working at argos

Hi Cheryl,

I worked at Argos as a Christmas temp and they are ok to work for. The downside is that they only pay minimum wage and at the store I worked at, most positions were part time only, but there was sometimes the option of working overtime.

The plus side is that you get 10% off Argos purchases for yourself and close family members - spouse, parents etc (and 10% discount at Homebase as well I think).

It is quite a physical job, especially if you're working in the stockroom or on the collections counter.

EDIT: As Black-Saturn says, if you are working in the stockroom, you will need to be ok with ladders/heights. Sorry, forgot to mention that, as it doesn't bother me!

I didn't mind working for them on a temporary basis and may apply again for this Christmas if I need extra money.

black-saturn wrote:

Apparantly you have to be OK with ladders and heights as a lot of the work is lifting boxes down ladders.

Oh dear...major H&S implications with that one.The employer should have safe working practises and manualy lifting boxs down ladders is not safe, inho

Argos, a company I have worked as a stockroom manager for and could talk for hours about ;-), however.....

To work for they are much the same as any other retail establishment, expect minimum wage, inflexible work patterns and a drill to sell their more profitable add-on products if you should happen to be till-trained, but it isn't all that bad an environment.

Hiring wise, I don't know if they still do this but you attend a recruitment team event, you are assessed usually by the stores management team, a few tasks are used to check you are a "team player" and can read numbers accurately (important for stock picking at Argos), easy to get through this with a bit of confidence.

If you want a permanent job new-store openings are the best opportunity, there are many more "hours" available to spend at the outset to establish the store, in time though this will be reduced.

If you want temporary hours, the end of September is when the "Christmas hours" kick-in, so this is probably the best time to apply. Only the very best temps ever get to stay, the dross is weeded out usually on the 24th December, 3 weeks later when the new catalogue is launched everyone else follows out through the door.

Argos stockrooms vary, the racking in all the stores I ever visited was capped at around 12ft though.

To apply just go in-store and ask for an application form, outside the times I've mentioned though, it'll be unlikely they'll be hiring.

Regards and good luck.

Nathan.