I have currently been working part-time at Shangheng in Fengshan for a little over a week.

For many reasons, I’m thinking of resigning directly tomorrow.

First, the advantages:

Both my coworkers and the store manager are very patient. As long as you’re willing to learn and willing to work,

基本上都不會有太多被針對的感覺

When you make mistakes, they will also remind you patiently.

That is the only reason I’ve been able to stick it out for over a week.

According to what I’ve heard from senior coworkers, the Fengshan store manager is a very nice person. They won’t force you to meet specific requirements.

They use encouragement to help you gradually get used to promoting products to customers.

I’m very grateful that the store manager gave someone introverted like me some time to get used to serving customers.

However, when they say you need professional knowledge,

it is actually just used to bluff the parents who come into the store so they will spend money buying shoes and clothes.

After you start working, they will teach you how to phrase things and how to promote products.

It can’t exactly be called lying, but to say it’s very professional... not really.

As long as you appear confident and speak coherently, customers will basically accept it.

Because I’m weaker at sales talk, I always advocate that saying more doesn’t help—having customers try things on is the most accurate approach.

To be honest, customers who are going to buy will buy. For those who aren’t, you could talk until you’re hoarse, and they would only say, “Mm-hmm, I see. I’ll take another look.”

Still, don’t judge whether a customer will buy based on their appearance.

I once met an elderly man dressed very ordinarily who said he would just have a look, but ended up buying several pairs of shoes. After chatting, I learned that they were gifts for his grandchildren.

The working hours are long, the pay and benefits are poor, and you can’t leave work on time.

I told the store manager that the working hours are stuck right in the middle of the day,

so I can’t properly rest either before work or after getting home, and I even feel anxious.

Taking consecutive days off is... basically impossible. If you really want consecutive days off, you still have to write an explanation for the store manager to see.

Many senior coworkers take one day off and then start working five or six days in a row again.

Put nicely, you have plenty of time to earn sales performance.

Put bluntly, they are exploiting you.

I asked whether everyone felt that the hours were too long and had trouble getting used to them.

Some said they personally love working in the service industry and are night owls, so it doesn’t matter to them.

Some said it was difficult to adjust at first, but actually became manageable after working for a while.

I personally can’t adapt. I like working in the morning and still being able to properly rest after going home in the afternoon.

Then, after getting enough sleep, I can go to work the next day.

If you say this is a drawback, some people might say that you’re simply not used to the service-industry work culture.

But I genuinely feel that standing all day, receiving that meager base salary, and looking at a sales ceiling that is fundamentally unattainable

makes this job best suited as a stepping stone. You can accumulate some experience serving customers and learn how to communicate,

but absolutely don’t think about climbing the ladder. Passing the test for a full-time position isn’t easy, and even if you pass, the pay increase isn’t much.

You may also get used to the way one store operates, only to suddenly be told that you have to transfer to another store (you can’t refuse).

Whether what awaits you is hell or paradise, you have no way of knowing—it all depends on luck.

Actually, I personally like this job a lot. If you set aside the long hours and inability to take time off,

many customers are very pleasant to chat with. If you hit it off, they may come back to buy things from you.

They may ask your coworkers whether you’re working that day or something like that. That feeling is really nice.

But the company’s system... really leaves a lot to be desired.