A Part Time Job ; It Gave a Various Experience to Me

2011-03-04 Bit-Na Kim

Since the first semester of my freshman year, I was bored with my daily life, so I decided to look for a part-time job. A part-time job is good for university students because it allows us to make money and it is good way to participate in social experiences. Part-time jobs are often found by chance. I had many concerns before I started working. It's because I am a shy person. For this reason, I was hesitant. During summer vacation many students want to find a part-time job, and I was lucky to find one. My first part-time job was in cosmetic sales.
The job was hard from the first day. It was just as I thought. On my first day, I was immediately put to work without any training. I didn't know where the cosmetics were located, nor did I know about any of the cosmetics’ functions. As a result, I made many mistakes. My legs were often swollen because I had to stay on my feet for nearly 10 hours at a time. From the next day, I tried to learn where everything was located and also the functions of all the cosmetics. It was important for me to learn about sales methods according to each cosmetic type. Gradually, I adapted to the job. In the process I found out about many cosmetics that I didn't know about in the past. In addition, I became accustomed to dealing with all kinds of people. In the beginning, I didn't shout "welcome" to customers, and it was hard for me approach to them. However, as time passed, I felt comfortable with shouting out a greeting when people came into the store. I approached customers and told them about the cosmetics. I felt really great when customers bought products after my explanation. I usually felt exhausted when there were no customers. In contrast, when there were many customers, I felt good, and the job did not seem difficult. Gradually I became a good sales person.
During my work experience, I met many kinds of people. There are funny customers and customers who are hard nuts to crack. I came to understand how to handle difficult customers. One type of difficult customer is one that obstinately asks for a discount in spite of the fact that most of the products were already discounted. It was hard to refuse them politely. I couldn’t get angry because I was the clerk, and they were the customer. The best thing to do in a time like this is to explain the reasons why we can’t give further discounts, and to give extra samples to the customer. Another type of difficult customer is one who asks to exchange or refund a used product for absurd reasons. In times like this, there is no way to resolve the situation, we can only explain why we can’t offer an exchange or refund.
There were some other factors that made the job hard. One was the changeable summer weather. There are stalls outside in front of the store. When looked like it was going to rain, I had to carry the stalls into the store with a co-worker and my manager. Sometimes, our clothes were slightly soaked.
During this period, I learned many things. Two of the most important things I learned were responsibility and ways to deal with people. I also met many nice people. This was definitely a valuable and unforgettable experience for me.