To hate the phrase 'Just get a job at Tesco.'

[LemonSherbetFancies]

Aimed at unemployed people?
As if it's that straightforward and easy to just walk in, ask for a job and start the next day.

I think judging by the correct answers to some of the questions you get asked on the first round of multiple choice questions I think you have to answer with the view that the correct answer is the one that would fuck off the customer the most. Not about making sure the customer service is great

@Bythemillpond

I think judging by the correct answers to some of the questions you get asked on the first round of multiple choice questions I think you have to answer with the view that the correct answer is the one that would fuck off the customer the most. Not about making sure the customer service is great

No, it is based on the most efficient running of a business. if you get employees who instinctively understand that, or instinctively do as they are told and do not use their initiative, you have a better run business. At a shop floor level you are not employed to think, you are employed to do. Thinking is something managers and supervisors are there for, and they are trained to do that in the manner most suited to the company that employs them.

I applied for a job at Boots last year. The form asked for personal details, address etc, then two questions: do you have retail experience (yes), and when are you available (all day, every day). Tick boxes, no room to type information. I was rejected, so surely at this point it's just a coin toss that decides who gets to the next stage...
I've applied for so many supermarket roles with no chance at an interview, as a recent graduate who is available 24/7 I really don't know how to make myself more appealing! Had to vent

ElliFAntspoo
But without customers then there is no business

The way you put it, it sounds like you can not get a job if you are able to think for yourself.
That they are only after mindless robots and customers problems/questions get in the way of the smooth running of the supermarket so shouldn’t be encouraged.

@Bythemillpond

ElliFAntspoo But without customers then there is no business

The way you put it, it sounds like you can not get a job if you are able to think for yourself.
That they are only after mindless robots and customers problems/questions get in the way of the smooth running of the supermarket so shouldn’t be encouraged.

Spot on. Except they will always have customers because people require food and the primary motivations of the majority of customers is the balance between price and convenience. If you go into store you do not find a whole load of rude staff. For the most part you find reasonably busy polite and competent staff. So their employment practices recruit those staff. Clearly it works. The fact that some do not understand or succeed is irrelevant, as they are the people their recruitment system is designed to remove from the process anyways.

@OldGreyBoots

I applied for a job at Boots last year. The form asked for personal details, address etc, then two questions: do you have retail experience (yes), and when are you available (all day, every day). Tick boxes, no room to type information. I was rejected, so surely at this point it's just a coin toss that decides who gets to the next stage... I've applied for so many supermarket roles with no chance at an interview, as a recent graduate who is available 24/7 I really don't know how to make myself more appealing! Had to vent

Maybe omit the fact that you are a graduate - your average interviewer has never been to university. They may also be looking for a stable employee they can invest in training and not looking for a transient employee who they will train and who then will jump ship at the first better opportunity.

The primary question they will ask if they are aware that you are a graduate will be, "why is this graduate looking for a job in my supermarket?"

Re - Boots - Did you pick the form up in store? If so, were there any marks/notations put on the form that was given to you? Look back for post regarding first contact grading of prospective staff.

I'd probably have a much easier time getting a new (high paying, quite specialised) job than someone looking for a job that requires few qualifications. I can call on a network of ex-colleagues, and rely on the fact that there aren't that many people with my exact experience around. I'm not sure I'd make even the first cut in a supermarket/retail/delivery type role

I partially agree with this though the highly paying specialist role would probably require extensive qualifications and experience so still not easy.

I am telling young people I know to only do vocational courses (medicine/law/engineering/optometry/pharmacy) there are several really or apprenticeships. The alternative is go to a top Redbrick or Oxbridge and spend time networking, recruitment fairs and voluntary work.

Yeah. You have to be nuts to study something that has no career at the end of it. You also have to be naïve if you believe the university that tells you there are careers at the ends of their courses. They are selling you something for £27K and they can blame you for your failure, so of course they are going to lie to you. That is the whole point of selling.

Don't study a degree in Fruit Juice Making or whatever the trendy dumb degrees are.

Can't imagine how bad people who are a year or two into a degree in Hotel and Catering Management must be feeling right now. They're future is bleak.

They're Their - My bad.

The supermarkets are swamped with applications. Our local had 150 people apply 3 hours after the ad went up. Many were graduates, too, but they generally don't want to employ them no matter how good they are as they don't stay

@Buttercupcup definitely agree about care. I walked into a care job with no knowledge really except for emergency services and customer service. I struggled at first (body fluids mostly!) but it turned out I'm actually pretty decent at it
It's the small things like remembering someone wants their vest inside out so the seams don't rub, taking time to offer deo or talc, and I think being able to constantly chat/have a sense of humour
Hard work on your back as well

@Fatandfifty49

The supermarkets are swamped with applications. Our local had 150 people apply 3 hours after the ad went up. Many were graduates, too, but they generally don't want to employ them no matter how good they are as they don't stay

Yep. No use training people who will be gone as soon as something else comes along.

@DownstairsMixUp

It's dumb. Tesco offer mainly only part time contracts to now like most supermarkets. They pay shit anyway! So living on part time supermarket wages is a joke

From a business point of view, why is that dumb? It might not work for the employee. But having a large pool of staff to draw on in that market is far better than having a small pool of staff. Sickness, holiday, unexplained absenteeism, staff turnover, all have a lower impact on your business, and you can lay them off as and when you need to at minimal inconvenience and cost. Its not like any of them cannot be replaced in a heartbeat.

That is the nature of working in that side of the job market. It is the job that is in demand, not the employee.

About 10 years ago my mum wanted to earn a bit of extra money and wanted to get a shift at a supermarket

She works fairly high up in her county’s constabulary; she conducts interviews, she’s worked the job for nearly 25 years now and is extremely competent and confident.

During the group interview she offered to ‘go first’ for all the tasks amongst the nervous younger people there, she felt she made a great impression and she worked really hard to get to know the company and their ethos etc

She didn’t get it.

‘Just get a job at Tesco’ is the most bullshit line I’ve ever heard.

I have a mathematics degree, have worked in customer service for 10 years now and didn’t even pass the phone interview! (I felt it went really well, obviously not).

I have worked as a carer for 2 years now and it’s the best job ever- that is a job that places are always hiring as staff turnover is high, but If you need work and love working with people it’s tiring but rewarding job!

It seems as though a lot of people are waking up to the fact that some employers just don't want to employ them, and would rather employ what they consider to be less capable less qualified people.

Clearly the employers consider their choices far more capable and qualified applicants for the jobs, regardless of what the affronted think, and they are the ones paying the wages, so they are the ones that are right.

Bits of papers do not get you jobs. At best they open doors for you. You have to be able to prove you are able, competent, amenable and happy to do the job to the satisfaction of the employer. That is what gets you a job.

Bits of papers do not get you jobs. At best they open doors for you. You have to be able to prove you are able, competent, amenable and happy to do the job to the satisfaction of the employer. That is what gets you a job

I don’t have any “Bits of paper” I also have experience of working in the exact role I was applying for. I couldn’t get passed the first stage anywhere.

I also boycott supermarkets and shops where I have had particularly bad customer service

Yes, it's an ignorant phrase, along with 'if you don't do well at school you'll end up working at McDonalds'...
There are a range of ignorant and annoying things people say. I feel fir anyone unemployed and struggling to find work dealing with smug employees

@ElliFAntspoo

Yeah. You have to be nuts to study something that has no career at the end of it. You also have to be naïve if you believe the university that tells you there are careers at the ends of their courses. They are selling you something for £27K and they can blame you for your failure, so of course they are going to lie to you. That is the whole point of selling.

Don't study a degree in Fruit Juice Making or whatever the trendy dumb degrees are.

Yes, it is extremely important to research the jobs market before selecting degree if you want a decent position afterwards

@SpringIsComingAlways

Yes, it's an ignorant phrase, along with 'if you don't do well at school you'll end up working at McDonalds'... There are a range of ignorant and annoying things people say. I feel fir anyone unemployed and struggling to find work dealing with smug employees

I think they old images of how little it takes to get a job in a supermarket or a fast food restaurant are legacies of a time when past. People today need to understand that at the bottom of the job market the the job is the employee is the disposable thing. There are thousands of them and the employer is looking to get the best value for money. At the top other end of the spectrum the job is the disposable thing, and the employer has to pay what the employee wants in order to buy their time and expertise. The majority of us sit in the middle somewhere. The key I think is to constantly be looking for ways you can bring value to other people. I see opportunity everywhere, but the majority of people just blindly sit around waiting for opportunity to be handed to them.

My cousin, 59, has worked for sainsburys for 35 years, he is autistic and has other learning difficulties. He does the trollies, helps people load their cars etc.... He has been so well looked after. Only on a couple of occasions, has a customer has been insulting, but in each case , the customer has been asked not to come back to the store again. When he had to have an operation 3 years ago, his flat was filled with flowers, balloons, sweets etc, all from staff and customers. The management also sent a F1 red letter day for him, for when he was better.
My nephew, was adamant he was not going uni, and as a weekend worker at Sainsburys he was offered a fast tracked management scheme with them , hes 26 now, but still with sainsbury's and area manager, with a degree, in which they funded.
I find people are very snobby about working for a supermarket, like you have to br thick, which is far from the truth.

I can honestly say I have never met a rude staff member in a supermarket, so whatever they do to select their staff gets a big thumbs up from me.