I've been offered a job in retail, but I'm kind of fed up with retail work.

kingslayer

szam_ wrote: »

I agree with people asking why this is even a question.

If only we could not work until the dream job comes along... unfortunately life isn't like that.

I'm 27, my progression was:

Volunteering with small local gaming company > Retail > Factory Work > College (couldn't finish due to personal circumstances) > Admin Assistant (FJF scheme) > Software Testing/Client Liasion/Documentation > 1st and 2nd line IT support later also including on site consultancy and configuration of software and hardware > Software configuration consultant

I enjoy what I do now, although it can get tedious. Point is, you don't just jump in halfway, or all the way, even graduates these days can struggle to get in to their choice of job and must start at the bottom. If it was as easy as just jumping in to your job of choice, I think everyone would do it. Get some experience, prove yourself in that role, get a good reference, move up, repeat.

Yeah, it may take years, it may take months depending on what you're aiming for, but turning down a paid job if you don't have one is a ludicrous idea that will in no way help you or your CV and the longer out of paid work, the more damage it does to you and your CV. Volunteering work helps, but at the same time, why stick to JSA? I was working 20 hours a week in retail and it felt rewarding being paid by the company rather than getting money for nothing from the DWP.

I agree with what you're saying. It took a lot of convincing myself to go onto JSA to begin with, as it's just soul destroying claiming benefits and i really don't see how people can be proud to do it.

I am not really looking for the perfect job, but it's just knowing that i have the potential to do a whole lot better for myself that is frustrating. I can do better than a minimum wage job, and that's no disrespect to anyone working minimum wage jobs as i personally think 99% of minimum wage workers can do a lot better for themselves, but sometimes you just get stuck in a rut or don't know how to get yourself into those positions that others who are doing better, are in.

kingslayer

xXMessedUpXx wrote: »

When i was coming off ESA and looking for work retail wasnt exactly top of my list, BUT when i got offered my job i took it. And you know what? It actually isn't that bad. I've now been there nearly 2 years, which means i've built up experience (which after 3 years on ESA can only be a good thing) and i'm in a batter position to apply for other jobs if i choose too. As it happens a job in another shop has just opened up and i think i'm going to apply for it as i like the shop and think its pretty well my dream (retail) job. Taking the job i have now will have hopefully put me in a better position for applying for this other job.

Great! Good luck, hope you get that job you're hoping for.

Do you have a "dream" job you would like to pursue outside of retail work?

kingslayer

Polarbeary wrote: »

I'm a PA. Not my dream job but pays the bills and I personally prefer it to retail work but everyone is different.

Cool. My cousin was a P.A for a few stars, including Shirley Bassey, so if you keep going you never know

pathtofreedom

as well as https://www.vision2learn.com as already recommended, have a look at some mooc's like coursera, edx or the ou free courses just in any subject. Education in any subject is never a bad thing especially if you're working as you can use this as a hobby on your cv even if it isn't to do with a new job. It shows you to be organised etc if you're doing online courses even if they don't have qualifcations associated with them. You can do them in anything from history of rock music, to international politics or more work based skills in computing or business.

Admin can mean so many different things, and the pay might not be much better as you'll lose commision, and you might still have to deal with customers on the phone or by email.

What are your hobbies and interests. The only way you'll find a career that is finding a subject, or a company that interests you and find a route to work there.

So if you like clothes working for a designer you like be it admin or retail might make it interesting enough to make the boring bits not so boring. If you like travel trying to work for virgin or a travel agent might be interesting and get you staff discount. What do you like?

WolfSong2000

pinpin wrote: »

I guess maybe it's down to the fact that my office based experience has been through agencies and is 'unskilled'/general admin.

At every job i've felt completely unrequired and 'in the way'. I always felt as though the company were spending money to have me there, but the office managers seemed angry at having to 'find' me something to do, lol. Like they blamed me for their bosses wanting more staff.
It happened a number of times, so I go with unskilled manual work now.

Problem is, I got some very bad health news recently, so not sure if I'll be suitable to manual work for too much longer! (between chemotharapy and operations it'll be tough, and i'm only in my 20's)

Sorry to hear about the news regarding your health.

With regards to the issues you've had in admin roles, the problem could just be as simple as the managers feeling they constantly have to tell you what to do. What I suspect they're looking for is someone who is proactive and uses their initiative to identify and address tasks that need doing.

I don't mind my staff asking me questions if they need help with completing a task they've identified, but at the same time if I had to dictate to them every single task they needed to do, that would take up my time and annoy me.

In this sense, admin work is I would imagine different from factory work. In the latter I am assuming there is a set, repetitive process to follow. With admin work, however, tasks and priorities can change depending on business requirements.

As for me...I recently got offered a senior management role despite having very limited management experience. I was offered the role because I had previously worked with the department on another matter and so the big boss knew how I worked, my attitude, etc. There's a lot I don't know, but I learn. Fast. The trick is being confident in the abilities you do have, but also recognising areas where you aren't as skilled/experienced/knowledgeable and working to improve those ASAP.

[Deleted User]

kingslayer wrote: »

I am not really looking for the perfect job, but it's just knowing that i have the potential to do a whole lot better for myself that is frustrating. I can do better than a minimum wage job, and that's no disrespect to anyone working minimum wage jobs as i personally think 99% of minimum wage workers can do a lot better for themselves, but sometimes you just get stuck in a rut or don't know how to get yourself into those positions that others who are doing better, are in.

I just see it as complete luck of the draw.

Unless I am missing something, there aren't many employers willing to pay more then national minimum wage to an Admin Junior, there is to much of a queue right now :cool: