to not want to work in a supermarket ..

[Lola528]

Yes, it is very snobby of me I know, and especially right now it’s a “needs must” situation when so
many are being made redundant and don’t have much choice. The only jobs where I am right now seem to be in a supermarket or cleaning houses or offices (I’m a rubbish cleaner).

It may be petty, but I don’t want it on my CV amongst the other jobs I’ve had (aviation/travel working with major players of the industry) to then have “Asda” or equivalent as my most recent job. I just feel I have so much more to offer but nobody in my industry of choice is hiring right now (understandably).

AIBU to think this will go against me for future job opportunities? Or will future potential employees understand this is a blip of “COVID times” and not see it as a negative? Am I just being stupid?

You could probably spin it to make it sound really good. I.e. your industry was in trouble due to covid (not your fault, obviously) so you wanted to play your part to help in any way you could during the pandemic, and supermarket work was a good way to do this.

There are ways of spinning things to put you in a more positive light.

Looking at the thread where everybody earns over £100k, I wonder how many of them would be happy working minimum wage in a supermarket?

2008-2010

The only things that could have raised the “I earn £100k and worked in Waitrose in 1999, don’t be snobby” post to the gold standard would be:

• and the Waitrose was in KNIGHTSBRIDGE

• I just worked in the wine and champagne section because of my specialist knowledge and winning manner with oligarchs.

I’m not sure how to do the reply - it doesn’t seem to work.

But those who had an issue with my post, in one part of which I made a comment about the OP coming across as the sort of customer who would scream for a manager due to an avocado not being right - the OP starts her post with “yes, it’s snobby of me” - and the post does indeed come across extremely snobby and as though retail is beneath her.

If you’ve ever worked in retail, you will know it’s usually the snobby customers who complain and kick up a stink about the most ridiculous things.

I run my own business now, and it’s still the snobby clients who kick off about the stupidest things.

So yes, from the original post I absolutely get the impression that the OP would be a snobby customer, and a stint in retail would give her a healthy bit of respect for retail staff.

I’ve read the rest of the OPs comments now and very glad to see she is indeed taking the job and doesn’t think it is beneath her - but that certainly wasn’t how the original post came across 🤷‍♀️

I’ve read the rest of the OPs comments now and very glad to see she is indeed taking the job and doesn’t think it is beneath her - but that certainly wasn’t how the original post came across

This thread is comedy gold, for all the wrong reasons. The posters piling in who are too busy to read any of the OP’s responses, but have just enough time to pile in and insult her. Never mind that 500 people have said the same thing already. No, your rebuke is a freshly-minted piece of wisdom that MUST be shared with the OP, to teach her to be a better person.

You still haven’t explained how you got from the OP’s first post to surmising that she regularly ‘screams about avocados’. Do share.

If you’ve ever worked in retail, you will know it’s usually the snobby customers who complain and kick up a stink about the most ridiculous things.

I've worked in retail. I see nothing in a senior aviation professional being reluctant to take on the job that suggests they'd be an awful customer. OP called herself snobby because she was trying to be honest with herself about her feelings, but tbh the only snobbery I've seen on this thread has been in the pile on to castigate her for daring to think above her station. Not that that's even what she was doing.

I’m not sure how a post on Mumsnet can be translated to “oh that person must be an awful customer who screams about an avocado to poor retail staff.”

I wouldn’t want to be a police officer (for example) but that doesn’t mean I scream at police officers.

I go away for a few hours and I come back to avocado nonsense??

Of course nobody's delighted to take a huge pay drop and do a job they never wanted to.

Woah with the avocado nonsense. That's unfair and uncalled for!

I can (sort of) understand where you are coming from and I have worked in a supermarket for a number of years and, again, it was a role I fell into because it was convenient, which it still is.

For the record, our shop is full of people who don't think they 'should be there' and sometimes I laugh to myself because that is what they say in prison. But this is what makes it because I don't think you'd ever meet such a diverse group of people again. I would struggle in a professional role now because I know I would find it too stuffy.

I would remind yourself you are in a very lucky position if you have the option to reject the offer because of your CV because not many of us would have that in this climate and so shame on any employer who puts social status over the need to eat! If you don't want the job on your CV, just fiddle with the dates a bit. Either way, you'll have a perfectly valid reason for taking the role. We have half of British Airways in our branch, some of whom have stepped down from very senior roles.

I just wanted to say thanks to @Todaywewilldobetter and @GnomeDePlume for the replies to my question. I find the different views on this really interesting and I guess I’d ask an external recruiter their advice if it came to it. Not something I’d really thought about before, and I find the example of the manager turning a candidate down crazy but useful to be aware of.

I’m massively enjoying wombat’s put-down analysis too...

shame on any employer who puts social status over the need to eat

This, a thousand times.

I'm just not buying all these people claiming that in a pile of senior aviation professionals who lost their jobs due to Covid, the one who stands out as the Hard Worker and Best For The Job is the one who's put Asda shop floor on their CV. I can believe some people might view it sympathetically, but I'm just not buying that it makes everyone else look like a useless loafer, or that it's necessarily a sign that they can do this job better than everyone else

I am not saying at all that it makes them better for the job. But I AM saying that it doesn't make them worse, or less attractive. People lose their jobs for all sorts of reasons and usually they can get another job quite quickly. But if you can't get a job in your usual sector or a related one, it should not been seen as a weakness in your next job application that you took a job in a shop or a factory. And in fact it might give you transferable skills that you didn't have before.

@cologne4711

shame on any employer who puts social status over the need to eat

This, a thousand times.

Eh? Employers can recruit only for the number of positions they have available. Assuming they get more applicants than there are vacancies, it's not possible for everyone to get the job. What criteria are they supposed to use to choose if not "the person who seems best suited"?

This is very emotive and self-righteous, but it doesn't make a huge amount of sense and it's actually kind of daft. You can't hire everybody.

Which employers have ‘put social status over the need to eat’? I am curious. Or do you just think that it sounds good?

Any employer who would reject an applicant just because they worked in ASDA for a couple of months to keep the money coming in, I presume.

Whether or not you think it sounds good, it's a perfectly valid point

But employers aren't required to hire someone because they "need to eat" (more than the other candidates?). They hire someone because they're the best candidate for the role. A stint in a supermarket may be relevant for this, in OP's case it probably isn't.

I doubt she'll be rejected from anywhere because she needed this job, but when she's next hired it will be because of her skills and experience that are industry- and role-specific. It is unlikely to do her any favours not to focus on these when demonstrating why she's good for a senior job in aviation.

Any employer who would reject an applicant just because they worked in ASDA for a couple of months to keep the money coming in, I presume.

Who has said that they would do that? Nobody. Do keep up.

The discussion has been about whether the OP a should feature Asda (or whatever supermarket she will work at) on her CV when her industry gets back on its feet and starts recruiting again.

Featuring her temp supermarket work at the top of the CV will not ‘make her stand out from the crowd’ or ‘prove that she has a work ethic’. It is irrelevant to the types of roles she will be applying for in the future.

If she didn’t do an in-between job, it won’t ‘prove that she’s lazy’ or show that she ‘preferred sitting on her arse to working’. It doesn’t mean that she’ll never work again, as some posters have suggested.

Where employers use external recruiters, who tend to assess CVs quickly and often only look at the last job on the CV, it’s likely to lose her a place on the shortlist because the recruiter will only look at the last role on the CV.

I'm referring to anyone taking a job in ASDA because they 'needed to eat' , not a professional role which they may apply for after their stint in the supermarket.

They shouldn't be penalised for taking that job out of necessity but, reading your post, I think you get that and we agree but you may have missed my point

For the record, our shop is full of people who don't think they 'should be there' and sometimes I laugh to myself because that is what they say in prison

We have half of British Airways in our branch, some of whom have stepped down from very senior roles.

Both statements from the same post, by Gandalf456 upthread.

Who can she be talking about, when she mentions the ‘people who don’t think they should be there’? Who? Who??? It’s a conundrum all right. I don’t think that our OP, a senior aviation professional, should expect much sympathy from ol’ Gandalf.

I'm referring to anyone taking a job in ASDA because they 'needed to eat' , not a professional role which they may apply for after their stint in the supermarket.

No, you said ‘shame on any employer who puts social status over the need to eat’. Which employer(s) have done this, in your experience? Or is it just a good soundbite? You should offer it to some politicians.

@gandalf456

I'm referring to anyone taking a job in ASDA because they 'needed to eat' , not a professional role which they may apply for after their stint in the supermarket.

They shouldn't be penalised for taking that job out of necessity but, reading your post, I think you get that and we agree but you may have missed my point

I'm not sure to whom this is addressed, but anyone who thinks employers should offer jobs to people because they "need to eat" (more than others, I guess?) or that they would generally be using "social status" rather than relevant skills and experience, has missed a very very crucial point to this whole discussion.

Smart arse, aren't you

I am, yes.