Starting New Job In Pet Store Next Week

[Gurglar]

Well i've landed myself a job at one of my local pet stores and will be mainly in the fish section but was told everyone has to do everything there including dog, cats, rats, registers which is a little bit of a downer. I'm nervous because they said they are basically throwing me in the deep end as they are short staffed and won't be able to spend as much time training me as they hoped they could so might be abit difficult for me at the start.

Another downer is the wage is crappy as it goes up to adult wage when I hit 21 which is a few months away but i'm not planning on staying there for longer than a year unless I really enjoy it as I only wanted a job in one of the stores to do some undercover work for starting my own LFS in the future, to see how things work in the industry before jumping in myself

Overall though it should be good as I can be around fish all day

 

[fatheadminnow]

Congrats!

-FHM

 

[The Other Lebowski]

how about going to college for at least two years so that you'll have something else to look towards to other than cleaning hamster cages for a crappy wage. because even if you are a fish enthusiast, this is the best way how to kill that enthusiasm. most people working with animals are not like those caretakers shown on the discovery channel. it's about money, not about the fish. it'll desensitize you. turn you away from it.

you're young, this is when you make decisions that will decide on how your life turns out. go to school. aim higher.

 

[fatheadminnow]

I don't think he is planning on staying there for his entire life, or make it his career.

-FHM

 

[thefubar]

Congrats and good luck with the job. If you've found something you enjoy and you get to do it every day, you're already one step ahead of the rest.

Money isn't the sum judgement of life chief.

Uni/College is over rated and 2/3 years of theory is often a disadvantage to the equivalent experience. I was at uni with 30 year olds and they have gone on to GREAT things after enjoying their youth. Most of the "kids"

my age are still struggling to find their true vocation and are bouncing around doing sweet FA.

You be sure to come back here and tell us when you open your shop, go for your dreams and you'll have a fun life.

 

[OldMan47]

Congrats on finding a job in the current economy Gurglar. I presume this is a short term job while you look to get your career started. If so, it will be fun to be able to work in an area that you enjoy and understand.

 

[kribensis12]

What's the wage atm? Our wage here, for people 16( like me ) and older is 8 dollars an hour. I think it's supposed to rise to 8.50 ( possibly? ). I'm glad you got a job! I wanted to work at a local petsmart, but they wont hire me unless I am 18. So, blehhhh. Now I'm working at Panera Bread ( Bakery/Cafe ). It's fun, but I think I'd like the petsmart better.

 

[Gurglar]

Not sure on an exact wage but it ain't good I think it will be around the $13 Australian (maybe less like $10) until I turn 21 in 3 months then it will go up to an adult wage (don't know what that is) which I find stupid as over here your an adult when you turn 18 as you can smoke, drink, gamble, vote and pay for everything as an adult eg. movies, bowling etc. but you don't get paid as an adult until your 21 in the retail industry.

As stated in my first post I only plan on working there for a max of 1 year as I won't be able to make much of a living off it (lucky i'm still living at home) and am slowly getting things together to start up my own LFS sometime in the future. If I do change my mind on that I will be going to TAFE (we have uni and TAFE here) and getting my fitness certificates to work as a personal trainer as thats another thing I love.

I'm starting next Thursday and hope I enjoy it i'm a little nervous about serving people cause I reckon i'll be abit stand offish about giving people advice on buying there fish as people that don't know much about the hobby tend to get abit angry when you say they can't have certain fish. Also cause I know its a business and will have to sell fish or else I will get fired for refusing to sell stuff to much especially in the first 3 months as its a probabation period.

 

[Gurglar]

Also only took the job there so I could get an idea on how the industry works and how they keep everything running smoothley with filtration, maintenance, suppliers etc. so I can get more info on starting my own LFS.

 

[Gurglar]

Well had my first day today and it was pretty good the store wasn't real busy so I was happy but I spent most of my day on registers which is pretty confusing i've picked up the basics but still forget what to press every now and then for certain things like different credit cards and stuff.

Also got alot to learn had a heap of people asking me where stuff was and I had no idea LOL but on checkout there is all the flea and worming stuff for dogs and cats which I have no idea about either.

I didn't really spend much time in the fish section only fed them and watched one of my co workers serve someone. I did eventually serve someone in the afternoon as my uncle strolled in the door after some fish LOL so I got some for him and actually bagged it pretty well except I folded the top and went to twist and it fell apart so had to try again and it was good was nice and tight.

Working again for the next 3 days so hopefully tomorrow I pick up abit more as they get fairly busy on the weekend so I hope i'm ready for it

 

[thefubar]

great to see a bit of family support for you.

don't be afraid to tell people you're new, i'd appreciate it alot more than someone having a guess. As you said you'll pick up the basics as quick as anything when its busier.

Hope it continues to go well for you.

 

[Gurglar]

Thanks mate if I don't know anything about the question someone is asking like certain things in the dog sections and stuff or I make a mistake and don't know what to do on the register i'll usually tell them i'm new and if they want to ask someone else in the store it would be better.

Today I bagged alot more fish for people haven't really stuffed that up yet just got abit of fine tuning to do still, stuffed up on the register when they left me there by myself and someone had a voucher I forgot to print an extra reciept to keep a copy, but other than that I done good and won't make that mistake again since I have.

Tomorrow should be real fun they said it is usually really busy but hopefully I can just stay in the fish section all day

 

[Gurglar]

Just thought i'd do abit of an update, i'm enjoying the new job alot am getting stuff all hours though so that abit of a let down but other than that I enjoy working there the people are awsome and its a pretty easy job.

I'm getting paid about $16 an hour (casual rate) just to let kribensis know and it goes up to $18-$20 when I turn 21.

At the moment we have nearlly 10 tanks that are sick which is really crappy, the store only has 2 filter systems 1 runs side A and 1 runs side B and we have sick fish on both sides that we are treating.

Another awsome thing about the job is the staff discount we get everything for the wholesale price and with fish stuff it works out great for eg. I bought a master test kit today for my GF which the store sells for $61 and I got it for $28, another is we have 2 pictus catfish which are sold for $45 each and we can get them for about $16 or the anubias on driftwood for $25 we get for $6.

So thats awsome get massive discounts for most fish stuff other stuff like cat, dog, rat food we don't get much at all off cause they don't mark it up as much but i'm happy about the fish stuff

Oh 1 bad thing is 1 girl who works there thinks she knows everything (she specialises in dogs) and everytime I see her talking to a customer in the fish room she is giving the wrong advice which sucks cause I can't really walk up and but in without starting a fight.

She mentioned one thing to me today which we had a little argument over (not yelling or nothing just disagreement) she was talking to a girl who wanted to know what fish she could put with her betta and then came over to me to tell me to give her a hand when she needed it and told me what she wanted. She then went on and told me to tell her to get some silver sharks or silver dollars to put with it because they are pretty placid. So of course im gonna correct her on that stupid mistake but no she doesn't believe me and I gave up in the end because she started to get abit heated and just told her jokingly i'm the fish expert your the dog expert so leave it to me