1. What exactly do you do?
- What field is your job in?
Retail Management - What is your job title?
Assistant Store Leader - Please provide a brief description of the firm or organization that you currently work for (size and general description of what type of organization it is)
It is a convenience store that strives to competitively challenge grocery stores and chains in certain product categories (i.e. commodities such as bread, butter, milk, etc). They focus on vertical integration in order to lower the cost of their product to remain competitive. Doing this also allows them to guarantee the quality of their product. The company is about 10,000 employees strong with approximately 400 stores spread over three different states. Each store has a crew that ranges from 15 coworkers to 35 coworkers. Some stores are very busy and have truck stops or restaurants attached. Others are slower and located in more residential areas, where it may not even be necessary to be open 24 hours a day.
- How long have you been employed in this position?
2 years, 8 months - How many hours do you work a week on average?
50 - Please provide a BRIEF description of your duties and responsibilities. (job description)
50 - Please provide a BRIEF description of your duties and responsibilities. (job description)
Complete daily paperwork and price changes, assist with various updates and policy changes, prioritize tasks and delegate them to co-workers, ensure completion and quality, oversee scheduling and injury/illness issues
- What was your gross income last year? Please include any bonuses or incentives received.
40500 - What is your expected gross income for this year? Please include any bonuses or incentives you expect to receive.
41500 - Please list any benefits you have (Please include number of weeks vacation, sick leave and type of health insurance, retirement plan 401k)
4 weeks of vacation, 401k, very good & thorough health, dental, vision, & life insurance, 40% profit sharing - Do you feel you are under/well/over compensated at your current position?
Well compensated
2. Work environment!
- Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Explain
I work with others every day. I am an assistant manager, so my goal is to organize tasks and delegate them to others. I am also suppose to guide them and train them in any necessary areas, especially with feedback on how to do a better job next time. Working with others makes up a very large portion of my job responsibilities and takes much time. I enjoy having others with me while at work. It makes the day go by quicker and creates personal relationships.
- Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes - Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes - Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it
I work at a convenience store which also has an office that serves a dual purpose of being a storage area as well. I do not enjoy the set up of the office at that particular location. It is hard to concentrate and often gets cluttered with extra "storage" items. I do not particularily enjoy working on-site at the store either because it involves dealing with crabby customers up front. Sometimes for the sake of making the customer happy, you have to listen to complaints that are not well founded or seem to have no reason. One last thing that is not very enjoyable about working at the actual store location, is that it includes a lot of manual labor. There is a lot of lifting, stocking, storing, loading, and unloading to do. Again, with the store being a bit small and lacking space, it is difficult to get by working without scratching yourself or knocking something over. Also, our store tends to be a bit old and the equipment breaks down often. This can be frustrating.
- Please rank in order of importance from 1-8 (1- most important 8- least important) Assign each number once.
- 2 Income
- 5 Work Environment - co-workers
- 1 Work Environment - supervisors
- 4 Benefits
- 3 Hours
- 7 Level of responsibility
- 6 The actual "work" you do at your job
- 8 Job Title
3. How should someone new to the workforce get a J-O-B like yours?
- If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
There seem to be two ways to best go about this. First, if you want to pursue an education, then one in business administration or management would be benefical. However, if schooling is not for you, then it would be wise to start at a lower level position in the company. If you are determined enough and show interest in the position, then it will definately be attainable as long as you have the desired attributes of a person they would want in that position.
- What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours? Please be specific and explain why (e.g., social skills, organization skills, technical skills)
You must be an excellent communicator. It will be necessary for you to communicate your desires and expectations to your coworkers, as well as give feedback about a job well done or an area where they need to improve. It will also be necessary to communicate well with your supervisors. That will provide both of you with the most understanding and create a smooth work environment and working relationship.
A highly beneficial skill would also be to be very organized and disciplined about deadlines. There are many, many tasks that will need attention. By being organized, you will be able to better prioritize what needs to be focused on first. That way, you will end up being less stressed in the end once those due dates start creeping up on you. This skill isn't absolutely necessary, but one who has this quality will have more of a chance of enjoying their position in the company AND at a lower stress level as well.
Social skills are very difficult to master because you have to put the customer first, before anything. If they said something did or did not happen, you must try to fix it to the best of your ability. There is no room to be pushing the envelope on being right or that they just don't "understand" the rules surrounding your company. All those types of arguments will do not good, in fact they will probably lose that customer for you. It takes time to develop this skill, but in an area of management, it is absolutely necessary. This does not only apply to customers but to the coworkers working below you as well. In some ways, it may be more important to your coworkers becaue it will allow them to feel comfortable at work and willing to work through issues WITH you instead of going over your head.
It is beneficial to have a certain extent of technical skill too. This is not vital, but again, it will help one relax more with their job because those technical parts will not be a challenge to them, nor will they take up so much of that person's time to deal with them due to inexperience.
- Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Yes. There are many different programs and duties required of me, and I would not have been quite as efficient with them all if I had not been given such an extensive amount of training. Even with all the training I did receive, I feel that I could have used a bit more. - What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Stay organized, ask questions, and make sure that you love working with people...it will also help to enjoy sales and enjoy providing customers with a good product. You have to believe in the product and company in order to be really good at suggesting sales to your customers. Make sure you already have an idea of who the company is beforehand. It will help.
4. How did you get your J-O-B
- How did you find your current job? (e.g. newspaper, internet, referral, etc.)
I was recruited by one of the company's recruiters who saw my resume online. - What was the application process for your job? (e.g. submitted resume, paper application, electronic application, all, etc.)
The recruiter contacted me and had me send in my application online. We set up an interview date and spoke for several hours. Then there were two more interviews with certain people who would be working closely with you. After that is when you wait for a job offer. - Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail? (e.g., number of interviews, who you interviewed with, group interview, individual interview, etc.)
Yes, I had interviews. I had three actually. First, I interviewed with the recruiter. Then, I interviewed with the District Leader (who, if I got the job, would be my boss's boss). After that, I had one final interview with the actual Store Leader where I would possibly be placed, and the boss of the District Leader was present at that interview as well. Each interview contained basic questions about my experience and education, but then they also focused on asking behavioral questions to see how I would respond or react if put in specific situations. - If you can remember, what questions were you asked at your interview?
Besides basic background history of education and past work experiences, most of the questions were behavioral or performance based. - Is this the job / field you planned to work in?
No - If your job is in a different field from your original plan how did you get here? Explain (Plan can be from high school/college/post college/personal plan)
After I graduated from college, I had a temporary job in a field related to my major. However, it was only temporary. Thus, I had no benefits. Therefore, I kept putting my resume out and continued looking for positions to apply for. Eventually, the recruiter who found me contacted me, and I accepted the offer of full-time permanent work. However, my ideal position would be one where I was able to travel a bit during my job. It would also be excellent if I could use my Spanish as part of my normal daily work routine, as I am bilingual. I am actually just completing my bilingual certificate program at a local technical college. With this certificate, I will be able to translate at any hospitals, dental clinics, or other health clinics in the area. Hopefully, my job situation will be changing soon.
5. Background: Are you qualified?
- Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
Yes, there was very extensive training for this position. I was trained for 3 months at a local store where the store leader there is in charge of training. Three weeks of that time was spent in a different city at the corporate center where you familarize yourself with the different computer programs and machines that the company mainly uses. - Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain
There is a massive amount of information to be learned. I feel that my employer gave me an adequate amount of knowledge and time to learn in order to be prepared for this position. However, due to the possible complications and complexity of certain issues, it would be impossible to go through every possible sceario that may happen. - Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain
Yes. I feel that I can relate to the business side of my company. I can follow along with their budgets and understand their target focuses and why they make many of their business decisions. I also feel that my computer classes helped immensely with anything and everything that we do with computers. - If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare you for your job?
6. The Future and Beyond (FINAL SECTION)
- If someone were to observe you at work, what would he or she say is "fun" about your job?
The coworkers get to know each other and their regular customers very well. We can joke around and yet know what needs to get done, all at the same time. - What is (are) the most fulfilling aspect(s) and least fulfilling aspect(s) of your current employment? (e.g. fiscal, spiritual, type of work, hours, commute, compensation, etc.)
The most fulfilling aspect is that my company cares about its coworkers and about me as an individual. It is obvious to see their appreciation for the work you do, and they take time to show it. They also compensate well and fairly and return 40% of their profits back to their employees. The least fulfilling aspect of the job is that at times it is monotonous and a bit tedious with the same things to try to enforce or clean. I also do not enjoy the manual labor that is associated with it, nor the work schedule for my position (hours). - Is your current employment part of your career plan? Why or why not?
It is a stepping stone only. The company is a good company, and now I have a high standard with which to compare to other companies. I will also have this experience at a management level which I hope will benefit me and pad my resume in the future. Other than that, this position is not a very big or important part of my future career plan. - What are your current career goals? (Can be broad or specific)
I would like to daily use my Spanish skills and get paid well for it. If I could include some sort of travel in my work, I believe I would greatly enjoy that as well. Overall, the best bonus would be feeling good about what I am doing and who I am helping (enjoying coming to work every day). - Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
N/A
7. A Day in the Life Of...
- 7 am - 8 am
Starting at 5am, bookwork procedures need to be completed. This includes closing the sales for the previous day by running different reports and closing the cash registers. The cash also needs to be counted and prepared for heading to the bank. Any invoices for merchandise need to be verified and sent in to our corporate office. Certain spreadsheets for sales growth and expenses are filled out. Other charts and spreadsheets are also filled in which let my fellow co-workers know how our sales are as a store in comparison with other stores. Emails are checked for any immediate updates which may need to be addressed early on during the day. - 8 am - 9 am
After all our opening bookwork procedures are finished, I submit the information via computer to the corporate office. The office sends us a list of updates and price changes that need to be completed in the store. The registers need to be rebooted to reflect the new changes in price. - 9 am - 10 am
During this entire morning, I must take time out of my bookwork activities to help with any customer issues or just general sales on the register for times that we get busy. Another important focus area is the coffee bar as it needs to remain fully stocked at all times, but especially in the morning. Any other random stocking that needs to get focused on must be done as well. At a time that is convenient, a trip to the bank needs to be done. This is to drop off the deposit and to collect any coins for change needed at our store. During this trip to the bank, gas prices from local competitors are gathered to be compared to our own prices. - 10 am - 11 am
Any items that are left from our truck delivery during that night are put away and organized. Ceratin items from the truck may go into the cooler, while some go into the freezer and still others go on the shelves right away. Everything that is a food product gets dated to guarantee freshness. - 11 am - 12 am
This time is spent focusing on customers while trying to still put away any items from the truck that are still left. The truck is always a second priority when compared to our customers. While behind the register area, I take time to stock any items behind the counter. I also make sure that the kitchen has adequate help for the lunch rush coming. Before the actual lunch rush however, I take a quick break. - 12 am - 1 pm
- 1 pm - 2 pm
While trying to complete the schedule, I am constantly bombarded by requests for help. This may be because we are busy in the store and they just need an extra set of hands at the register, or maybe a customer has a question or complaint. It may also just be a phone call that is my interruption. Sometimes, it is unfortunately something that needs to be cleaned up such as a spill or maybe just something that isn't working right. So at times, it may be very difficult to finish the schedule in two hours or even three hours. - 2 pm - 3 pm
I have finally finished with my schedule. I complete an order for some supplies and food items and enter it on our computer system. Lastly, I make sure that the second shift knows what is expected of them and what still needs to be finished from first shift. I leave a note as a reminder just in case. I make sure the cash register drawers are counted out and ready for second shift. I try to resolve any discrepancies with cash overages or shortages before I leave. Finally, I clock out. - 3 pm - 4 pm
Any items that are left from our truck delivery during that night are put away and organized. Ceratin items from the truck may go into the cooler, while some go into the freezer and still others go on the shelves right away. Everything that is a food product gets dated to guarantee freshness. - 4 pm - 5 pm
- 5 pm - 6 pm
- 6 pm - 7 pm
- 7 pm - 8 pm
- 8 pm - 9 pm
- 9 pm - 10 pm
- 10 pm - 11 pm
- 11 pm - 12 pm