I got lucky for when i got my job at Kmart. I completed the online induction and went to the store and asked a manager if Kmart was hiring. They said have you done the online induction, i replied yes and they hired me...basically i skipped the interview process. I work in stock replenishment so i'll tell you a little bit about my typical shift.
Night stock replenishment starts at 8pm and finishes at 12am. The first thing you do is sign in by entering your pin. We then walk into the back area with and have a little chat. Team leader tells us what section we are in and we take out the cages and head to our section (kitchen,pets,toys....you get the idea). We start putting the new stock on the shelves. Some people take the rubbish back in to the 'compactor'. 2 hours later (We get 4 hour shifts) we go on a 15min break (suppose to be 10) and continue on where we left off. 10mins before end of shift we start packing up our cages and head out back. Last couple mins we are sweeping the floor then we sign off.
You can other have 2 types of people who tell you what to do. The first is the team leader who just doesn't give a shit about Kmart but still do what they do..lots of swearing goes on out back and talking about how retarded managers are.
The second type of people who tell you what to do are the strict assholes who couldn't care less about you and give you multiple tasks and to be expected to do them perfectly. You will often be repeating the work you just did as 1 manager will tell you what to do and another will tell you it isn't how they want it done and you end up being the person to be blamed. You really have to stick up for yourself and tell them that is what the other manager wanted so you talk to them, otherwise you'll be seen as a weakling and they will continue to treat you like this.
A few tips which i have learnt:
1) Don't be in the building any more than 4 hours. You will be desperate to get out. Sign in right before you begin, do your shift, sign out right when your shift ends. Don't say i'll start packing up when i have 5 mins left as you will be taking longer to pack up and you will be signing off late. This is a no no!.
2) If you need to go to the toilet, you don't have to ask, just go. Make your way to the toilet by walking to the back of the store and walking in there to avoid customers.
3) Customers can be unbelievably stupid. Be prepared to be asked "What is the difference between product x and product y" It isn't your job to be answering that question so tell them to ask the 'Fitting rooms'. If you don't know where a product is, don't walk around aimlessly, just ask a more experienced person to help the customer out. Also if a customer can't find an item and neither can you, tell them to head to the fitting rooms and they should be able to help you out there.
4) 2 good times to be working are other a) morning (8am-12pm) - time will go alot faster but the downside is there are more potential idiot customers, and you get the rest of the day to do whatever. b) night shift (8pm-12am) - Less customers unless you are working on late night shopping and the negative is you will most likely be tired quickly as you may have been doing something during the day.
5) Be prepared to be called in a night when you are not shifted, an hour or so before they want you to work. If you want shifts, this will not be a problem but generally, it'll piss you off.
6) Bring some food with you as you will be getting hungry. Banana and a drink is fine.
7) Walk fast and make it look like you are doing the work fast, even if you can't do a particular thing. If managers see you working slowly they'll shift you less and be generally pissed at you.
8) Some customers will bitch about the store and how something is wrong. Just smile and tell them to either go to the customer service desk or the fitting rooms - depending on their needs.
Hope this helps!
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