Retail Salespersons for clothing store

Over the past two summer, my parents decided they would no longer support my day to day needs such as gas, food, or entertainment. This meant it was time to get a job. Since I knew I wouldn't need much money to support myself over sumer I decided I would do something easy and part time for a low wage. After a few weeks job hunting I decided to become a caddie at Peninsula Country Club in San Mateo. This is where I met Darren.

Darren was also working as a caddie, but instead of just working three days a week at the same course like I did, he worked everyday, sometimes twice a day and at courses all around the Bay Area. Even working everyday of the week he only made about 15,000 dollars a year. It was quite intersting that what I was doing to make some money for everyday expenses, he was doing to make a living. What was even more interesting was his previous job at Macy's in the Women's Clothing Department.

As a retail salesperson in the Women's Department at Macy's, he spent most of his time in the shoe section. This job is quite demanding because it requires a great deal of patience and interpersonal skills. In Darren's world the worst part of his job was dealing with the customer. He recalls having to climb three flights of stairs to get down to where the shoes were stocked and back up as fast as he could only for the customer to throw them aside and ask to try a different pair. After repeating the process again he comes back up and no one is there.

This is just one of the many scenarios retail salespersons have to deal with. Most of the time customers will speak up, either directly to the employee or to their supervisor. As Darren unfortuantely knows, when you start getting complaints made to your supervisor you loose your job. Many customers can be over demanding of the employees. They expect what they want basically the moment they ask for it, and don't realize they aren't the only customer an employee is trying to help. Likewise, the employee is rarely appreciated as his job is seen as meaningless in some sense. Since the job is mostly part time has no educational requirements, the employee can be easily replaced. The result is that employees are hired and fired on a weekly basis. The only way to keep your job is to work hard and hope that no one complains about you. In the end, Darren did loose his job during one of the busiest times of the year. He lost it because he was overwhelmed with customers and some of them started to make complaints.

In conclusion, Macy's retail salespersons work for customers that require a lot of patience and interpersonal skills that are often unappreaciated by both the customer and management. All the while the employee is working for a salary that is flirting with the amount of money needed to survive.