sales associate

assistant buyer

merchandiser

retail sales associate

graphic designer

Debenhams

Here goes a very lengthy, yet very honest review. 

Brief overview - 

PROS - 
- Some very friendly staff
- Pay was pretty good 
- Break length wasn't bad, usually half an hour.
- A busy shop makes the day go quicker, a slow day is often easier and you can have time to think about life.
- 5/10 of the customers were a pleasure to serve


CONS - 
- Some very unfriendly staff
- Hours can be very long 
- A lot of standing (mostly standing, always stood up)
- Debenhams accounts
- Busy days can be quite overwhelming and slow days are sometimes a slow descent into madness.
- 3/10 of the customers were unpleasant. 

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I worked in the Men's department for Christmas and overall it wasn't a disastrous experience.

The typical day of a Christmas Temp. begins with seeing what duties you have assigned to you for that particular day. 

The main duties consist of -
- Recovery (making sure a particular area is tidy)
- Shoes (keeping the shoe section tidy and helping customers in that area)
- Fitting Room (keeping the fitting room and the shop floor around it tidy, as well as taking clothes back onto the shop floor after they have been tried on)
- Jewelry (helping the jewelry area when they're short-staffed)
- Tills (carrying out transactions e.g. selling, returns, exchanges, gift cards, Debenhams accounts)
- Deliveries (putting out the new stock)

At some point during the day too, you may be called up to report how many gift cards have been sold, emails have been registered, and how many Debenhams accounts your department has opened - This is included in the rota.

Whilst you're doing these duties you will have to be on your toes as you could suddenly be thrown into another job, for example, you could be putting out deliveries and a customer might suddenly need you to help them, or you could be on recovery and suddenly need to jump on the tills. This will happen a lot as the Winter season is an unbelievably busy time at Debenhams. You won't believe how busy it can get until you walk out of the staff door and onto the shop floor on a Saturday in December, WOW!

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Truth be told, I didn't really learn much from the job other than how to fold clothes and how to open some watches (that I've since forgotten how to). I guess an important thing I took from it is how to approach people, it's awkward at first but you soon get used to it.

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I wish I could say "Management was all over the place" as you hear often about retail jobs, but the majority of the time it all went relatively smoothly. The supervisor of the men's department when I was there was very nice and was always happy to lend a hand. The main manager of the men's department wasn't quite as friendly and wasn't very approachable in my experience, and the store owner who would occasionally come out onto the shop floor wasn't mean but was quite unapproachable. 

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In terms of work culture, the best I can do is talk about the staff overall. As in life, there were many many nice people who work there and you will enjoy working with them. It makes the day go faster, you know someone is there who will be happy to help and the job is easier and more enjoyable. On the other hand, there were many unfriendly people there, and if you're a smiley-friendly person like I am, the friendly smile will not always be returned, I'll save that for the next part.

Some staff slack off too and you may find a cluster around a table chatting. If you're a hard worker, your line manager might be more lenient in you having a chat to pass the day whilst you work, but don't overdo it and ruin it for everyone.

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What was the hardest part(s) of the job?

- Dealing with unfriendly staff. Probably the worst part of the job. I and many others during and since then always had problems with one particular person. They definitely made the job unnecessarily less enjoyable when they were there. It wasn't fun and I'm surprised that with their reputation they were kept on for so long (and are still there I hear)

-This is the job that unfortunately you won't have the chance to learn everything in the training session (in which you do learn a lot from though), so you will end up having to call on your brothers/sister in arms for aid during the heat of battle (a busy Saturday at 3pm). I found the trickiest thing to be anything to do with gift cards, but like all things, once you've messed up three times and then learned how to process them, you'll have it down no problem.

(Quite often too some instructions may be unclear, like how much stock should be out... Everyone seemed to have their own ideal amount, so just go with who you think knows best)

And last but not least...

- Debenhams accounts (credit cards). You'll feel guilty trying to push them for the same reason people avoid them. Management really care about Debenhams accounts but don't seem to understand that even when you present the customer with the opportunity to open one,  7 out of 10 times they don't usually take it, but management will still say "make sure you're asking them". However, the real darkness begins when you manage to open an account... You'll feel good about it, you've pleased the managers and are no longer in the corporate crosshair... It's okay if you feel good about it, you have to survive somehow.

Honourable mentions!

- The customer isn't always right, and sometimes they suck. I worked one retail job before this and only had one bad customer. It's nearly every day here.

- Keeping people on who were genuinely bad at their job or had no enthusiasm (refer to the paragraph about people slacking) and letting go of hard workers and people who were friendly and enthusiastic. 


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Enjoyable part(s) of the job...

- Working with really nice people is great and you can make friends. It's a good first retail job if you're young as most of the other temps are in their teens/ early 20s. Some of the grownups are cool too.

- Interacting with a really nice customer can quite honestly make your week and can well and truly restore your faith in humanity.

- Getting through a day with no problems because you either knew how to do everything that came up (or someone nice helped) or nothing bad/chaotic occurred. A great feeling.

(I didn't get any benefits or anything extra as a temp so there isn't much for me to put here)

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And that's it for my review.

Overall, Debenhams wasn't a bad experience. I still think about some of the interactions with the nice people I had there and learned valuable lessons in patience and resilience. It's not a scary place but you'll definitely grow as an individual after working here.

I hope you enjoyed this read and didn't cry at the length of it.

This place is truly hideous to work for, they treat their staff awfully. Management here are lazy and do not care for their workers in any way. Staff members are often left alone on tills during busy periods, whilst managers sit upstairs in their office, giving us no help what so ever. Christmas temps are expected to know everything immediately and are often made to feel inadequate if they ask for help more than once. There is most certainly a culture of bullying here, rotas are changed with no notice and we are somehow expected to know when we are working without being notified of changes, and we are then told off when we don't arrive on changed shifts. Staff are made to feel guilty when calling in sick and are often greeted by annoyed managers who ask you how it is you are sick and if you definitely can't come in, managers here are also dreadful at processing holiday requests; often you put them in well within the period and they go neglected, so when it gets nearer and you notice it hasn't gone through management then proceed to tell you its not within the period for holiday or that you can't have it. Management very obviously have favourites, with lots of staff getting away with things others wouldn't, the staff here are friendly and we all stick together to get through it, but the managers do not like it at all, they purposely try to stop us from talking to each other behind tills which lowers morale because it makes you feel like a naughty school child. 

The pay is alright if you get paid correctly, this is a rare occurrence. It took over 4 months for me to be paid what I owed by this big business, when myself and other staff members brought attention to the fact that we had not been paid for the hours we worked (which is completely illegal) management literally couldn't care less, we were all told to wait till next month, even when it was happening month after month after month, mine only got sorted out after chasing the equally unhelpful HR department for months on end. They literally don't pay their staff for the work they do and expect them to take overtime and swap shifts when its convienet to them with no problem at all. Management are unapproachable and only care about they own appearance to regional managers. 

The amount of absolute stress and pressure put on us to open credit cards at the till point is astronomical. We are given hardly any training on this legal process and expected to open lots every day, despite the fact that its all over the news we're failing as a company and that it's a credit card. Opening these at the till point is extremely stressful and awkward as you have to ask the customer personal and financial questions where others can hear, if the card is declined it is also awkward as you have to then explain to the customer why it hasn't through (even though the system doesn't tell us) and we then receive no credit for this, even though we have done the work and have no say in whether a credit company agrees to taking on another customer. This is by far the worst part of the job, as no matter what you do it is never enough, and anytime a manager sees you, this is all they are interested in, it is literally like working for a credit agreement company. 

We are constantly being picked up on uniform, no tattoos to be shown, no facial piercings, no bright makeup or hair colour, I'm not a school child anymore?? 

Staff are always under pressure to make sure everything gets done and tidied and that we always smile, open accounts, wear the correct uniform, don't talk to each other, get email receipts make sure all ticketing is done correctly with literally no help from management at al who then criticise us when it isn't done correctly. Management also do not back you up, if you call management to the till to tell a customer they cannot have a refund because of whatever reason, the management literally come along and say 'just this once' or 'as a gesture of goodwill' which makes staff look like they don't know what they're doing and like we're being difficult for no reason. This is infuriating because we're always being told to follow procedure yet they break it whenever they feel like it. If management aren't going to make your jobs bearable or reward you for anything they could at least back you up infront of customers. 

We are all spoken to awfully all the time by certain staff members about our followings of procedures and how we do things, even when the things we need to follow procedures to their standards haven't been available for months. This sometimes borders on bullying and has brought some younger staff members to tears, with no apology by management. 

Management here are so immature and unprofessional it is literally like working for the bully in an 80s. high school film, don't come work here, everyone is stressed, overworked and underpaid. Management also possess no communication skills what so ever, and so staff will often receive mixed messages which makes work uncomfortable and stressful Go work somewhere where they treat their staff with a little bit of respect. I actually dread going in to work here.

This was my first job. I was a sales advisor on the womenswear department with a 20 hour contract getting paid £7/hour. I worked 4 hour shifts, usually from Monday to Friday which was nice as I'd get the weekend off. 
The training was good, I was trained on how to use the tills, work the dressing rooms, the correct way to fold the clothes and also how to sell/open a Debenhams account card. So I was pretty clued up on what was expected of me.
The uniform was all black but pretty relaxed. My colleagues were all lovely, most were a lot older than me but all were friendly and helpful and I got along with everyone. 
A typical day would start by being informed by a supervisor on the target number for e-receipts and Debenhams account cards. I'd spend an hour in each task, e.g. tills, dressing rooms, recovery (standards) and clearing (putting stock from dressing rooms out onto the shop floor). 
The management was pretty good. The womenswear manager was a nice guy but wasn't really suited for the management position. A lot of my colleagues commented on this saying how the previous manager was a lot better. But he was great to talk to about any problems.
The supervisors varied, some were really hands-on and helped with the same tasks as the sales advisors, others had a sort of holier-than-thou attitude, were condescending and were so caught up doing their own tasks that they'd be really rude/irritated if you needed them on the till to authorise something as this was beneath them. 
Whilst I overall enjoyed my time at Debenhams, there were a some negatives.
1. The Debenhams store card. This seemed to be the most important thing to the managers and supervisors, more so than providing good customer service. We essentially had to sign up as many customers as possible to what was essentially a credit card. We had a set number for the store and for each department. The number we got would generally influence the mood of the managers/supervisors. The more we got, the happier/nicer they'd be. We were trained on how to open one up and essentially had a script to follow that alluded to it being a credit card, but wouldn't explicitly state this, so customers would sign up for the 10% discount and voucher that came with it, only to find out at the end it was a credit card. They would feel tricked and couldn't cancel it straight away. This was stressful as there would be pressure from managers to sell them to customers, and then customers would get angry for being tricked into it. Managers also showed favouritism towards those who opened the most, and these individuals  would sometimes spend their whole 9 hours shifts having to operate the tills.
2. Thursdays were the day we stayed open the latest. I was almost always on the late shift, in fact all the younger employees would be saddled with this shift whilst the more senior staff members left early, as did most of the supervisors. This was good in that we were all the same age and could joke and chat about things we had in common. But on the womenswear department which covered two floors, there was only 4 of us. Two per floor that were expected to watch the dressing rooms, operate the tills, tidy the shop floor and put stock back out. Essentially we each had two jobs to do which was hard on busy nights and dragged on quiet nights (especially those watching the dressing rooms and tills with no one to serve). It was also a problem when a manager or supervisor was needed and there was no one in to contact, resulting us having to call head office to come and authorise something that only required a key holder. Some nights we'd have on key holder in womenswear and we'd have to run between floors to find them. 
3. There was a bell at each till that we had to ring if we needed help on the tills. It wasn't very loud so often colleagues on the other side of the store wouldn't hear. It was also old fashioned as most stores nowadays use walkie-talkies or radios to communicate. It just looked so unprofessional ringing the bell endlessly until another colleague came running to the rescue. 
4. I was on a gap year and often was the go-to to be asked to work overtime which was great at first but when I was applying for university and writing my personal statement I told my supervisor that I couldn't work anymore overtime until I'd completed my application. She was really funny about it, almost irritated and kept asking me when I'd be available for overtime even though there were other colleagues (albeit older ones) who were available too. As I was the only young person in during the week, and I was new I felt used and that they just expected me to say yes to everything.
5. You only get a staff discount if you have a Debenhams card yourself.

Overall it's a good place to work, opportunities to progress were evident. I worked there for a year and was almost promoted to a senior sales advisor but as I had told them I was leaving for uni it made sense for them not to promote me. Staff are generally nice, management could be a lot better though

I enjoy working for Debenhams as I feel that I am valued for everything that I do in the workplace. My typical day at work includes serving customers at the till point, answering the phone to customers and making sure they are all happy with the customer service that they regularly receive from our store. I have only been working there for 7 months now and I am still learning everyday that I work. I work on the Home department which includes lighting, electrical appliances, china, cutlery, some furniture, mirrors and picture frames, cushions, duvets and pillow cases, quilts and pillows, kitchen equipment, candles, ornaments, vases, artificial flowers, pictures, drinking glasses, towels and bathroom accessories.
Since Debenhams has been my first real job I have learnt everything from ordering stock, using the till, scanning and adding to stock to giving the best possible customer service.
I think that the management is great in Debenhams, I regularly get given overtime from my boss and I always get given a thanks at the end of the day which shows how appreciative he is. He also praises me throughout the day when I have completed set tasks. He speaks to me in a polite manner and treats me fairly and is extremely down to earth and friendly.
The co-workers that I have are extremely friendly and helpful. They make me laugh and give me tips on anything i'm not sure about. Someone is always around if I need them which gives me confidence. I'm most definately included and treated with respect.
I have to say the hardest part of my job is promoting and selling store-cards. This is because things have been changed within the store-card and customers are not receiving a 10% discount anymore, instead they receive a £20 voucher through with their first statement. This makes it difficult to promote as the 10% was deducted from their items on the day of opening the card no matter what the price. Whereas a £20 voucher isn't available until they're first statement comes through. Lots of problems have occurred through cards and customers applications are not always accepted due to reasons that we cannot explain. Customers can then respond hastily towards me and my colleagues which gives other customers waiting in-line a bad impression of us. We all try our best to promote the cards but not all customers are open to the bonuses of the card. If the store hasn't opened many cards in a day, group meetings are called and everyone must explain why they haven't opened a Debenhams card. It's a very pressurizing and uncomfortable situation for me.
The most enjoyable part of my job is serving customers that friendly, patient and understanding. On customers receipts, there is a feedback website for Debenhams which allows customers to go online and fill out a survey about the customer service that they received in store. They can also add a comment on whoever served them or even helped them around the store. We get to see the comments as well which gives us a boost and tells us how we could improve. I have had lots of lovely comments from customers. They all make me smile and lets me know that I am appreciated for going above and beyond for them.

Looking from the outside you would expect Debenhams to be a good employer who respects staff and acts as a family. This is not the reality, staff turnover is like nothing I have seen before, moral is always at an all time low, staff are paid minimum wage with no prospects of a wage increases, despite what they say, Octobers annual minimum wage increase is often claimed to be a debenhams good will gesture but the staff all know they have no choice but to up wages. Staff are treated as though they have no brain power and often belittled by management, manipulation is a daily occurrence and typically the lack of respect from management comes in these forms, many even lack common manners and there is a strong sense of status, making management believe they are better, even though many of the staff are more intelligent than the management. This is highly noticeably to onlookers. Your annual wage is capped, you will be paid time in lieu instead of money, many are not made aware that they can request money for overtime and not time in lieu. This deceit means annually you cannot pick up extra money. The job can be enjoyable at times but is very repetitive and therefore becomes very boring as you never receive job satisfaction due to the fact that once you finish a job you begin it all over again. As far as future prospects go, if you are ambitious debenhams is not the place for you, the chances of a promotion are slim at best, many jobs go to friends of friends of management, it is a case of who you know and not what you know, although prospects of promotion are used as a method of motivation but it is a manipulation tool they use. Hard work does not pay off but boot licking management does. The job contrary to belief if not child friendly and you will be expected to be available 24/7, with rotas often being done a few days before the next week and any social life will be tested by unsociable working hours and lack of consistency with the rota. The staff at the bottom of the debenhams hierarchy are all very friendly and down to earth. My advice as someone who has observed and worked for debenhams is only take a job if you are using it as a stop cap whilst looking for something better and read your full entitlement and rights as they are not told to you upon arrival and you receive the minimum amount of training possible. Also be prepared to learn on the job and if you make a mistake do not accept responsibility if you have not received the training for the job. I will say that if you need motivation to turn your life around, do this job and you will find the ambition to drive yourself to better things.

First I should say that even though this position is a security role the focus is on completing the audit checks over crime prevention. I was fine with this as the point of Debenhams plc is to make a massive profit otherwise business rivals could overtake them. Audits checks need to be passed otherwise the result of a failed one can impact their ability to make a profit. 

There was a good work to live balance on the job, while I was working here. I never started earlier than 10:00am and I never left later than 7:00pm. I should add that since I was on a probationary contract I wasn’t allowed to work earlier than that and I worked six & half hours less than my co-workers. Before I decided to leave I was told that there was night work in the role and early mornings (before 7am).

Pay wasn’t fantastic and there weren’t many benefits. There was an opportunity to get a staff discount card but I didn’t see the point spending my little wages on overpriced items even with a little discount.

In terms of job secretary I was on a probationary contract my whole time there so there wasn’t any. There is no advancement in this role. In the first week of me working here a co-worker who was at the company for years mentioned that this is a “dead end job” (not that there is anything wrong with that).

Now to be honest this is a horrible company and I would advise you to do anything else instead of working here. For a start my Loss Prevention colleagues seemed to have a poor opinion of women. I’m not saying there bigots but I heard so many sexist terms in this place, while working here. It was uncomfortable and didn’t feel like going to management, as the place is cliquey. A couple of my colleagues were friends with the store manager, which was awkward because it’s unlikely that they are going to be, treated the same as other employees.

One time a co-worker even went as far to say to me that black women always had a bad attitude and that they always kiss their teeth. This really bothered me since my mother was black. I left the next day, as this was the straw that broke the camels back. 

There wasn’t really much training given to me despite being told that there would be possibility of using some additional training such as a practice scenario where I could practice arresting someone. 

There wasn’t much structure in the place (though when there is a suspect I understand that other work gets put aside). The workers there didn’t really care for many aspects of the job and one full out didn’t like it. Hearing him complain about the job, while I was new on it was very unpleasant to say the least. I’ve seen my two of my co-workers go on the phone having casual conversations during work. Also other people were allowed into the office sometimes from outside of work. I’m pretty sure that what I stated in the last two sentences would be seen as unprofessional in most workplaces but I could be wrong.

An an old employee at debenhams chesterfield in the cafe i was none the wiser as to how the staff were like otherwise i would not of ever considered working there. 
From the start the job was great for 3-4 weeks. staff were great as we had a new supervisor who was not the manager. 
As weeks progressed and was getting less and less hours for no apparent reason. i was contracted over 15 hours a week but at the start i was doing 50+. so my pay was going down, with no regards or appreciation of the hours and dedication i had put in for the work place.
it had got to a few months in and the pressure and depression started to kick in, always treading on egg shells with the manager of the cafe and second in command. NOTHING is ever good enough for the manager, you need to know this as other wise you will feel victimised. I cannot remember how many times i walked out to the 'toilet' but intact i was sat sobbing in the staff toilets as i felt so down  about myself. i was losing weight, not looking after myself properly and more importantly getting more and more angry and that is just not who i am as a person at all. 
I was pushing people away even my partner, doing a 12 and half hour shift, with no regards or appreciation of the over time. Im pretty sure high managers did not no of this so no blame to higher mangers or supervisors. 
The only benefit was the other staff, was always smiles and constant reassurance other wise i would not of even made it past a 2 months i thought about walking out so many times but bills have to be paid. 
I really hope the way younger staff are spoken to is sorted out ASAP as it is really running most people in the cafe down. i even know of some older staff who has left as it was ridiculous  hours that i  did NOT get paid for it even though  the constant words of the manager telling me she would sort it out but never did.  
I love customer service and had worked in customer based environments before, and i am still in a work place customer based but in a more friendly zone.
After a few months, I had a very difficult time with myself and some pregnancy difficulties that was not regarded by anybody and was not spoke about to higher managers as i now know after a phone call. 
I then receive a letter saying I OWE THEM £130 FOR SICK PAY THAT HAS BEEN RELEASED TO MY BANK AS OVER PAYMENT. I let the manager no on numerous occasions i can not come in as i am sick and actually came in to see the manager to explain what was going on with hospital trips and doctors trips as i was suffering from a miscarriage at this point. which i do feel like was caused by stress at debenhams, people do take sides here and do talk about each other but do not like it when they are confronted about the things they have said. 

I would not recommend working here unless it is only money you are wanting and not a committed and friendly environment or a permanent job.

Worked at Debenhams for 4 months and the only thing good about the job was the fact I made some really good friends.

The interview for the job went great and I felt as if the manager understood everything I was telling them, especially things to do with my physical and mental health issues. The fact I even got the job after telling them everything was a shock but I felt quite pleased about it. However, from my first day things went downhill quite quickly. They constantly push everyone to try and get customers to open accounts with a Debenhams CREDIT CARD, something I was not told I would be doing in both the job description and the interview. And they don't seem to acknowledge the fact that a lot of their workers have anxiety issues which they were made aware of in the interviews. I myself kept being pushed to try and open one, and when I managed to get a customer to say yes, it was the most awful moment throughout the entire job. Even the customer could tell I was having a hard time and was panicking, and by the end of it all, the customer got declined and I felt like a failure and had wasted a lot of my energy on a process that is apparently only meant to take 5 minutes but in fact took about 30 minutes. All this customer wanted to do was buy their things and go home.

After the ordeal of getting the account and it getting declined, the news quickly spreads throughout the store and a few colleagues who were higher up than myself and had been working there a lot longer, came down to the till and casually talked about my efforts etc with other colleagues while I was stood right there. Honestly, I felt like crying and I counted down the minutes till I was able to switch from tills to the dressing room so I could go and hide for an hour and try to recover from the absolute mess I had just put myself through all for a stupid account.

The rest of the job was pretty simple, and I thoroughly enjoyed working on the dressing room and chatting to the customers and helping them decide on whether they should buy something or if something looks good etc. It was a really fun experience, but I would always dread going back on the tills as I knew I'd have to ask for accounts with each and every purchase.

My advice to Debenhams? Stop forcing your workers to ask for accounts. In fact, stop with the credit card scheme altogether. No one wants them anymore as they can ruin your life and barely anyone can afford to have one these days. No wonder Debenhams is failing and half of their stores are closing down.

Would I recommend working here? If you can handle the stress and pressure and don't mind being belittled and have your feelings and health issues ignored, yes. If you can't, don't even bother applying.

I enjoy working with people of all ages and backgrounds through my part-time job at Debenhams. Working at Debenhams has allowed me to further develop my communication skills through constantly engaging with customers. At times I have to deal with difficult customers, for example unhappy customers that demand refunds on products which clearly under our policy cannot be brought back if the receipt it out of date or if the product is reduced by 50% or more, in which case we can only offer an exchange. Therefore, with the experience and knowledge that I have gained through working at Debenhams, I am required as Senior Sales Advisor to listen to customers as it is in my best interests to help them out with any queries or problems and to assess the customer’s body language and to deal with situations accordingly, in a patient, confident and polite manner. 

I am required to liase with many individuals within my role, however an additional requirement as a Senior Sales Advisor, is to coordinate and delegate tasks to employees whilst mentoring them to develop their skills. I communicate in a friendly, helpful manner with customers at all points of service so that they enjoy and have a memorable shopping experience with us. I have been trained in fittings and am responsible for covering the sales floor when needed, since I have accepted a position as Senior Sales Advisor. 

My role at Debenhams has taught me that team working is essential to achieve the required goals, due to greater creativity leading to more ideas and increased results. Recently being offered the role of Senior Sales Advisor, this has given me the chance to develop my skills further for example leading and directing team members. This skill is demonstrated through leading in-group tasks, by delegating tasks and checking over everyone’s work. Through the experience I have gained at Debenhams, I now feel that I am more confident with being senior so accepted the position. I am able to practice what I have learnt previously and apply those skills when training new Christmas temps, which gives me the perfect opportunity to build more confidence and better my competencies. My job role has now advanced; therefore I am able to put forward skills that have been practiced over time as a Sales Advisor, to heighten the skills that I am currently learning for the new position.

I have stayed at Debenhams for many years. One of the main reasons is my relationship with my colleagues; whom I've become very close to during my time there. 

I enjoy meeting and serving the customers providing the best possible customer service and end product as I can. Giving my own personal recommendations, finding out where the customers are from and making sure they get everything they asked for and more. I also enjoy the preparation of our products: Coffee, cakes, iced drinks, hot and cold sandwiches. I take great pride in the food and drink I supply to the customer. Their positive feedback motivates me more to keep t up, better myself and to continue to provide both excellent customer service as well as the end product. 

One of the main things I've learned is to trust in my own abilities, not too rush and make mistakes, to be able to handle all kinds of customer situations with confidence and maturity. I've also gained a lot of knowledge from training up new members of staff; it keeps all the procedures at the surface which can help better your own performance as well as the new starter.

Management has changed hands very frequently within the last 2/3 years which has lead to a lot of confusion with the operation of the cafe unit. With each new managers wanting to initiate their own system it can disrupt the current flow to which we have to adapt. Because of the regularity of this; I am now able to deal with the constant shift in operation off the back of this. I feel like I work well with new managers who trust my experience and allow me to run the unit as well as deal with any new members of staff.

Working in such a fast paced environment does have its drawbacks, especially when understaffed. You may find you have to fulfil 2 or 3 separate roles at once which becomes a very easy way to lose motivation and lose enthusiasm. But going back to my team; we all look out for each other, motivate and help each other to keep our operation running efficiently and quickly. Being able to work together like that to overcome certain obstacles is an incredibly satisfying feeling.

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