My first day at work was Wednesday and I have never felt more out of my own element. Training consists of trial by fire. You get fed some information, but you start serving customers on day 1. I don't know that I have ever felt so incompetent.
"Ritz Camera UTC. How may I help you?"
"Hi. I'm wondering if you guys have intervalometers for Canons."
What the crap is an intervalometer??? I had never heard that word in my life!
Between bugging the manager who was with a customer and trying to buy time without sounding completely moronic to the gentleman that called I some how was able to answer the customer's question.
After answering a few more phone calls and watching the manager make sales, day 1 was thankfully over.
Day 2 brought more challenges, but it also brought progress. A gentleman walked in looking for a camera bag and after I showed him how to adjust the slots he said he'd take it. My first sale!
I helped two more gentleman later in the day where one bought a Sony USB flash drive and the second a Sunpak 6200 tripod for $49.99 + tax. I answered more phone calls and was asked about more products and brands I had never heard of, fumbled at the register, dropped receipts, and took way too long to find photo orders customers were picking up. Although for day 2 I guess it was as good as it could be.
Today was day 3 and I sold my first big ticket item. I sold a Nikon D5100 kit (awesome camera by the way), a Sunpak LED macro ring light, and a warranty plan for a whopping $1083. That was the highlight of my day.
As the day went on the store got busy and I was limited in my ability to ask for help or to check whether I was doing something right. The manager had to retake a passport photo I had taken for a lady earlier after I had told her it would be ready in 15 min. Another lady was dropping off 4 rolls of film (yes, people still shoot with film and it's awesome) to develop and instead of being a 5 minute process it felt like I kept her there for a half hour because I didn't know how to ring the order up. A few other things happened that just served as reminders that I was new and didn't know what I was doing.
As I was looking at the schedule for the next two weeks I felt myself on the verge of a panic attack. I am petrified of a customer calling me out on not knowing my facts and taking it out on me or worse on the store by not coming back. I'm scared of taking a print order and it not being done within the hour I said it would be. I'm afraid the manager and employees might question how I ever made it through grad school because I seem so incompetent.
I know these incidences sound minor and normal for someone on their first few days, but I swear I feel I'm going to be responsible for the collapse of the store because all the customers I interact with will think I'm a complete idiot.
A part of me really wants to quit because I just feel so ridiculously uncomfortable, but the other part of me knows that this is great for me. Putting myself out there, making myself vulnerable, forcing me to think on my feet, and trying to make a sale are all experiences I can learn from. I just wish these experiences came with training wheels.
After answering a few more phone calls and watching the manager make sales, day 1 was thankfully over.
Day 2 brought more challenges, but it also brought progress. A gentleman walked in looking for a camera bag and after I showed him how to adjust the slots he said he'd take it. My first sale!
I helped two more gentleman later in the day where one bought a Sony USB flash drive and the second a Sunpak 6200 tripod for $49.99 + tax. I answered more phone calls and was asked about more products and brands I had never heard of, fumbled at the register, dropped receipts, and took way too long to find photo orders customers were picking up. Although for day 2 I guess it was as good as it could be.
Today was day 3 and I sold my first big ticket item. I sold a Nikon D5100 kit (awesome camera by the way), a Sunpak LED macro ring light, and a warranty plan for a whopping $1083. That was the highlight of my day.
As the day went on the store got busy and I was limited in my ability to ask for help or to check whether I was doing something right. The manager had to retake a passport photo I had taken for a lady earlier after I had told her it would be ready in 15 min. Another lady was dropping off 4 rolls of film (yes, people still shoot with film and it's awesome) to develop and instead of being a 5 minute process it felt like I kept her there for a half hour because I didn't know how to ring the order up. A few other things happened that just served as reminders that I was new and didn't know what I was doing.
As I was looking at the schedule for the next two weeks I felt myself on the verge of a panic attack. I am petrified of a customer calling me out on not knowing my facts and taking it out on me or worse on the store by not coming back. I'm scared of taking a print order and it not being done within the hour I said it would be. I'm afraid the manager and employees might question how I ever made it through grad school because I seem so incompetent.
I know these incidences sound minor and normal for someone on their first few days, but I swear I feel I'm going to be responsible for the collapse of the store because all the customers I interact with will think I'm a complete idiot.
A part of me really wants to quit because I just feel so ridiculously uncomfortable, but the other part of me knows that this is great for me. Putting myself out there, making myself vulnerable, forcing me to think on my feet, and trying to make a sale are all experiences I can learn from. I just wish these experiences came with training wheels.
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