Since October 2019, I have been employed by Star Retail Group and work at Thingz Gifts.

This has been my first job and I started working in

october.
My position is the casual sales assistant, my job
includes :
- Stocking shelves (Re-stocking, condensing
shelves, displays and organisation)
- Pricing items
- Cash handling and customer service
- Store hygiene and cleaning
My work hours vary from 4 hour shifts to 7 hour
shifts with an hour break for any shifts over 5 hours.

My first shift was very daunting for me, I had gotten

proper work pants, a black polo and black boots. I
was ready. I worked with a girl named Shey, on my
first shift I got taught the register and how the system
worked. It took me a while but I got there in the end
and have learned more things like returns, refunds, store credits and how to use or activate
gift cards. My following shifts were all about learning different skills, I learned how to use a
price gun and how to price items in the store, I learned how to condense, hide and spread
products over shelves for good advertisement and store management.

My first few shifts were very scary and I did have

some unpleasant experiences with my manager
when I first started because she was very strict
and had very high expectations of me even
though I did not have any real set training,
anything I learned I taught myself from trial and
error but mostly from asking for help. The hardest
thing about my job is customer service. Although I
am a bright, confident and outgoing person who is
willing to assist all customers, sometimes the
customers are very difficult and make my job hard.
But it is all about perseverance in the field of retail
and learning to accept that not everyone is kind
and sometimes people are just going to be rude
for no reason.

Some things that I really value from getting my job

is the confidence it has given me to be that bit
more independent and the friendships I have
made. I have made a few friends and some very close friends over my almost year at things.
I am very grateful for the amount of support and love I receive from the people I work with
and I have definitely become close as most of the girls I work with are around my age. I find
it easy to talk to them about things as we are very much going through similar situations in
our lives because there is only a 2-3 year age difference between some of us.

The opportunities I have been given from my job have opened me up to be able to have a
higher level at my company in the future or be able to use my skills elsewhere. I find that the
more skills I gain from my job, the more confident I am to ask questions and tell people when
I need help so that I am able to excel in what I do.

Whether it be a 4 hour shift or a 7 hour shift, there

is never time to take a break. Retail keeps you on
your toes a lot of the time and really makes you
take initiative that you may not have taken on your
own. Being set on a list of things that need to be
done at the start of the day really helps me focus
and plan out how I can utilise my time efficiently
throughout my shift without wasting time or leaving
too much work for someone else to finish. I make
sure that I do things so that shelves or stock do not
have to be fixed or re-done and make sure that I
get approval from managers or staff members to
see if there is anything I can fix before I move on.
Having a budget to reach by the end of the day also
motivates me to get things done and make things
more appealing to reach that end goal.

All in all, I love my job and it has given me so much

confidence that I don’t think I would have if I hadn’t started working when I did. I have made
great friendships and really enjoy the time I spend at work because of that.