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New Look Retailers Ltd
by freyahh
It seems that a lot has changed in three years.
I started at New Look at the end of June, and so far it's been incredible. The pay for all of the people starting when I was was £6.29/hour, which is really not bad at all, and if you ask for more hours, you'll probably get them. The interview may be the thing that throws ... prospective employees- besides from the generic one to one interview (what skills will you bring to the store, what experience do you have etc), there was a task whereby everyone was given a sheet of paper with a celebrity and specification on, and we had about 10 minutes to pull together an outfit downstairs. Although that may seem more like a test of how up to date you are with celebrities and fashion, it's much more about style and initiative. My specification was Fearne Cotton going to a festival, and in the photo she was wearing a hat. So I chose a straw hat and took it from there, using the beigey colour to choose a floral top with beige, orange, and blue in it, chose some wooden bangles, denim shorts and basic brogues. It seems simple but you do have to be creative- one girl had Leona Lewis going to an awards night and came back with a very basic and uninspired outfit consisting of a shimmery dress, a sparkly necklace and some silvery shoes. She didn't get the job. You do have to talk you outfit through to the group (obviously focusing on the manager), and although I'm fairly shy it wasn't too nerve wracking, from the interview to the chosen employees everyone's been very friendly- even though you might expect some character clashes from a female dominated environment, it ends up very professionally.
Newbies tend to get late hours- I currently work 4-8pm on Saturdays and 1-5 on Sundays. You can tell them when you want to work and they'll try their best to accommodate that. You can go for longer hours too, but with the change in policy (inspired by new government rules) meaning that breaks are no longer paid (although this may be different for under 17s), 4 hours without a break is probably better value (depending on travel) than 8 hours with one unpaid.
But one of the best parts of the job has to be the discount, applicable to you and a nominated person of the opposite sex (although there aren't many male sections around and I don't think the discount works online). It's 50% off the original price on everything except concessions (AX Paris, Pussycat etc), which makes buying current season uniform easy. Being strapped for cash isn't really an issue either. You can easily get away with past season jeans and a current season t shirt (often about £5 with the discount- less then an hour of wage). So if you only work one day a week then you could technically go the whole month on £5 of uniform.
As with any shop floor job, a decent conversation with a customer that leaves you both smiling really keeps you motivated. Simply making a positive comment on the colour of their items can open up something much less dull than "would you like your receipt in the bag?"- and this is where the discount can come in; only last weekend did I settle a woman's mind on a party dress because I'd bought the same one and genuinely adored it; and one top that I've only worn twice has already had three compliments and two women asking me to get them one in their size- it's such a confidence boost and it's all of these points put together that make me realise that New Look feels like another home.
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Retail Eyes
by winford25
I joined Retail Eyes in July this year and stacked up around £68 worth of successful assignments for them. I have now stopped shopping for them as they have failed to pay me 4 times!! I am a patient person and understood at first that there may be a genuine mistake and gave them the benefit of the doubt. So after contacting them and ... talking to a rather stroppy young girl in accounts, she told me they would email me with the details of the problem. I received this email later in the day telling me to re-enter my payment details as there is a problem with my sort code!! I knew I HAD entered my bank details correct, but despite this I did it anyway (making sure I had 2 witnesses this time!!!) and waited for the next payment date.
When I was failed to be paid again, I contacted them again asking what had happened and AGAIN they accused me of failing to enter my payment details correctly!!!! They kept telling me to re-enter my payment details and wait a whole 2 weeks yet again, but this time I knew something was going on so I demanded an alternative payment method or I will take legal action.
They finally sent me a cheque of part of the balance I was owed but informed me that for the rest of my balance I enter my details correct as this cheque was a one off!!! What a cheek!!!!! I have risked entering a total different bank account information in for this next phantom payment date but obviously have not been paid for this either!!!!! Still awaiting my final balance!!!
But rest assured i will NEVER do any more work for them again!!!!!!
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Employment at McDonald's Restaurants
by cookie678
I first applied for the job as my previous job was casual labour, and the hours were difficult to manage around college. I figured at a busy place like McDonald's, although the pay won't be generous, I could pick up some extra hours and earn a bit more cash. Surely it can't be as bad as everyone says it is? Ha.
The woman who ... interviewed for my first interview had no people skills at all. She was the first assistant manager and made me feel as if I had done something to offend her, and went away feeling like the interview had gone terribly. I later found out she was like this to everyone, even customers. I have no idea how she is the position she is today.
My second interview went better, the woman this time was much nicer. I got my uniform, found out my hours etc. When I started, it was overwhelming. Instead of being put with a crew trainer like new starters are supposed to be, I was being trained on front counter (tills) by a lovely person who told me that they were hopeless on front counter as they were normally in the kitchen. I feel this is unfair, as the crew trainers are paid higher wages than crew members. It is not a crew members job to train staff.
Managers often expect newer staff to be more trained than they are, but are incredibly reluctant to rotate the staff in different areas.
Managers have a problem with staff shift swapping, but the schedule is rarely up on time. The system for booking holidays is good, and one thing I will say is that they never seem to say no time off when it is booked (unless the schedule has already been done), but a lot of the time even when booking just one day off, you are not given any shifts that week. I am also often given shifts the are outside of my availability, even though they have it.
A lot of the time, managers think that bending the rules to suit them (e.g. selling burgers that have been there too long) is okay but forgetting a name badge is unforgivable.
Customers seem to think it okay to talk to you like dirt, simply because you work here.
Overall, this is not a nice place to work. Needless to say I am looking for another job.
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