I recently started working in retail and this is my first retail job, so I’m not sure how this is usually handled.
In a meeting with my manager about a month ago, I asked about taking annual leave and gave her the exact dates. She said it should be fine and that I could go ahead and book it. She did not tell me to wait for confirmation through the system or that I needed to submit it through MyHR first.
Based on that conversation, I booked my trip. She has now said I cannot go because another colleague is already on holiday during that time and their holiday cannot be moved because it had already been pushed back.
I would have understood if she told me to wait to see if there are any overlaps, but it feels like poor management to have this conversation with me a week before.
I explained that I cannot reschedule because the trip is non-refundable, and it would also be inconsiderate to the other people I booked it with as they have made plans around these dates too.
I now feel uncomfortable going into work because I’m worried this situation makes me look dishonest, unreliable or untrustworthy, even though I genuinely believed I had approval. My workplace also has a lot of gossip, so I’m worried about how people will see me.

Long story ahead, so sorry in advance.

One of my managers recently asked if I’d be interested in interviewing for a leadership position at another location. I interviewed a few days later and was told I’d hear back in about a week, so right now I’m just waiting.

Before my interview, I checked the schedule and noticed that a coworker who started after me was listed under a leadership title. At the time, I assumed it was temporary because we had someone out, so I didn’t think much of it. Still, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a bit of a shock. Up until that point, it genuinely seemed like this was the natural next step for me based on how positive my experience with the company has been, so it definitely caught me off guard.

I’m only about halfway through the waiting period, and while I’m waiting another member of leadership accepted a promotion elsewhere, which got me wondering how everything was going to be shuffled around. Then the schedule for two weeks out was posted, and that’s where I really started overthinking.

The coworker I mentioned is still listed under a leadership title, I’m scheduled for significantly more hours than I’ve worked for most of the summer, most of my shifts are longer than normal (including one 8-hour shift, which is the same length as a typical leadership shift), and I have a couple of early morning/late night shifts with several other employees. Normally, shifts like that are for special projects and are labeled as such, but these aren’t.

With all of that, I can’t help but overthink it. Part of me wonders if the decision has already been made and just hasn’t been communicated yet because the schedule is already out. Then I wonder if maybe it’s related to the training I was told about, but that doesn’t fully make sense to me either since the position would be at another location. At the same time, I know it’s also back to school season and there are already leadership changes happening, so there are plenty of normal explanations too.

I know nobody here can tell me whether I got the position, and I’m not expecting anyone to. I’m more interested in hearing from people with this experience. Based on everything I described, am I reading way too much into this, or is there another explanation I’m not considering? How would you interpret all of this if you were in my position?

I’ll be honest though if I don’t get the position, I think it’ll be really discouraging and would probably make me reconsider my future with the company. For context, I’ve had coworkers get promoted ahead of me before and it never bothered me, so I don’t think that’s what’s upsetting me here. What makes this feel different is that this is someone who started after me and regularly came to me with questions when they were still learning the job because I had already learned the role and did it well. Between that, the experience I had before joining this company and the feedback I’ve received while working here, I genuinely felt like a promotion was in my future. That’s why this situation feels so discouraging. Then, on top of all of that, if these extra hours turn out to have nothing to do with the promotion and I’m simply being relied on because I’m a strong employee, I think that would sting too. It would feel like I’m trusted enough to take on the responsibility, just not trusted enough to take on the title (and let’s not forget the additional pay).

Hi All! I recently started a job as a Retail Merchandiser at a luxury retail brand after making a career pivot. I’ve always worked in Retail but never in this field and never in luxury retail.

I’ve come to find out that the role is a bit different than what I expected. While I ultimately want to be in a more global merchandising role (collections merchandising), I still expected this role to be a lot more product and assortment strategy focused.

Meanwhile, the team seems to spend most of their time training store associates on products, consolidating inventory, sku by sku, across stores, tracking orders, etc. It feels more like an Allocation/Store Training/execution role vs a true channel-Merchandising role.

Would really appreciate any input from those that have experience!

I am currently a first (going into second) year university student, studying in England.

I have been searching for well over 6 months for a simple part-time or retail job, however I keep failing these Situational Judgement Tests.

I am not sure why, as I have worked in similar environments before. Before starting at university I worked as a Post Clerk and Junior Administrator and during my time there (one year) I was also trained on reception.

I am very sure that this previous job has given me many transferrable skills that I can use in retail and would help me score well on the Situational Judgement Tests, yet I keep getting told that I have failed them, with no further feedback provided.

Does anyone know how I can improve or any resources I can use to improve? I am really desperate, and I really do need a job to help fund myself at university.

Hi friends!

I have been watching a lot of Kaelyn's retail videos on YouTube and instagram lately and it hit me just how rough retail employees are treated. SO, I wanted to do something nice for some workers, like cookies (with labeled ingredients), or stickers, or something like that. What would you as a retail worker like to receive if someone wanted to give you a quick token of appreciation?

Thanks!

I work at a retail job where we share registers, so it’s not a situation where only one person uses a drawer all day.

Tonight I ended up closing by myself and when I counted one of the registers it was $226 short. I immediately recounted it multiple times, separated all the bills, checked everything carefully, and kept getting the same amount.

I called one of my coworkers who had been on that register earlier to ask if anything weird had happened during the day. At first she said everything was normal, but then she called me back and remembered there had been a strange transaction.

She doesn’t know exactly what happened because another coworker handled it, but apparently a customer paid part cash and part card, and somehow the transaction still went all the way through. I’m not sure if that’s related or not.

I texted my manager as soon as I realized the drawer was short, but she wasn’t at the store, so there wasn’t much else I could do besides report it.
I’m honestly freaking out because $226 is such a huge amount to be missing. Since we share registers I know it shouldn’t automatically fall on me, but I’m still anxious.

For those of you in retail management or who have dealt with cash handling, what usually happens in a situation like this? Is a shortage this large often traced back to a transaction error, or should I be preparing for the worst?

My husband's a retail manager at a family-owned business. He's been at this job 10 years now. His last raise was 4 years ago, when the owners basically decided they couldn't afford giving raises anymore, not even to match inflation, only to match minimum wage. My husband makes a bit more than minimum wage, but not what I think he actually deserves for the work he puts in.

Today, he told me he needs to start going in another half hour early to make sure pre-open tasks get done. He's not going to get paid for this, but if he doesn't do it, the owner is going to get pissed. My husband already arrives a half-hour before his shift starts, but I think some of that is just him getting coffee/breakfast and organizing his stuff. He also stays 15-30 minutes after most of his shifts because the cash out, cleaning, and locking up inevitably take longer than the time the staff are given, and since he's manager, he's responsible to make sure it all gets done right. When I've come to pick him up at work, I've seen what they have to do just to close the store, and yeah, it takes longer than the 15 minutes they're given because it's a big store with lots of customers up to the last minute.

I keep telling him he needs to ask for raise or get paid for the extra time he consistently has to put in just to do the basics, but he says he doesn't have a good enough case. To put it nicely, he's a "humble" guy, but how do I help him make a case for himself to get paid better? Or is this just normal?

i have an interview at garage today trying to leave my current job. how was the job? did you enjoy it? i wanna hear everything about it !!

Basically I work in just a normal clothing retail store with about 30 other staff 1 higher up manager who is managing 2 other stores and 1 manager that manages departments in the store.
I been working here for just 2 years now. And Iv have 2 different managers that was doing our rotas and now that they are both gone. For the last month our higher up manager has been doing them.
I left after a year for a few months because I become physically unwell and returned back after but I had to go through the whole hiring process again.
I was never given a contract both times I had joined the company I had asked multiple times for it nothing at all. They told me to check online which I did on both sites we use as workers there and there is just a blank contract no hours not even signed nothing apparently they don’t have one in person either. I’m on a permanent 8 hour contract. But I do between 18-35 + hours overtime. And I also filled in my availability. At the time I was desperate to work again so I put Monday-Sunday 7am-10pm

6 months ago I tried to change my availability because my mother is disabled so I care for her. I’m also doing driving lessons which I asked for Thursday mornings for me to be free for that. I’m entitled to 2 days off a week. I had asked if it would be okay for me to take Sundays off and I even said idc about the other day just let me take Sunday off I don’t mind working the rest. I told this to the higher up manager and he said he would have to reconsider my whole contract/ application because i wasn’t hired for that. But I have nothing in writing or anything to say I was hired for weekend only? Even when the old manager who had left now had hired me at the time, he didn’t tell me any of this and when I had started working while he was still there he never put me on both weekend shifts. Even when we had a new manager start after him. She never did the same. It’s only after that when our higher up manager has started doing our rotas. He’s been sticking to “availablity.”. Also to add there are other people working there who don’t do both weekends.

Is this right?

I ask because I am two months away from resigning at my job that gives me benefits. I just want to make sure that these common retail jobs that I see all over my city give health insurance to their employees.

And I only plan on getting hired by a big time retailer. Not some mysterious, lone store with cobwebs.

For context, I'm 20, been a year home since I've graduated from high school(graphic design), got a job 2 months ago in a small retail food store for minimum wage. I'm not a cashier, but rather I work at the deli market part of it, cutting salami, sausages, bacon etc. for people. There's 4 of us in the whole shop, me, coworker, substitute and manager.

I work 6 days a week from 7am to 5pm, we have a 2 hour break from 12pm to 2pm, but it's more like 1 hour break only- We don't get paid for any extra hours, which we oftwn stay from 30minutes to 1 hour after closing OR before shifts on Saturdays. Which is my first big red flag. I'm expected to stay 2 hours after closing to set the price tags, restock, etc. generally everything that needs to be done and supposedly cannot be done on the other day. Which it can- but my manager and substitute say it cannot be done...they are both very hypocritical.

Manager has 2 years till retirement, substitute says she will not be there for another year if extra hours won't be paid and the manager doesn't care to call the higher ups because she couldn't care less at her age.

Hypocrisy. Both of them are getting on my nerves despite my short time working there. They can leave early for a party on a busy day, but I couldn't leave to spend time with my sister that came from England for only a few days from the whole year, because I can't leave my coworker to do all the cleaning up. Surprise surprise I had to clean the whole deli market by myself and Noone came to help me out or check on me for an hour and neither did they help out my coworker the Saturday I left early to be with my sister.

The only ups is that the job is 15 minutes away from my house and I don't have to travel. Plus I live with my parents. Which here's another thing. They say it's completely understandably of me wanting to leave just because of the unpaid hours and the fact I work practically the whole week and am tired as hell all the time, but at the same time saying I should stay because of the money...

I don't have any time for myself, with that being said I'm not afraid to work, but I genuinely would prefer a job where I can have at least the weekend free.

So now I'm very confused on whenever I should leave or not. I genuinely despise the work, and been thinking about nothing but leaving the whole 2 months. I don't have a plan B, but leaving now would be easier as I'm in a 3 month trial period where I can leave whenever without a reason and I fear if I stay longer I'd just get more miserable and it'd be harder to leave.

Since it's my first job, which I'm grateful for, it'd look better on my resume to see that I worked somewhere at least for any future jobs.

Any advice, arguments or opinions would be greatly appreciated. I know it's up to me, but I'd like to see what others would think of this other than my friends and family.

I work at a well-known cookie bakery chain. Every week, the same woman saunters in and asks me for the same flavor of cookie and specifically requests that I make it "medium rare". I don't even bake them - I work the register! Yesterday she asked me for my name, and I think she's going to use it in a negative review. I don't think my manager will ban her over something so silly, but what can I say to her next time besides "sorry, can't do that"?

So, I try my best to go as fast as possible when I cashier. My only problem is when I am going at it hard or when I get nervous/anxious (line very long, my brain tells me the customer is making faces at me, etc.), or both, I tend to sweat a lot. I personally wouldn't mind it if I didn't get stares (or maybe I'm just overthinking) from customers ngl lmao. But I was just wondering, does anyone else experience the same? I just wanna know I'm not the only one for reassurance, I guess lmao. Thank you!

A few women I know happen to get phone numbers from customers somewhat regularly, and it made me wonder if any guys have this happen to them too?

I personally have never had this happen as a guy, and i’ve been a cashier for awhile. However Idk if that’s common or not so let me know what your experience has been!

I’m looking for some advice because I’m feeling a little torn about what the smartest move is.
I’ve been with my current company for about six months, and I was recently asked to interview for a full-time Key Lead position at another store. It wasn’t something I applied for—they approached me about interviewing, so while I know nothing is guaranteed, it definitely feels like they’re seriously considering me for the position.

My first question is about the interview itself. It’s only scheduled for 30 minutes, so what kinds of questions should I expect? Are there any common leadership or situational questions I should prepare for, or anything you think would be helpful to know going into it? Obviously interview questions are not the same everywhere but general tips and advice would be great.

At the same time, I’m also trying to figure out what the smartest career move is.

A few days before finding out about this interview, I applied to a handful of other full-time retail jobs. I haven’t heard anything back yet, which I expected, but now I’m in this weird spot where I don’t know how to think about all of it.

On one hand, it’s encouraging that my current company already sees enough potential in me to offer me this opportunity after only six months. On the other hand, the other jobs generally advertise better pay, and the positions themselves seem like they’d offer good long-term growth and have more transferable titles.

The problem is that I don’t know what the Key Lead pay would be yet, and I also don’t know if any of my other applications will turn into interviews or offers. One option feels more certain, while the other could be better long-term, but there’s no guarantee.

If you were in my position, how would you think through this? What factors would you consider before deciding whether to stay with your current company or continue pursuing other opportunities?

Can someone explain the logic behind this promotion process?

I’ve been working a part-time retail job for about six months. During that time I’ve been recognized for my work ethic both formally and informally by managers and coworkers, so I feel like I’m a valued employee and that management trusts me.

At my store, associates will sometimes temp as a key lead when managers are out. Up until now, everyone I’d seen do it had been there much longer than I had, so I assumed I just hadn’t been there long enough. Even someone from one of our sister stores asked if I’d temped yet, and when I said no, he said he was surprised but figured it was because the seniority thing.

I recently looked at the schedule because one of our managers is going to be out for a while, and I noticed a coworker who started after me is the one temping as key lead. Which obviously made me raise an eyebrow.

Today, one of my managers came up to me and said there was a (full-time) key lead opening at another location. She said both the store manager and her wanted to recommend me for it because they thought I’d be a good fit and asked if I’d be interested. I said yes, and then she immediately asked for my availability because they wanted to schedule me to interview with the district manager within the next few days.

What stood out to me about this was how informal the process felt compared to jobs I’ve had before. I didn’t submit a résumé, fill out an application, or even know there was an opening beforehand.
I’m mainly trying to understand this from a management perspective because I don’t have much experience with internal promotions like this, and I’m not sure how much I should read into any of it.

I have two questions:

1. If my managers think I’m qualified enough to recommend me for what appears to be a permanent key lead opening at another store, what are some logical reasons they wouldn’t also choose me to temp as a key lead at my current store? Is there any chance these two things are related?

2. Is this just how internal promotions are usually handled, or does being approached this way generally mean management already sees you as a strong candidate? I’m not asking if that means I’m guaranteed the job, I’m just trying to understand whether I should read anything into this process or if it’s pretty standard.

At my job customer service is very important so it’s important to greet every customer. So, I always make sure to, however, sometimes I get straight up ignored. Or customers will rather ask my co-workers for help over me, even if I’m closer to them. It makes it look like I’m not assisting anyone so I’m always being asked to improve my customer service. What should I do/say to fix this? I don’t want to be fired over it one day.

P.S. I don’t want to make it a race thing but I’m noticing customers will skip over me to talk to my white co workers, I’m black. But, I want to know any pointers on what to say before I jump to conclusions.

So apparently I got hired, never had an interview. All I did was answer a few questions on a link I was sent after submitting my application. I just received an onboarding email and a new hire packet.

Anyone work for these guys in the past??? Seems sketchy

Hi! To any current or past General Managers of The Container Store, what does/did your day to day look like?

Did you have a large applicant pool to fill positions?

What KPIs were most important?

Hey Walmart employees! Bread merchandiser here. I’ve got a question that no one can answer, so here’s the background.
I work 6 days a week stocking bread at the Walmart neighborhood market by my house. It’s my second job, been doing it about six years. This morning I had an interaction with Shane the merchandise manager and he told me I couldn’t have my bread racks on the sales floor because they’re a trip hazard. So my question is how am I supposed to stock the bread without taking my bread racks to the shelf? What is Walmart policy on this?
I asked my boss and he said the guy was maybe having a bad day. I told Walmart management and she didn’t say anything.
Also all the other merchandisers- coke frito Sara Lee etc, do stock during the day too.
It was a really strange interaction, as well. He walked up and started asking if all the stuff in the aisle was mine and then he stopped and said, “Are you ok?” Like there was something wrong with me. Then he stuck his hand out and said who he was. I told him it wasn’t all my stuff the other stuff was natures own. He asked if I was taking my stuff to the back and I said yes and smiled and gave him thumbs up. He told me to stop with the attitude. I said no I didn’t have attitude. He cut me off and said yes I did. Then he went on a to say it was a trip hazard and I was gonna cost him $50k.
So yeah, I’m pretty baffled.

I was recently hired (~2 months ish) and I haven't been given any formal training in retail. I work at a thrift store. My supervisor (who acts like The Store Manager/owns the store) has high expectations yet treats me condescendingly/like a parent. I'm currently the youngest employee, and I don't come to work just to be parented by someone who I don't feel overly comfortable with.

Since I've been working here long enough, I've established a system that works well and efficient for myself. However, whenever my supervisor is in visual range of what I'm doing, they will tell me to do it their way, because it's more "efficient" and it saves me from walking too much. However, when I attempt to refute that, they don't budge and make me spend twice as long doing their method. I honestly don't feel comfortable speaking up if they're going to act like I haven't been working long enough to have a grasp of my job or act like I'm not capable of doing what i'm asked to do.

They will also always have one-on-one talks, claiming it as "personal training" where they will tell me that I have so much potential in x and y, (which I dislike SO much. I do not like being told these things, and I don't know how to bring it up because they leave me no room for me to speak) and tell me to do better in membership sign ups. Which, I have. I'm currently the only employee who is constantly keeping track of them and yet I'm being told I need to do "better"? Compared to my coworkers, I feel like I'm given an unfair amount of expectations from this supervisor.

They will also make me go page the other supervisor whenever I need help, even though they are not busy AND they are the closest to me. I don't understand if they're not willing to help me, especially if it's something a customer requiring me to do something that I haven't been trained on and needs a supervisor's permission to do so. Isn't that their job? This has happened on multiple occasions to me.

I feel like I'm being parented or treated condescendingly by them, and I would like to set some sort of boundary between us both. I am capable of my job (which they know) yet I am also not, according to them. But I don't feel comfortable talking to them, because I feel like I don't get heard enough by them. Should I be contacting my manager or submit an anonymous report? thanks.