90’s, often described as squishy strawberries or either the unable-to-handle-stress-generation. I understand I will get a lot of different answers from you readers with ‘Yes!’, ‘Where got?’, ‘Maybe?’ and so on. Majority of the reason? Unprepared. Part-time job is a good way to start your exploration on how real working life will be! You can gain numerous skill sets to brace yourself before entering to your full-time career. Here goes my top seven!
Responsibility. Being responsible, reliable and trustworthy is all part of what graduate recruiters describe as self-management. Good self-management involves being punctual, flexible, getting work done on time, and being willing to improve your own performance. Employers sometimes complain that this is an area where graduates fall down, so if you can use your working experience to show you can be trusted to get the job done, you’ll put yourself in a good position to get hired.
Initiative. What did you do when problems arose? What if goods were damaged before being paid for, or if a customer or colleague was taken ill? Think about how you reacted to the unexpected and what you learned from those experiences. If you made any suggestions about how things could be improved, these will show that you’re a good self-starter. If your ideas were put in place and worked out well, so much the better.
Working under pressure. Did you ever have to stay calm and keep smiling as a big queue built up at your checkout? What steps did you take to try and make sure customers weren’t kept waiting? Try to think of examples of how you coped at particularly busy times and how your attitude and approach made a difference.
Dealing tactfully with customer concerns. Customer complaints and queries can give you useful examples of your problem solving and communication skills, both of which are fixtures on most graduate recruiters’ wishlists. However, communication is such a broad term that employers may want you to define your abilities in this area a little more closely, for example, by referring to persuasion, negotiation or influencing.
Numeracy. Retail workers use numeracy skills in a range of ways, from giving customers the correct change to stock taking. Did you play a part in using information about sales trends and promotions to estimate the stock needed? Then you’ve gained a good example of how you can put your numeracy skills into practice.
Working in a busy team. A supportive team ethos on the shop floor helps to create a good atmosphere for customers. Successful businesses depend on different teams working well together, so think both about your role in your team and how others in different teams depended on your work. Did you take part in team meetings and if so, what did you contribute?
Attitude. The core factor of being successful in everything you do. Working part-time develops your positive attitudes as you need good reputation to obtain your next part-time job. You will find your career path much smoother when you develop good attitudes.
When number of 1-26 is assigned each to alphabet A-Z, the word ATTITUDE sums up to 100, but DETERMINE and HARDWORK only sums up to 93 and 98!
Now, what are you waiting for? Take a leap in front of others by signing up with http://www.jobi.co now!
Brought to you by
JOBi Says 