Why not a career in retail?
I was one of those kids that took on a casual job in retail, never thinking of it as a career option. It was a choice made at the time to earn some cash and buy a car, driven mostly by living in the bush, no public transport, and nothing to do. Money, your own money gives you choices, options to decide what you do.
30 years on, still involved in retail, now I am focused on helping those starting out in retail to have the skills and knowledge to be succesful and earn their employees plenty of sales. Looking back now, I have no regrets and have certainly enjoyed the journey. I am glad I did not listen to my career advisor at school, who at the time could not understand why I would be leaving school to work fulltime in a discount department store.
Why is it that many people do not consider retail as their first choice? I know that many people that have never worked in retail do not understand the many jobs and tasks that are needed to successfully run a modern retail business. There are numerous job roles behind the scene to keep the stock rolling in, the shelves full of the correct stock and to keep teh customers walking in the door.
Many people end up in retail jobs and make it a career after not finding employment in their chosen field, and go on to be Store Managers, Regional Managers and earn very high salaries. Unfortunately many people when you say that you work in retail, think of you as a "shelf stacker", or a "checkout chick". When without those postions being filled by people like me or you, we would still be out hunting for our dinner!
The retail industry needs to be proactive in promoting retail careers to raise the standard of retailing in Australia, improve store standards, and especially improve customer service standards. Many employees focus on hiring junior casual staff, never offering them permanent work, and not giving them many shifts as they get older. This generates turnover of staff, the hidden costs of recruitment and training, and reduces loyalty to the business. This gives the retail industry a bad image and does nothing for the previously mentioned standards.
With all that said, would I encourage one of my children to work in retail?
Too right, the wide range of skills learnt can be applied into any field you choose to move into at a later stage.
Good trading, keep those customers happy,
Geoff
