What Working In Retail Has Taught Me About Life

By Shelly Greenstein on March 18, 2016

cnn.com

I have been working in retail for almost the entirety of my academic career. Looking back on the past five years in the field, I can now say that I have learned certain things that could not have been taught in a classroom while making the cash I needed to stay afloat.

Working retail is a great way to earn money while in college because the hours are easily part-time which means that you can work around your class schedule while also having time for studying as well as somewhat of a personal life. I would definitely recommend any retail job for all part-time or even full-time students in need of some extra cash.

There are more benefits to retail other than the financial ones. In retail, you learn things about the world around you. You learn about your community, your surroundings, and about the generalized way most people will treat you in your lifetime. You also construct various habits from working in retail that you never would have otherwise.

Here are five things I have learned while working in retail that I’m sure anyone else who has worked retail can relate to:

1. Time is valuable.

If there’s one thing that retail has taught me, it’s that time equals money. I had babysat in the past before my employment in the industry which was always paid by the hour. In those jobs, though, you did not have to clock in or out when you arrived and left. Timekeeping was something that showed me how much you really lose from being late to work or leaving early.

2. People aren’t always nice. 

In retail, one of the things you get to do is meet a lot of people you would not have otherwise. In my five years of working, I have probably met thousands of people from all over the world. I have met purely good people with hearts of gold who always put a smile on my face, but on the other hand I have also met complete assholes that have ruined my day almost entirely.

What you come to realize from this kind of experience is that everyone has their own personalities, and it is up to you to deal with them however you so choose. After a while, I stopped letting the bad people bother me as much and moved on with my day just the same.

3. Patience is a virtue. 

Over the years, retail taught me that you have to be patient with others in order to strive in this world we live in. In the beginning, I would get short with certain customers or even become overwhelmed with the lines at the registers or at the fitting rooms.

The thing I learned was that everyone takes as much time as they need to in order to shop and you, as an associate (or cashier or whatever you may be), have the responsibility of helping them if needed. Getting worked up over the small stuff only made their shopping experience and my work day a negative one which was not worth it in the long run.

4. Kill people with kindness. 

In the retail industry, you will see people at their absolute worsts. Whether it’s you not being able to except someone’s return, or a customer taking their own personal issues out on you, you will experience some nasty people.

In the early stages of my retail career, I used to match the nastiness of any given customer and give them a piece of my mind. The thing that I have learned now is that people respond better to kindness than meanness. At the end of the day, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar both in the retail world and the real world.

5. No job is too big or too small. 

I am currently in school majoring in journalism and minoring in political science. The school work that I do currently is extremely important to me because I feel as though it will lead me to a position where I will really make a difference in this world.

The thing is, I put just as much effort into my retail job as I do into my school work. Being in retail has taught me that any job is what you make of it. My retail job is just as important in this world as my future journalism job. If you maintain that mentality throughout life, you will find success no matter what you do.

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