discount store.
Otherwise, you’ll end up doing a lot of standing around so make sure you have comfortable shoes or shoe inserts. It’s very exciting to get your first job! And I think EVERYONE should be forced to work retail at least once in their life because it can give you a good perspective on the world. I learned to be nicer to people and treat everyone with respect after working retail, because it meant a lot to me when it happened to me in that job.
Congrats and good luck!
Thanks for responding!
Actually, they did ask me, and I did tell them what day and when I would be available. I assume that they thought Monday was a holiday so I should be free. I am still waiting for them to call me back. None of us new employees know our working hours yet.
My first day at training was quite bad. They trained us to use the cashier machine and went over some basic rules. I was afraid that if I work too slow, I’d be holding up the line and make customers wait. But if I try to go fast, I would make mistakes and hold the line even longer. I don’t know about the other stores, but in ours, the rules are a bit complicated. For example, if I accidentally scan an item two or three times, for whatever stupid reason, then I can only remove the item once. If I scanned it more than two times, I would have to call the manager to give me the key, plug it to the machine, and reset it. Quite a hassle. After training for about 1.5 hours, I kinda get the hang of it, but I still don’t know what my working pace should be. I just know that I have to match the speed of other cashiers.
It was embarrassing making the customers wait and make numerous errors. Some people are nice enough to wait, but I know they just don’t show their frustration. I just hope I can get better fast. Oh yeah, now that you mentioned it, I need to try to smile more. Heck, I was so focused on being careful that I probably didn’t smile as much as I should.
Just relax! Almost everyone has been in your shoes! I certainly DO understand when I get a new cashier - as long as they’re polite, I’m really not frustrated.
There’s a learning curve in EVERY job. Do your best and you’ll be fine.
Well, I have my own register now. I only work 2-3 days a week, and this is my 3rd week, so I am getting pretty used to most of the things now. What exactly is that shortage cash when my manager counts my money? I was short on 96 cents on my first day, 16 cents yesterday, and 33 cents today. Will they be deducted from my salary? I am pretty sure I gave all customers the right amount of change. The manager said it wasn’t bad, and told me to not worry about it. He’s sorta chill, but perhaps he’s only acting that way to newcomers.
And by the way, something weird happened today. One of the coworker lady told me to sweep counter 5-6. I turned off my light and swept them. The thing is, I only swept the floor where the customers walk on. I didn’t realize that I should have picked up the carpet where the cashier stands on, and clean that area as well. I suppose the manager came to her and said something to her. A little later, she got angry at me and said that she can’t do everything by herself. She showed me how dirty the cashier stand is, lots of dust. She also said that my light was off. Well, of course, I had to turn it off when I was cleaning, right?
I get why she was angry and thought that I was lazy, but she didn’t have to get all super pissy at me like that. I don’t know, was it justified?