Job: Retail Store Manager (United States)

The first few weeks on the job pay close attention to the top sellers and adapt their techniques. This will boost your commissions and will surely impress your new boss.

I love what I do, but I have no other life. Doctors have more of a life than someone in retail. No holidays, no funerals, no family time. Malls are open too long. In that past consumers found a way to shop in the structured time that was set and businesses prospered more than they do now. It would be great if we went back to Sunday closed.

Companies want to make more money on less hours for floor coverage, but want Legendary Customer Service. I love to train, but have found that companies talk the talk about training but do not walk the walk. I feel that I never get to fully train and teach assoicates to sell from their hearts and have passion.

I found the job I have recently been acepted to by posting my resume on the internet.

A. Use a site dedicated to your profesion

B. Have a concise single page resume keep it simple and keep it honest.

C. Follow up. Keep in contact with the person with hire authority.

D. Do not get discouraged. It is a difernt process than it was 10 years ago. in order to secure the job, I had to complete an extensive interview, complete a test online, and complete a urinalysis. The total time is 3 weeks. (It was easier to join the military).

E. Do not settle. I researched the company extesively and talked to several people at the level that I was applying for. I comited only when I knew that my needs would be met.

If I settled with My current employer I would never be able to achieve my goals. personal or profesional.

When you are a manager of a large retail store and one of your employees and your entire management team partners with the appropiate people about going outside the normal business practices to drive sales and the end result puts some risk on the business, the person who instigated that risk should be held responsible and as a manager you have a choice to put all the blame on someone else when pressured to do so or stand up and take one for the team. I took one for the team and it has created a hardship for me and my family but I would never be able to live with myself if I had thrown somebody under the bus. When all the appropriate business partners were involved and my immediate supervisor developed a loss of memory to prevent any career damage to himself, I can feel confident that I stood up for my associates and did the right thing even though it was very costly financially.

Always meet your sales goals no matter what. And find new ways to do it. Have a positive attitude no matter what you're going through. Never doubt yourself. Always think big. I'ts also very important to have a vision of where you would like to see yourself in the future.

Before negotiating an intercompany transfer, feel out peers of the new location for any drastic differences in how they do business. For instance, California Retailers are presently under extreme pressures to prove "Salary Test Qualifications". This carries excessive importance placed on employee breaks, lunches, clock times, payroll, etc. in order for Managers to qualify for their pay status. It affects the ability of a California retail managers to make sales quotas similar to their out of state counterparts, as they spend about 15% of their focus on giving California mandated breaks at specified times. Managers are not allowed to complete projects outside of California mandated hours, and find it difficult to acquire bonuses as a result, comparatively speaking, with other states identical positions.

If your thinking about working and or pursuing a career at CVS Pharmacy, Let me give you some first hand in-sight. Don't do it. The pay will not be worth the 60-70 hour, 6 and 7 day work week. You won't get vacation because your store is too understaffed and extremely too much work to do. We recently recieved over 4000 price changes and 159 hours of additional plan o grams to be completed by March 1st. This on top of a diminishing bonus pool that is next to impossible to attain. You will be required to transfer the daily take to the bank your self and beware if you get robbed at gunpoint like me they will crawl up inside you to make sure you were not involved in the robbery, some how they get priviledged information on you then they terminate you for not protecting company assets.

Do I sound disgruntled? Probably because for the last 27 days in a row I have not had a day of est off. Also 15 hour days are the norm with no meal or break. Managing is just a fascade at CVS, it should be called Clerking gone wild. You will have no control on shrink either as there is no loss prevention protection in the store, peopl come and go at will and steal everything you have. Don't work there, if you value your life.

Even though being with the same company for almost 12 years means nothing, if your manager tells you to do something and you get fired for it its still WRONG!!

If you are on unemployment insurance [a whopping $200 a week.] If I had it to do all over again swallow your pride and don't take just any job. Be sure that this is not just better than being on u.i. This situation ended with being arrested and being abandoned by my employer. Wrong descision.

Usually, when a person gets "Fired"- it is because they have been dissatisfied with the job for a WHILE!! Consequently ,we set up the circumstances for being Fired, somewhat Subconsciously-(or NOT). Assuming it is too late to change that fact: I have learned that the best way to be assured a good reference-OR,EVEN- get your old job BACK, is to contact your former supervisor, company owner, co- workers; which ever of these people that were involved in the process of your "Departure" AND/OR are in a position to potentially "save" your reputation..................... AND "Kiss Ass"!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway you can! (except literally). MORE IMPORTANTLY- BE HONEST/SINCERE about your "feelings"-WITHOUT being harsh or offensive: Identify/Admit YOUR mistakes: show (sincere) regret for the way you have (mis)handled the situation. "Confide in" them about what you have learned from the experience. Then, enlist a request for their help, state what you need from them/ and HOW they can Help,if willing. After All: Do you really have anything to LOSE at this point??? - it definately can't HURT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!