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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To say retail jobs are few and far between?

70 replies

PampersNotPampered · 14/10/2015 17:10

I'm not fussy, I'll work anywhere. Due to severely ill health, I cannot work and I'm currently claiming ESA, which is just £57ish a week. I do however believe I could manage a part time retail job and I think that's in my best interest. Trouble is, I never realised how few and far between these jobs were until I started hunting properly!

Literally, there is next to nothing available in my area (South Essex). I can't spend too much on travel as I just haven't got it, so anything less than 12+ hours wouldn't work. Travel is very unreasonably expensive here and although my DP drives, he's working all day so unless it's a night shift I'm not going to get a lift.

I'm also going through yet another most likely miscarriage right after just having one before this pregnancy. All this pressure just seems too much Sad

I'm not entitled to any other form of benefit apart from ESA.

Thank you all x

OP posts:
annandale · 14/10/2015 18:47

I wonder why retail particularly? I don't think of it as a kind of work where you can pace yourself or vary tasks easily?

TheBunnyOfDoom · 14/10/2015 18:47

I know, I'm one of them. I don't get tax credits either and work full-time. I can't afford not to work so I just have to suck it up!

HelenaDove · 14/10/2015 19:00

Bunny Thanks You deserve better.

TheBunnyOfDoom · 14/10/2015 19:02

Flowers Smile - thank you Helena.

boobubsmum · 14/10/2015 19:20

retail has a very high turnover, get applications / hand in cv's everywhere, something will come up. Though I second what's been previously said, retail is brutal if you're not well, so you'd want to apply only for jobs sitting on tills if your illness is physical, not shop floor work, and some companies will run you ragged. something else you need to think about is when during the course of a 24 hour period you're at your best. I can't cope with mornings, but am generally fine late at night and into the early hours, so have found that bar work is much better for me than retail shame it's take 10 years to catch onto that

dayswithaY · 14/10/2015 20:44

Working in retail is very hard and a condition of the job is you have to agree to be fully flexible and work any hours they ask - late nights, weekends, Boxing Day etc. If you think you can do this then most jobs are advertised on line - go on to the website of any shop you would like to work in and there will usually be a Careers section. Be aware the online job applications are not for the faint hearted - what would you do in a hypothetical situation type thing and can you give an example of when you last used leadership skills. Good luck though!

Original poster
PampersNotPampered · 14/10/2015 21:14

I agree that working in retail is hard work, I've worked in Next before and I needn't have had a gym membership! It's so difficult when you want to work but there's not much on offer. I think it's got to do with my location really. Things are much easier for say my cousin in MK, who claims she can walk into another job tomorrow if she wants to.

OP posts:
HeySoulSister · 14/10/2015 22:27

Shouldn't you be on jobseekers?

Original poster
PampersNotPampered · 14/10/2015 22:52

No, jobseekers is for those deemed capable for work.

OP posts:
HeySoulSister · 14/10/2015 23:39

You are saying you are capable though?

RedSoloCup · 15/10/2015 00:12

A lot don't advertise only notes on shop windows etc, where in south essex are you roughly as I know of a few round here (cm area)?

HelenaDove · 15/10/2015 00:27

SoulSister it is possible that the OP could have a fluctuating health condition.

FeeAmarylis · 15/10/2015 07:41

Truly, the situation is dire for young people right now. I see it with older DD,now 21. She is healthy,well presented and well spoken, reliable and intelligent ( part time OU student, a decision made on financial grounds). She has for the last 3 years sent/ handed out 10- 15 CVS a WEEK, working 12.5 hrs for a large supermarket chain refusing to increase her hours( that would mean benefits!) , preferring to offer overtime. Additionally, she worked zero hours contract as waitress at increasingly high end places. It has taken her 3 years + and over a thousand applications to finally land a contract over 30 hrs with benefits. And she had a car, no child, and is flexible. It is a nightmare.

aBrightNewDay · 15/10/2015 07:49

2,340 job applications would suggest a scattergun approach... the problem is with her not the companies! (Also - amazed that there are so many companies in your area?!)

Original poster
PampersNotPampered · 15/10/2015 13:40

Fee, I really feel for your daughter as I'm in a similar situation. If I could have helped it, I wouldn't have left home back when I was 16 but things aren't always as clean cut and circumstances change. I never expected to have a flat and DP at such a young age yet I'm very happy, although financially troubled.

I believe young people should be treated equally to those that are older if they're in work (and perhaps live independently). It's an outrage!

OP posts:
HelenaDove · 15/10/2015 13:46

aBrightNewDay Much less than that and you would be saying she didnt apply enough

Scattergun approach......WOW a new way of blaming it all on the applicant That amount of applications says to me that shes been trying really hard. But of course with three thousand odd companies absolutely none of them can be at fault. Hmm

You remind me of someone at Seetec who insisted employers never tell lies.

noeffingidea · 15/10/2015 13:49

My son applied for part time work in - Sainsburys, Morrisons, Aldis (always hiring), Debenhams, Lidls, Asda, Toys r us, Staples, house of fraser, halfords, Next.He now has a job in a phone shop. He interviewed for all of these jobs, if I remember correctly.
We live in Essex - the jobs are there but you have to be persistent. He applied online mostly, but he did hand out CV's.
Good luck !

jamtartandcustard · 15/10/2015 13:54

Gosh where I live there are loads of retail jobs, all the teenage staff left last month to go to uni so there's all their jobs plus the seasonal temps advertised too.
Although if you're not well I wouldn't suggest retail. It's harder then it seems. Are their any call centres near you? Or try some agencies for temp work. Loads of people get coughs and colds this time of year so there is demand for temps

noeffingidea · 15/10/2015 13:55

pampers just a suggestion, have you tried Mcdonalds? My son worked there first of all before he tried retail.

Original poster
PampersNotPampered · 15/10/2015 14:27

I worked in a call centre before and I was treated like trash so I'm a bit fearful. As for McDonald's, that's a great suggestion but I'm looking for something that isn't so up beat and on the feet, like till work. I'm aware that's even harder to find though :(

I'm not trying to be fussy, I just don't want to make myself and more ill!
It's a tricky one.

OP posts:
SacredHeart · 15/10/2015 14:37

As a retail worker and someone who does H&S I would say that till work is much more straining on legs and back due to not moving. Apart from supermarkets most stores have standing staff at tills and a 5 hour shift wipes me out for the day. A shop floor shift you move, walk, stretch so doesn't feel so physically demanding.

Just some food for thought.

TheBunnyOfDoom · 15/10/2015 15:15

You haven't really gone into much detail about your health, OP. Are you sure you'll cope sitting on the tills? I have sciatica and work retail but I have to do shop-floor work because sitting/standing in one spot for five hours at a stretch puts me in agony, whereas shop-floor work means I can move around and such, which means I don't put too much constant pressure on my joints.

I understand you want to work, but please don't get yourself into a situation where you make yourself worse. Retail is a lot of pressure at Christmas and it's not worth working if it will cause you more problems in the long run.

Flowers I know it's tough.

Original poster
PampersNotPampered · 15/10/2015 17:28

Hi, thank you for the lovely messages. I suffer with Lupus syndrome, and it really takes its towl on my joints and muscles. I'm understanding now that Retail doesn't look too promising for me, I don't think my health could hack in. In saying that, I don't know what else I could do :(

OP posts:
aBrightNewDay · 15/10/2015 17:29

10-15 CVs per week for three years is a scattergun approach. You can't just bash off your CV without attempting to tailor it to the job in question. If after over 2,000 applications someone still hasn't got a job then yes of course you would 'blame it on the applicant', why wouldn't you? Confused

TheBunnyOfDoom · 15/10/2015 18:03

Have you considered working from home?