I'll give you a bit of insight into my life. The thing is, I’ve just started a new job in a busy supermarket. I'm sure that sounds tricky to many of you. Of course it’s tough, when you’re not really a “people person” and you’re suddenly working in a place full of….. well, people.
The reason I’m sharing this is because I know that lots of you will be getting jobs while you're at uni, whether that's to top up your student loan or simply so that you can get a bit of real world experience. Either way, it’s a great idea and it will help to keep you busy – and to top things off, it's a great way to meet new people and make friends.
I had my induction a couple of weeks ago and it took a while to complete it. There was loads of important information, and I was encouraged to take plenty of time to take it all in. When I reached the end, I could feel the butterflies dancing in my stomach. It was nearly time.
I had been told that I would be trained on the checkouts to start with. It was late afternoon on a Saturday, and I knew this meant that I would be getting chucked in at the deep end.
My manager led me on to the shop floor, where I was introduced to a colleague, who I was told would be my “buddy”, and they would show me the basics. I stood and waited nervously, being sure to make eye contact with customers and smile. My buddy leant towards me and muttered little bits of advice every now and again. Press this button here, sometimes press that one. Ask the customer if they have a discount card. Right, seems simple enough?
What felt like 10 seconds later, my buddy stood up and exclaimed: “Right, your turn! It’s the best
way to learn.” I looked up at the long queue of customers and gulped, as I sank slowly into my seat.
Thankfully, I am a dab hand with self-service checkouts and the basic procedure seemed similar. I started scanning items, while my buddy pointed at parts of the screen to tell me what buttons to press.
Item after item came at me from the relentless conveyor belt. A packet of onions here, a mountain of chocolate there. Even a mop and bucket popped up after a while, hoisted onto the belt by some youngsters who I guessed were probably students.
Most of the products were really simple and I could easily scan half of a weekly shop within a couple of minutes. My buddy mentioned how it was important to scan things quickly, but equally important to focus on the customer's needs - i.e. we didn't want to create the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the bagging area and make the customer feel like we didn't care.
“So, how are you feeling?” came a voice from behind me. I replied that I thought I was picking it up quite quickly. “Well, I hope you are, because I’m off home in 10 minutes” they replied with a chuckle. My chest began to feel heavy and I had to squeeze as much air in as possible.
My buddy gathered their stuff and asked if I needed someone on the other checkout behind me just in case: “Please say if you don’t feel confident on your own yet” they said gently. I nodded and stated that it would be good to have someone on hand. We did have a button to call a supervisor, but it made more sense just to have someone behind me.
Before long, a colleague approached to inform me that they were taking over from me and that I would be going on my break. I finished the latest transaction, got up and headed towards my manager, who advised me to come back in half an hour.
I reached the staff canteen and sat down, releasing my chest and feeling the tension flow out of my body, along with all the air that I had apparently been holding hostage. I looked at the clock, there was still four hours left of my shift. There was a dull ache in my head and a layer of moisture on my forehead.
I rummaged through my bag until I had located the foil-wrapped sandwich I had brought with me.
I sank my teeth into the main section and allowed the sweet taste of peanut butter to reacquaint with my senses. It was only now that I realised how hungry I was.
A few minutes later I headed back out to restart my shift. I was put on a different checkout this time, but all the features were the same and they gave me another new buddy to sit behind me. We seemed to be nearing the end of the busy, Saturday phase and the customers were beginning to lessen.
I had just had half an hour off and had to quickly reacquaint myself with all the gears, and it wasn’t
long before I pressed the wrong button and found myself apologising profusely to the gentleman concerned, explaining that it was my first shift and that I was still learning. He smiled kindly, and stated that he wouldn't have known if I hadn't have mentioned it. I was engulfed by a warm sensation and I couldn't prevent a wide grin spreading across my face. I thanked the customer for his kind words and said that I hoped he had a nice evening. He wished me luck, gathered his shopping and left.
More customers flowed by. I had a chuckle to myself when I often had an older man coming to my checkout with a basket that mostly contained strong beverages. I performed my usual lines of
thanking them and hoping they had a nice evening, before noticing them waiting by the checkout for, who I soon realised was, their wife with the weekly shop.
One of my last customers was a young lady, who looked around my age – mid-twenties. Being a
Saturday night, my screen prompted me that one or two products needed age verification, and so I
looked up, took a deep breath and politely asked if she had any I.D., to which she smiled and
produced a driving licence. I had been correct that she was a similar age to me. I laughed and
explained, somewhat apologetically, that I was new and just trying to play it safe. She mentioned
that she thought I was doing really well.
It was nearly store closing time, and the whole shop was becoming quieter by the second. The
colleague behind me, my fourth buddy of the day, turned around to ask how I was getting on, and we got chatting. She was around my mother’s age, and she took sympathy on me for being chucked in on such a busy shift. “sorry that it’s been so busy, are you ever going to come back again?" she asked, with a smile. I responded that I thought I had done okay and things were already getting easier. It turned out that my village was on her route home, and so she offered up her own colleague taxi service.
One shift in and I’ve already made a few friends.
I’m sure you’ve all had your bedtime reading for one night, and I’ve bored you for long enough so, to sum it up in a nutshell, at the time of writing I'm six shifts in. Thankfully the job is very easy to pick up and I've mastered most of it within two or three shifts. It’s still a bit terrifying when you have to call for help, but it's important to be brave and speak up. When you’ve got a long line of customers who want to pay for their shopping and leave as soon as possible, it’s good to take a deep breath and remind yourself that there's no shame in asking for help.
Staying calm under pressure is probably the toughest part of the job, but most people are
understanding that sometimes products don’t scan correctly, and they will happily wait a few seconds for you to type the barcode in.
So, yep, it’s been a great experience so far! And I have relished the chance to test myself and build
up my confidence. I’ll keep you all posted, but for now, have a good one :)
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