Anybody managed to get out of retail?

Eighth Avenue

Eighth Avenue

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Hi,

I'm sat in my front room on what is the final night of two weeks off and am absolutely dreading returning to work tomorrow. I am at an assistant manager level and soon have to make the decision to abandon trying to get out of retail or spend the rest of my life in it. All I want is an admin type job that would give me my weekends and Christmas back but it seems everywhere needs previous experience and the ones that dont pay a very small wage.

So... any one make the leap from retail? If so, how?
 
I'm currently on the cusp of moving into restaraunt management, and I know how you feel, I love the hospitality side of things but hate the retail(sell sell sell) side of it, I prefer to make someones day than make the days target, I should go back to school, and do something "proper", but I dont wanna make the jump, don't think I could handle the lifestyle change!

I hate the long hours, the short breaks, the 12 day weeks, the rude and ignorant, the sore feet, tiredness, the stress of management on a budget, targets, wage budgets, knowing that I need to worry more to make less money but move up in the world, being single and knowing that my inability to maintain a relationship is a direct result of my job.

however....

I sleep in til noon, im up til 3, I go to the gym when its empty, I travel outside of rush hour, my rota is never the same, its different every week, I meet a LOT of different people, personalities, cultures, ideologies, and i take something from every interaction. And the only day off I have is Christmas day, due to the fact that the location of my base restaurant is closed on the 25th of december, I enjoy christmas day so much and it means a hell of a lot more to me, because its my only day off over the holiday.

I guess its a pros and cons situ. I am terrified of a 9-5 more than I want every weekend free.

Im stuck here, for now...
 
Rozzy said:
I'm currently on the cusp of moving into restaraunt management, and I know how you feel, I love the hospitality side of things but hate the retail(sell sell sell) side of it, I prefer to make someones day than make the days target, I should go back to school, and do something "proper", but I dont wanna make the jump, don't think I could handle the lifestyle change!

I hate the long hours, the short breaks, the 12 day weeks, the rude and ignorant, the sore feet, tiredness, the stress of management on a budget, targets, wage budgets, knowing that I need to worry more to make less money but move up in the world, being single and knowing that my inability to maintain a relationship is a direct result of my job.

however....

I sleep in til noon, im up til 3, I go to the gym when its empty, I travel outside of rush hour, my rota is never the same, its different every week, I meet a LOT of different people, personalities, cultures, ideologies, and i take something from every interaction. And the only day off I have is Christmas day, due to the fact that the location of my base restaurant is closed on the 25th of december, I enjoy christmas day so much and it means a hell of a lot more to me, because its my only day off over the holiday.

I guess its a pros and cons situ. I am terrified of a 9-5 more than I want every weekend free.

Im stuck here, for now...
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I don't mind 9-5 office based job really. The flexibility is nice in retail but I'd rather know I have ever weekend off, certainly make organising shoots etc a lot easier. I LOVE Christmas but for me, Christmas isn't one day, it runs right through to NY. It sucks seeing family go to each others house the few days after and I'm stuck at work.

The thing that sucks is that I know I can get a promotion within the next year and comfortably be earning a tidy wage in a few years but there a lot that I hate about the job. The fact that every customer looks down on you and speaks to you like crap and you're not able to say what you want to say, having the same excruciating conversation about the same things with old people. Hate it and need to get out.

Sucks that you need experience in admin to work in admin. half of my job of running a store is admin and it's a hell of a lot more high pressure! but I get overlooked.

Bah.
 
I was in retailing myself and used to work in a photographic shop for little over four years back in the 1980's. We didn't have targets to reach or anything like that as it was one of those old fashioned independent camera shops rather than a large retailers like Jessops, but nevertheless we had to make a profit in order to survive. The money wasn't very much, it has to be said, and were paid by commission on top of a basic salary, and the hours were fairly long. We worked most Saturdays but had a day off during the week in lieu.

One of the perks was being able to purchase nice gear at cost price and I did enjoy dealing with the customers. You'd always get the occasional impatient one, but the majority of customers we had were regulars and great people to deal with.

However, I have to say I was glad of the change of job and don't honestly think I'd fancy going back in retailing again. I certainly wouldn't stand much chance in a camera retailers today with all this digital technology as I'm still using film, but running a shop in today's climate will be very difficult indeed.
 
Carl V said:
I was in retailing myself and used to work in a photographic shop for little over four years back in the 1980's. We didn't have targets to reach or anything like that as it was one of those old fashioned independent camera shops rather than a large retailers like Jessops, but nevertheless we had to make a profit in order to survive. The money wasn't very much, it has to be said, and were paid by commission on top of a basic salary, and the hours were fairly long. We worked most Saturdays but had a day off during the week in lieu.

One of the perks was being able to purchase nice gear at cost price and I did enjoy dealing with the customers. You'd always get the occasional impatient one, but the majority of customers we had were regulars and great people to deal with.

However, I have to say I was glad of the change of job and don't honestly think I'd fancy going back in retailing again. I certainly wouldn't stand much chance in a camera retailers today with all this digital technology as I'm still using film, but running a shop in today's climate will be very difficult indeed.
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How did you get out?
 
Eighth Avenue said:
How did you get out?
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I was lucky in that the firm where my father worked was taking on more staff. I was 23 years old at the time and ended up working here for 19 years before I was made redundant, and now work for another company. I have looked at job websites just for curiosity at retailing vacancies, but it appears the money is pretty much minimum wage, unless you go into management.
 
I work in the IT side of Retail and have just been put on notice my jobs at risk for the 7th time in 6 years.

I've been fixing Tills in shops for 16 years. I was 50 this week and the strain is killing me.

At the moment I'm not in too good a financial position to get out but if my bell tolls then I want out of retail altogether. However the pittance I would get in redundancy would solve my problems.

Recently I've sat a thought long and hard about what I'd do, well I've decided to either find a way of going it alone and doing something I like, or take a menial job ( just as worthy ) and just get through making ends meet.

After 16 years of driving over 40K a year and working every other weekend I've had enough. Getting days back in the week is no good if all your mates are at work. It even had a big part in my marriage falling apart 8 years ago.
 
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I'm extremely lucky that my girlfriend works in retail as well but she is also looking to get out. She is the branch manager of a store and is on less than I am. She's on such a basic wage for all the responsibilities she has.

Seems to be a case of you can get out if someone you know works in a place with vacancies
 
My OH did -

This could come across as my being a bit elitist / arrogant but it's not how I mean it at all - I just wanted to show your background / experience doesn't always mean you cannot succeed:

My background - 2:1 BSc Hons degree, lots of call centre / office work experience.
My OH's background: Left school after GCSE's, worked at the same retail store from this point - worked his way up to assistant manager but hated his job.

We met working in a call centre environment for Prudential - he had taken the plunge and moved away from the retail thing. Took voluntary redundancy and both ended up working for a UK based Insurance company - again in a Customer Service capacity. Been there approx 6 years and now both manage teams within the customer services dept. I don't think you could say either of us enjoyed the original job we took for this company (and the wage was just ok) but we've worked hard, done lots of qualifications / internal development programmes etc and it's worked out well for both of us.

There is something out there for you - have you made sure the admin side of your job is clear in your CV? If you can just get in for interviews I'm sure you could do well explaining that no, you don't have traditional office experience, but what you do now show's you have the skills all the same.

Good luck ;)
 
If you want to get on I'd say never stop applying for jobs. If you take an admin job with rubbish pay, even before you start apply for a better one and never stop. You'll end up in a good office job.

Good luck by the way. Half the battle is knowing what you want to do :thumbs:
 
I've never worked in retail and never want too,.. My OH works in retail as a trainer however she spends 90% of her time on the shop floor.... I can see where your coming from when you say people look down at you, but I'd like to point out that, I dont...

oh and I could never handle what you guys / gals do..

But as the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the otherside.

To those who are truly happy in their jobs, Im happy for you. and good luck to those who's brave enough to make the leap, I hope someday if I fancy another trade I can find some courage to do the same.
 
Eighth Avenue said:
Hi,

I'm sat in my front room on what is the final night of two weeks off and am absolutely dreading returning to work tomorrow. I am at an assistant manager level and soon have to make the decision to abandon trying to get out of retail or spend the rest of my life in it. All I want is an admin type job that would give me my weekends and Christmas back but it seems everywhere needs previous experience and the ones that dont pay a very small wage.

So... any one make the leap from retail? If so, how?
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I did it 23 years ago from much the same position and was never so glad I did, I absolutely hated being expected to lie constantly to make ridiculous targets.
I was single and had no responsibilities so it was probably easier for me, went self employed for a long time and never did get weekends off though that suits me.

You say you want an admin job, but they are not generally well paid anyway. Have a look for any job that you could do even if it's less money, just to break out of the rut, after that you'll find it easier to make the move again.

/edit I would say that what most companies are looking for is flexability and reliability, you need to make sure your CV gives off the right 'vibes', get it noticed among the others.
 
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I worked in retail for a while, in fact I did two differetn shop jobs.

Hated it.

My way out was call centre - and if you have retail experience then call centres love it as you have much of the customer service knowledge they need. Now, here's the bag - call centres can also be hell - but depending on the company there are often a lot of roads you can take to advance you career beyond the call centre.

I started with my current employer in their customer call centre - within 3 months I had moved to a different team and away from the customer calls. With a willingness to move on I have progressed into a rather good IT role that I actually quite enjoy.
 
Thanks for all the info guys :)

Taking a lower paid job
THis is the thing I wish I had done a few years ago before I had the fiancee and the mortgage. Now its way too scary to drop down to a lower wage as although we are comfortable we are not well off. We make do :)

The call centre
These seem like a viably option but I think I could find it nightmarish, especially if I was trying to sell something because - no offence to those who do work in call centres - but when I get phoned 15 times a day from people offering me a new and exciting way to advertise or to offer to cus my business heating bills (that I don't pay anyway) all I can think of is how to get off the phone. i don't want to be the other person on the other end of the phone if that makes any sense, I would feel less self worth than I do now in quite a demoralising role.

Chances are I would progress as I always want to improve and work damned hard but it's so scary dropping everything you know (no matter how much you hate it) and trying something new :(
 
Most call centres are not sales - but customer service.

Getting yourself in to one of the larger companies that is keen on putting customer service first would be your best bet - they tend to be the ones who don't encourage hammering of sales on every call and give you more support. Not all - but many do.

Also, don't be afraid to go straight for a manager or supervisor role. Some companies welcome some external applicants for such roles especially if you have customer service and managerial experience.
 
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Hi i only went to our call center on 3 occasions, lights flashing queued callers, calls answered in so many seconds, having to log out for a toilet break, ciggy break, targets on how many callers satisfied how many jobs turned around,


oh no not for me


Merc:thumbs:
 
I worked in retail whilst at Uni, then callcentres, then Car Rental.

I used the business side of car rental and the business to business side of things to get into banking.
Ok I have a degree, but hardly anyone in my job does.
My father in law was a store manager for Morrisons for years and left on health grounds.

He has done loads of things, including managing holiday parks in season, and now runs one of the calendar shops that pop up around this time of year till january, then takes the rest of the year off.

It's a difficult thing to do, but you have to think about the skills you have. I spent 5 years renting cars, and was a branch manager at the end. Because you get indoctrinated with the company you work for, and it's long hours, you feel like your not too good at the job you do, so no one else would want you and you havn't got time to look for another job.

The best thing to do is to write down a list of what you are good at and what you enjoy.

Being in retail, you are probably good at customer service, making people happy, as well as admin - stock levels ordering etc.

Don't put down these skills, you are also probably trusted with taking cash and credit cards etc. Again a big responcibility.

Try looking for roles in a bank branch. Better hours, no Bank Hols, no daft opening hours, training scheme, pensions etc. Again, a certain amount of retail cos they want you to flog loans and credit cards etc. However, working in a bank then puts a level of seriousness to your CV. You have the responcibility of dealing with even larger amounts of cash, levels of regulation, etc. which can move you onto all kinds. there is also internal job moves

Or look at retail with a crossover into the business markets - like car rental, machine hire, computer retailing often has a B2B arm, which can then mean a crossover into any B2B market.

The lifestyle change of having 2 days off on the trot, knowing you get weekends free, knowing that at xmas your not workign every dayliht hour and then some.

Just be confident, work out what your skills are and go for it. And remember at an interview they don't know you, they don't know your current role inside out, or that your only the fourth best at your job in your store etc. So be confident and go for it, the worst that can happen is that you don't get the job.
 
My advice (for what its worth) is to get some careers advice, you're never too old. I'm taking voluntary redundancy next week and have seen someone through my emloyer. They lookat at my CV, talked a bit then started saying that with my skills i could do, this that and the other, stuff i'd never even thought about. I've been in manufacturing for a while now and i'm looking for out.
Have you thought about merchanising? I'm sure there are people who go round teh stores advising on best practice for displaying products etc, or how about health and safety in stores or any other of a number of "support" roles for retailers. You'd probably find these types of jobs are Monday-Friday. Or how about head office/regional office jobs for large retailers? These are all jobs taht would draw on your experiance in the trade but not actually on the shop floor so to speak.
 
there is always the option of moving out of the retailing side of your organisation but staying within the same company?!? have you asked about admin work within your company? buying department... marketing... customer service? i don't know what sort of size company you work for ... they may not be set up with those departments.

you could also look at the suppliers to your company? would they be worth looking at?
that way at least you have an 'in' to approach them with.
good luck! :thumbs:
 
I would hate to work in a shop, not me at all... but I work at the head office of Shoe Zone. Im a shopfitting project co-ordinator. Ive had to work up from being a cad technician and its taken me 6 years to get here. I love it.

I used to be a legal secretary, so a bit of a change! I realised being a secretary wasnt what I wanted to do, and found a job ad for a production assistant at a shopfitting company. I did general admin stuff and slowly worked my way to getting more responsibility to end up being a mini project manager. I had a tiny bit of CAD experience, then spotted the job at Shoe Zone. They said they wanted me as I had no preconceptions and could mould me to fit the SZ ethos.... Its taken ages and lots of learning to actually run jobs by myself, but I finally feel I have a job that I enjoy doing.
 
Vicki M said:
I would hate to work in a shop, not me at all... but I work at the head office of Shoe Zone. Im a shopfitting project co-ordinator. Ive had to work up from being a cad technician and its taken me 6 years to get here. I love it.

I used to be a legal secretary, so a bit of a change! I realised being a secretary wasnt what I wanted to do, and found a job ad for a production assistant at a shopfitting company. I did general admin stuff and slowly worked my way to getting more responsibility to end up being a mini project manager. I had a tiny bit of CAD experience, then spotted the job at Shoe Zone. They said they wanted me as I had no preconceptions and could mould me to fit the SZ ethos.... Its taken ages and lots of learning to actually run jobs by myself, but I finally feel I have a job that I enjoy doing.
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and you get to work with Shoe's , my wife would rip your arm off for your discount card.:lol:

she regularly shops at shoe zone with a credit note for the 2 week old pair that fell apart the week before,


Merc;)
 
Hey, we sell quality products *cough cough*

Needless to say I dont buy our shoes!
 
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