merchandiser

retail manager

assistant buyer

retail sales associate

retail supervisor

Matalan

The job itself is quite easy and I have definitely learnt new skills in the role and become more confident. I have worked on tills, self-service, the floor and the stockroom. Tills and self-service can be become very monotonous and mentally exhausting depending on how busy it is but you get into the swing of it quite quickly. I prefer working on the floor as you get to move around and you can work alone. The staff are for the most part quite friendly but news travels very fast and sometimes they employ people who have very little sense of professionalism or social skills and probably couldn't work in any other type of job. 

The place isn't always managed that well. The hours are very flexible with the shop having set opening hours (Usually Mon-Fri 9am-9pm, Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 1pm-6pm) and management are usually okay fixing any problems with your hours or holidays but the rota always changes. It's never done more than a week or two in advance. Some weeks they call you a lot asking you to come in at short notice especially if they're understaffed which can get annoying sometimes but is also an opportunity for extra hours if you want them. They usually give you overtime but this isn't guaranteed and you don't get paid extra for it unless it's a night shift (which only happens occasionally anyway to prepare for sales). The shop never closes on bank holidays and I don't think you get extra for working them. Christmas Day and Easter Sunday are the only days out of the year that the shop is closed. The pay is minimum wage so it is what it is but it does go up a bit every year. 

There's sometimes a bit of favouritism towards certain employees especially those over 35 and I find you have to stand up for yourself a bit so you don't get walked over especially if you're under 25. The managers and supervisors aren't completely awful and I've had some great ones who I could go to about any problems I was having and weren't at all intimidating but some could do with better people skills and organisational skills. There are sometimes targets to meet like the amount of bags sold, reward cards registered etc. but you don't get punished or scolded for not meeting them like in other retail jobs. 

Head office also introduce loads of really stupid ideas, signage that confuses customers, badly designed user interface on the self service, only having bags for life, paper bags as a 12 week trial only whilst claiming to care about the environment etc. It feels like there is a breakdown in communication between head office and the actual stores, as if the people working in HR have gone so long without working in an actual store that they've forgotten what it's like and introduce really stupid or impractical working methods and equipment. 

There's not much career advancement unless you agree to go to England to do a scheme which isn't very convenient. Sometimes you also get pigeonholed into doing one task only. I was kept on the tills for several years before finally being given other tasks to do like the floor and stockroom. A mixture of tasks makes the job much more enjoyable in my opinion and you feel more confident working there once you know where everything is, how it all works and how to deal with problems that arise. With some employees they also give the opportunity to become a keyholder or work in the cash office though I personally never did these jobs. 

Overall this is a good part time job for a while especially if you're a student, parent with young children, retired or looking to get started in work or retail, but in the long term you will eventually find that you've gotten all you can get out of it as there is very little to no career progression unless you agree to spend some time working abroad or a supervisor/management position happens to open up which isn't very often. 

If you just want to learn the basics of retail, develop confidence with members of the public and understand the extreme psychology and expectations of customers - Matalan is ideal for you - on a short term basis. 

The management structure can be erratic, between contradictions from different managers wanting the same tasks done in different ways or wanting different tasks done entirely - it does keep you on your toes.  

I've always had good working relationships with my managers, however, that doesn't mean that I don't always agree with their managing styles. Of course, a good manager knows how to keep their staff happy - but head office do pressure us with never ending demands and expectations that don't translate well for the amount they pay their employees i.e. Customer Services assistants will be expected to do the Till Operator job AND the CS duties without an increase in pay despite the increase of responsibility inflicted - essentially, you will be expected to do 2-3 jobs for the price of 1.   

The pay is poor for the amount of work and effort you have to put in, not only the labour but the mental effort of having to learn all the skills to carry out the work, with next to no training.   

There isn't much promise or opportunity for advancement nor is there an internal access to proper vocational training either, which is sad, I have spent the last few years working there and would really like to have some qualifications under my belt to justify my continuous hard work just to receive very little in return.

The hours aren't great, some weeks you could be doing 25+ hours and the next week you could have 8 hours. The rota is very poorly done, rarely do we get to know what we are working a week in advance - sometimes we only get it a day before the next working week is due to start - very unpredictable, especially, when you're trying to establish and manage both a social life and financial commitments.

We have mandatory 'team brief' meetings every 6 months, always on a Sunday, regardless of your availability. In these meetings we are expected to  absorb marketing information and somehow, apply it to our work and encourage customers to spend more and increase company profits. 

"Profits were up/down last year, we need to do more" yet hardly ever are we offered an incentive aimed to the individual employee. 

I do enjoy the company of my colleagues and we champion through the work, we are a credit to each other.

Head office must learn to look after their staff as much as they look after their customers. It is beneficial to look after the employees first, cascading down to us looking after the customers to an even higher standard.

There's more to job satisfaction than "look at all the good work I did" to then looking at your bank balance and wondering, 'what for?'

I was a Christmas temp whilst working as a sales assistant at Matalan. A typical day at work would include recovering the department you were located to or serving customers on tills. When working a full till shift I would find myself with not much to do if there weren't people to serve or help. When being put on recovery the shift manager would locate me to a department, for example kids which was the worst because it was the biggest department with the most mess. I would have to take a basket with me to pick up any items from any other department that had been put in my department and then put the things back where they belonged. I then had to size every single piece of clothing, pairs of shoes, accessories etc within three hours leaving one hour at the end to do clearance. Three hours may seem like a long period of time however when being called to tills every twenty minutes or fetching things from the stock room for customers on the shop floor I would often find myself being very distracted and would then be rushing about. I would work a 4 hour shift which was fine but I usually worked until very late in the evening, this really effected my college work and sleep pattern as I would sometimes not arrive home until 10:30pm. I found the majority of co-workers helpful and friendly, some were rude but would still help if asked. The management team was okay, however not very understanding of my life and relationship situation outside of work which made it very difficult. I found staff were unprofessional in the way of how they would speak to co-workers about their weekend or irrelevant topics right infront of customers whilst serving them.If I would ever need to phone into work for anything, I would be waiting around an hour to actually get through to someone and in my 3 months of working for Matalan I did not once have a weekend off. The most enjoyable part of my time at Matalan was helping customers and the feeling of achievement when tidying up a department immaculately in time for close. A job like this is perfect for someone who is a bit of a night owl and doesn't mind not being paid much. In my interview I was told that the temp work would end during the middle or near to the end of January and we would have plenty of notice, however I was told my a day before my last shift. Overall I gained some good extra experience in customer service which was helpful and boosted my confidence, met some friendly people and earned money over the Christmas period.

I was told i would have an exit interview by phone nearly 2 weeks ago as this has not been done i am writing this instead -  2nd day in to working for Matalan and I was told i had to go to Liverpool last minute for a training day and then two days over 100 miles away at another store,I had to ask  if  could claim time and travel, why was i  not told this at any point of at interview stage even when i asked what the training consisted of ! completely unorganized. 
As for staff and assistant manger who on my 2nd day stood chatting at the till point for 2 hours in the morning with the other supervisor and staff  every time i asked questions the reply was " its a working progress " when i asked do you not have music playing the assistant manager told me that its on very quietly as the sound is to loud at the tills .There was a tv screen at front of store which is never on again i was told it switched off all the time !  I was completely undermined by the store manager  in the store in-front of people i was shocked in my 10 years as a manager i had never experienced this for then the  assistant store manager who then later came over and said that the store manager asked me if he was to harsh on you and not to worry his child is ill, who then i over heard discussing what happened with other staff members  this should have been raised off the shop floor !! 
staff are completely not trained to look out or shop lifters or choose not to care again when i asked i was told this is another working progress. Non of the stock is tagged yet when i asked i was told not enough staff, Even though they are all stood at tills doing nothing. store layout could be improved V/M, I picked up 2 empty bottles one can on shop floor, Store standards are awful. when i raised that the security guard has had 2 cigarette breaks  and has  only started his shift 1 hour ago, the assistant store manager said it is better than having no security guard & hes the best we can find. Customer service is a NO staff completely ignore shoppers ! sales begins with great customer customer service!  staff  do not have to sign in or out or have a bag checks done, when i asked the assistant manager she   told me she had just completed an end of year meeting and the staff where not happy about this being done. There is no leading by example! i was told by the manger that i had come from a high end store and we were not. what ever that has to do with it !

I have been working for Matalan as a Business Manager for over an year now. It's been very productive since I have started. I started to work for Matalan as a Sales Assistant, worked really hard to achieve this position. My daily tasks include; forecast the sale for the day and for a week, plan and prioritize tasks to achieve sales target, brief team about the targets and explain how we can achieve target and work with the team which encourages all the staff to perform well.

I have learned a lot of skills while working for Matalan. I have considerably improved my communication skills, time management skills, planning and prioritising skills and management skills. I always work with determination to achieve targets.

Management experience has been very creative through which I have gained enormous experience in customer service, time management, admin work, resolving customer issues and complaints, improving sales and bringing a company up to the required standard. I have a very good track record in relation to achieving sales targets, best performance and improving business growth. I have very good skills in creating a team working environment, making good relationship within the team/colleagues and customers.

I always go an extra mile as and when my customers need help, advice and support. I am very flexible, concentrated, and approachable candidate. I always want to keep myself on the top of my management team in terms of success and Performance.

I always support my co-workers to improve not only the performance of the company but also to bring the right standards and provide quality of services to the customers. I have very good relation and understanding with my co-workers,

There is no such thing I found hard as I always enjoy my work which makes me feel comfortable and motivate me to do my level best. There are situations when my co-workers called in sick and I need to open and close the store on my own doing long shifts, but I take it as a challenge and work with determination to overcome any obstacles which may arrive during the work.

Company will do what ever it can to not pay you.
This company makes you LIE TO LOYAL CUSTOMERS about its useless Matalan card (what is a marketing scam) Ive seen management yell at an innocent customer who did not speak well English because he was not sure about his postcode. Pushing people to use these Matalan cards makes you feel uncomfortable. It was a lot worse when for about a month the company stopped selling plastic bags forcing people to pay £1 for the branded bags for life.

The pay is probably the worst part about my experience, they hire primarily 16-17 year olds because they can pay them £4.35 an hour while older people who do the EXACT same job as you gets paid up to almost twice your salary.

Most shifts are only 4 hour long so they don’t have to give you a break which means they often give you a shift mid day completely ruing you’re sat Audra you or Sunday making it feel like its not even worth showing up. Also these shifts wont work well around school/ uni/ college times which is bad since that’s almost there entire work force.
When your not on the tills your on shop floor, they will more than likely give you to much work to do and yell at you for not completing it. The job is extremely boring and the terrible music your forced to listen to will drive you up the wall. 

The management were nice but simply had a favouritism problem meaning there favourite staff members could easily get the shifts they wanted. Although there are some terrific staff members most of the long lasting staff will outcast you for being a noobie and had there inner circles. Most staff are on a temp contracted and leave after 3-4 months.

Overall I understand this company has a ultra low cost business model but the way the company is ran and staff is treated is despicable. This is a profitable company but that profit all goes to the greedy ceo Living in Monaco and nothing towards you. I would not even consider shopping here anymore. I know several people my age working in similar jobs near by that treat you much better so go work for them not this company. 

This job felt like slavery.

Working here was not a fun experience, management were rude and often unprofessional. 

As a staff member it feels like you are treated more like an employee then a person with low pay of 4.35 for under 18's which I feel the management use this to their advantage as often people who are under 18 are given ridiculous hours in comparison to those over 18(who earn more money) however you are given large responsibilites and often tasks which are impossible to complete (e.g. completing large deliveries on your own)

Personally, I believe Matalan need to take a look at the management at this particular store as I feel that management is the main reason people are leaving this store - it's not the supervisors which are the problem its the big bosses of the store, they have no respect for you as a person often being rude and unprofessional and only caring about how much money you can make them. I was often given hours I couldn't work so I ended up having to make cuts on my social life to accomodate for work, there is no balance between work and social life. 

Training was very minimal here, you are required to partake a 4 hour induction which involves lots of paperwork and safety videos(which you would expect) however when it comes to till training, delivery and working on the shop floor the training is very minimal and vague often left to figure things out by yourself. A typical day at work would either include managing the tills, being on the shop floor for long periods of time sorting out clothing or being on delivery.

All things aside there are some positives with Matalan, with an easy application service and good communication from the management team regarding your application status. All the employees around you always make you feel welcome and part of the team, they are always ready to help you with anything that you need. There is also a very well developed employee of the month system which involves a voting system, it does feel like you are praised for your efforts here.

A Typical day would be to start of wasting 15 minutes being told store targets and what we should do for the day, eventually getting out you would be placed on a till for 20 mins then be removed from it due to bad bypass (processing a transaction without a Matalan card) and then end up being called into the office to have your head chewed off and made to feel like a tiny individual with management standing over you. you'd then be put on the shop floor and tidy the departments making sure everything is where it should be and that it's sized ordered. another part of my job was a delivery assistant. this is when we are made to feel like the back end crew, the forgotten, we get 4 hours to open boxes and when you receive a big delivery, this cannot be achieved, so again you are called to the office, head bitten off again and thrown back out and expected to finish. Hours are ok, we got a lot of overtime, only bad thing is there's no set rota, hours are always changing and we do not get told of it until you come into work. it can be changed 24 hours before your shift and not be told, on occasions shifts have been cancelled on the day with very little notice. Pay Rate it terrible, one of the worst ones I've seen, especially for under 18s, no benefits,no bonus, no incentives, nothin, the pay rate and that is it. Management (one person in particular) cannot run the store, they seem corrupt. we are treated unfairly and on some occasions against company regulations. each individual is victimised and made to feel like the worst person. you are expected to do so much in so little amount of time, stress is a big issue as so much so piled up on your list you end up exploding as some things cannot be done. Apart from management, my co workers were fantastic, I've been privileged to have met them all past and present, that's the only good thing about this store is you meet a great bunch of people that help you but management are the let down. personally I do not recommend anyone working here, especially if you have a short temper, because fireworks will fly.

A typical day working in Matalan Retail Ltd would involve a busy and challenging environment delivering the utmost customer service to every customer which would walk through the doors of the store. Physical and mental challenges would be faced throughout the day as the work would prove to be challenging and required a meticulous and methodical approach - this would involve predominantly tidying the department one was entrusted with and maintaining a high level of standard until the end of the night/afternoon. 

What I learned from this experience is how to utilise my time and use the strengths of each team member to collectively achieve the main target of delivering outstanding customer service, selling the product of the week, asking every single member to register with us to receive a Matalan Reward Card and achieve an amazing recovery of the store. Team work was definitely something I have developed working in a retail store as it requires everybody to work together to achieve the interests of the store. 

My co-workers are similar minded people who aim to create a friendly yet professional environment, working with a large diverse of people enables one to develop a life skill of understanding other people's approach to a particular task.

The physical element of the job was definitely the most challenging aspect, also the selling aspect of trying to get customers to part with their money to buy a product which the company had requested to be sold and meeting those targets set. This proves to be difficult as many customers who are queuing to pay for their goods are satisfied with what they have purchased and attempting to get them to part with the cash is difficult and the pressure can be strenuous as the management press on the team to achieve the targets.

Most enjoyable part of the job would be the diversity of people that one meets. 

Worked at Matalan for 4 years. Loveliest people I've ever met, however they have barely no staff to save money, which means they expect you to do 30 different jobs in a set amount of time for barely a decent pay. They are also unable to offer decent contracts, I started on a 4 hour contract and was only able to upgrade to an 8 hour contract after the first year and it never increased. The management team aren't the worst people ever, it's just the actual company itself. I seen hardworking and loyal colleagues reduced to tears because of the stress from the job and watched as the company began getting rid of certain job roles that paid more to save money, yet despite every morning when we had a 'team brief', our managers would tell us that the company is making a lot of money. The only benefit I ever found working at Matalan was just the discount, and even then that's just 20%. I had a colleague who had worked in the store for 20 years, and my managers just gave her a bunch of cheap flowers from aldi and a box of chocolates, which was quite funny. The management don't listen to availability. If you have told them you can't work a specific day, they'll put you in and then expect you to find cover yourself cause it's 'not their problem'. They also don't put up the rota till Thursday, sometimes even Friday, which means you can't make any plans because you get 4 days knowledge in advance, and even then you still can't make plans because they change the rota constantly. 

If you're looking for a weekend job whilst you're at college or university and you're not relying on the money from this job as a primary source of income, then I'd recommend Matalan. However, if this is for a job and you're expecting you'll be able to progress and make this a career, ha, don't. Also none of the stores have air conditioning, and the only days you definitely wont have to work is Easter Sunday and Christmas Day.

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