Retail Reality Check

They say it takes a village to raise a child. In the retail world, it takes a village to raise an idiot. And I have worked with plenty of their offspring.

Co-workers can be a blessing in disguise, or your worst nightmare. I have worked with some who have changed my life (but not always for the better) and with some who make me hate my job. Some I'd like to forget, if only I could erase parts of my brain.

It's pretty easy to categorize your co-workers. They are "fun", "hard-working", "lazy", "smart", etc. Count your blessings if you get a hard-worker with a super personality... they are few and far between.

I bet you can name a few co-workers who only want to talk about themselves. Kinda makes you want to chop your ears off, doesn't it? How 'bout the "Debbie Downer" of the group... bet you know someone who has that dark cloud overhead 24/7. And what about that lazy slug who thinks the world owes him something for doing nothing...

My point is: take a few moments and ponder your past. There are all types of people in the workplace. I'm sure the stupid ones outnumber the smart ones. I think they breed faster.

As a nation, we are hovering at 10% unemployment. Totally unacceptable! I recently had to go thru the process of hiring someone to fill a part-time sales position. What an eye-opener for our current predicament with the jobless.

An ad was placed online with one of those job search engines... you know, Monster or Career Builder. It specifically stated the following items: part-time (approx. 15 hours per week), retail sales, hourly pay rate of $8.50, and "click here to apply online".

I learned that some people just can't follow simple instructions. Apparently, "click here to apply online" was confusing to some. And for those who did actually figure that part out, it got even more interesting. Some people did not even bother to include contact information! How do you expect me to get in touch with you if you don't provide a phone number or address?

All sorts of people applied. We got hundreds of responses. Most went immediately to the shredder. If your salary requirement is $80,000 per year, what we were offering clearly wouldn't cut it. Is your math really that bad? And this was a part-time sales position for a retail store... so I appreciate that you can operate a fork-lift and drive an 18 wheeler, but that doesn't fit the job description.

And if every other word on your resume is spelled incorrrectly, maybe you should be applying for continuing education, not a job.

I know the job market is rough, and sometimes we have to "think outside the box". But reality still needs to part of the mix. Be creative in your job search, but be realistic. Good luck in your search. There is something for everyone out there... and I hope you find it soon.

As for me, I got lucky. I found a person who fit the qualifications of the job and he is doing great. A definite asset to the store!

But the fork-lift operator/truck driver got me thinking... maybe I'll go to truck driving school in my spare time. I've been wanting to travel more, and it would be a great way to see the country. Honk, honk...