Retail Assistant Review

Most of the time I was severely bored while working. There was very little challenging or interesting tasks to perform, which meant that more often than not I was feeling very unmotivated. After a few weeks it became pretty hard to even drag myself out of bed in the morning to get ready to go to work. As a weekend job my placement would have been perfect, as a year-long placement it was tiresome. On a positive note, atleast I was working with musical instruments which are well up my alley.

Me and the other workers got on like a house on fire. We had so many little jokes and pranks that we used to play on each other. There was definitely a friendly atmosphere in the store, but I wouldn't say that we particularly valued each other. The tasks were so miniscule that it was virtually impossible to feel that anybody was essential.

They were very hands-on and made sure that I was comfortable with all the equipment and procedures the store contained. When I had trouble with the tills the manager never became frustrated with me, instead he nicely told me where I had gone wrong, which I greatly admired. Also, a tragic accident occurred to a close relative of mine whilst I was working and the manager had no qualms in allowing me as long as I felt I needed off work - with full pay!

The store had a constant flow of customers which kept me busy and occupied. However the work was so tedious that I was still bored most of the time. Even in the company of my work colleagues I found myself bored to tears.

As nice as the manager was, he didn't give me a lot of responsiblity. I only ever worked on the shop floor and in the stock room doing very basic tasks. Though I guess it could have been worse, I could have been mopping the floor constantly or cleaning the staff toilets.

I worked in a music store which complemented my music degree, I guess. Though the skills, if any, I gained were not beneficial to my university course. My understanding of musical instruments was enhanced but sadly I am assessed on my vocal skills on my music course, so I didn't gain anything noteworthy.

The workers were friendly and there was always a comfortable atmosphere during working hours. Unfortunately I found it hard to lift my spirits and have fun when the work I was doing was so mind-numbingly boring. I think my first two days working were the only times I ever felt happy and content during my placement.

I live a couple of minutes away from the shop and have always been a regular customer there, so it seemed an ideal place for me to spend my placement year. After I had enquired about working there and handed in my CV, I was asked to attend an interview within a few days. I then started my placment the next Monday, which I think was a pretty quick and hassle-free process.

Before I began my placement the manager made it obvious that he was doing me a huge favour letting me spend my placement there. There was never any intention for me to continue working there once I had completed my university course. With this in mind, the manager never invested in me because there was no feasible reason for him to. I was trained and instructed on the shop's equipment to an adequate standard and that was all.

The shop is a smallish local store with a regular but limited customer level. The manager told me that I was over-qualified to work there before I'd even qualifed, so I never even thought about future prospects within the company during my placement. I always knew that I was only working there because my course required me to do a placement year and that once I had finished my degree I would be applying to work at other, slightly larger, organisations.

All the staff were very joyous and there were quite a few birthday meals and nights out which I attended. Also, working in such a specialist store as a music shop, all the workers were very interested in musical artists and acts, so we often attended gigs at the O2 and the Jam House together.

I've lived in the area all my life so I've never really took much notice to the cost of living and socialising, but I would say that it is very fair. There are lots of reasonably priced student homes and flats around the city, which means that you can still afford to socialise and enjoy yourself. If you're lucky enough to still live at home with your parents during university and placement then you will ahve the time of your life, as you will be earning much more money than your student loans company allow you and have it all to spend on socialising.

For nightlife I'd say that Birmingham is up there with the top party cities in the United Kingdom, alongside Manchester, London and Newcastle. There are nightclubs for every taste, meaning Birmingham can please everybody. I must have gone on over 200 nights out during my university years, with numerous different people, and have never had anything worse than a fantastic night out. It's student heaven.

There were endless opportunities to socialise with my work colleagues outside of the shop. Even the manager got involved and attended our activites. One worker gigged at a local pub once a fortnight, so me and the others regularly attended her gigs and listened to her music quite regularly.