Trust me, you might think it is fun, but the caliber of people you will work with will be an eye opener. My friend works for Walmart (WM) and she tells me stories you wouldn't believe of some of her coworkers. She formerly worked in banking for 20 years and in HR for around 10 years but during the recession lost her job and couldn't find a decent job. Now she is close to retirement.
One woman who worked at my friends WM was killed by her boyfriend. Another one is divorced with two kids and broke but sending money to some guy in Africa who she thinks is in love with her. Others my friend has had to train that can't be trained. They just don't have the skills to learn. She has done everything but stand on her head to help these people learn but they just don't get it! Then there is the local grocery store that has bottle returns and the machines are always full or malfunctioning. They always send the new guy out to remedy the situation. Gathering up the shopping carts out in the snow or rain. Then the hours usually are horrible. They won't give you enough hours to get benefits. You will work weekends or second or third shift. Don't forget all the holidays. Most stores don't shut down for any holidays. If the store opens on Black Friday at 1 am, you will be scheduled to come in to work the hellish night shift and deal with these customers rampaging thru the store. People do disgusting things in the bathrooms and you might be told to clean it up. They are not very tolerant of absences no matter what the excuse. Don't think you will get overtime. They schedule very tightly and expect you to be there on time and leave on time. To go from a corporate type job to a retail gig is really not easy to swallow. But, good luck if you try this!
My youngest child is still in college, so I've heard from them -- and from my high school seniors -- what goes on in retail jobs these days. Some of it's hard to believe. Some people make make, um, "messes" not only in bathrooms ... some people take their kids into a dressing room and allow them to pee /poop in to a bottle or onto a pair of the store's jeans. Customers are rude to retail workers about prices /available merchandise -- as if the minimum wage cashier does the ordering. I've seen it with my children, and I've heard it from my students: Retails workers aren't treated very well; in fact, they're treated like they're disposable. I think it's because it's a low-skill job, and the workers are very easy to replace -- still, people shouldn't be treated like they're disposable.
Things you should expect if you're going to work in retail:
- Awful hours; for example, my daughter worked 'til 2am on Black Friday, and she'll work until 2am again for inventory. She works 'til 11pm on a regular basis. And holidays -- people shop on holidays.
- In some clothing stores, you're required to wear not only the store's clothing, but the current season's clothing. I think I've heard this (from my students) about American Eagle and Abercrombie. For a minimum wage worker, that's a tall order.
- Lack of parking. Yes, seriously! This has been a big problem for my daughter, who works at a busy mall. During the Christmas season, we drove her to work /picked her up (fortunately it's only a 10 minute drive) when she worked 'til closing because in the evening hours you literally can't find a parking space. This is the type of thing you'd never think is a real problem ... 'til you're driving around looking for a place to park.
I'd be willing to work retail on a seasonal basis ... if it were going to be short-term and especially if it'd allow me to get a discount on something I want to buy.
I'm not surprised to hear you say that some workers just aren't trainable. They come through my high school classes: People so dumb they literally can't run a cash register or hold three instructions in their mind at once. These people are small in number, but I really don't know how they make it in the world. Most of my students who do poorly are just lazy, but a few genuinely "cannot do".
Of course, I've also seen a couple students who were genuinely dumb, but they found their way into the right job for them; for example, one of my kids worked at a restaurant for a short time, and one of my old students -- a genuinely bottom-of-the-barrel-student -- was the head waitress. She was an
excellent waitress. It was "her thing", and I'm glad she found something she could do.
A few jobs that I would like to do, and would consider doing even without a FIRE failure due to the perks include ushering or selling tickets at the local playhouse, selling tickets at the museum, art gallery, or even working in the gift shop.
One of my retirement possibilities: A playhouse near us takes volunteers as ushers. The majority seem to be senior citizens. It'd be a great way to see concerts and plays ... for free. The negatives, in my case, are that the place is an hour's drive from my house, parking is difficult downtown, and I don't know that I'd enjoy seeing the same thing multiple times.
Does anybody know what's involved in getting a job like ski instructor, ski patrol, park ranger, guide, or other outdoors related jobs?
Years ago we went on a tour at a state park out west -- really great tour; a splurge, but we still talk about it a decade later. It was the first tour of the day, and our family was alone on the tour, so we talked a great deal to the old guy who served as driver /guide. He told us that he lives in Texas, but he can't take the summer heat, so he goes to South Dakota and works as a guide -- he was a really good guide -- full of stories and fun to talk to. As we drove around, he showed us the workers' campground. My husband and I talked about it later and said we'd enjoy doing that as seasonal work.
One last thought: I was talking to an older guy who was running the cash register at the grocery store, and -- I don't remember how this came up -- he told me it's a great part-time job for a retired person. He's retired from the corporate world, and he told me he enjoyed working with the teenagers who mostly staff the store. I asked him if he gets a discount on groceries, and he said no -- but he says he gets first crack at the reduced-for-quick-sale items, and that's worthwhile.