supermarket checkout till job

[nolaces]

I quite fancy a job working on the checkout tills for one of the big supermarkets, ie Sainsbury's etc.
Do any of you lovely ABers here have any experience of this type of work?
Did/do you enjoy it?
What other things were/are expected of you when working for the supermarket?
and is the salary ok?
Any insight into the job would be greatly appreciated please.
Thank you in advance

[dothawkes31]

Supermarkets do not have a high turn over of staff except at management level. They probably get 100s of applications at their head office every week, if a vacancy arises most likely it is filled within hours by recomendation from the workforce locally.

The second biggest controlable expense in retail is staffing, the biggest being rent, and so if a vacancy does arise the manager will be under pressure to manage without filling the vacancy,.

[nolaces]

Ah I see Dot, thanks for that little bit of info.

[pinkfluffo]

you could always wear trousers, i never wore skirts never ever not even in the summer. But also dont worry as if you are on a checkout noone will really see your legs anyway!

[craft1948]

nolaces just go for it.....if you get the job and find you don't like it you can always leave. The girls who work in my local Tesco always seem happy and their ages must vary from 16 to 60.......just do it.

[nolaces]

I don't wear trousers Pink - I'm not the right build and shape for trousers.
I could get away with wearing pop socks as Craft suggested, IF I was allowed to wear one of my own longer black skirst, rather than one of their knee length skirts supplied with the uniform.

Thanks all for your help everyone, most kind, your replies are helping me loads, thank you, so keep them coming!

[nolaces]

Yeah, you're right Craft - I just might.....

[craft1948]

Not that I know of nokno.....but Zacs does tend to beg outside there quite a lot.....

[dothawkes31]

blimey has karma changed her job again? She's only about 22 and has had more jobs than me already!

[pinkfluffo]

I didnt think it was head office that receives applicants. Usually when you apply to supermarkets you apply at your local one. They will have application forms at the customer service desk, you fill it out and bring it back. Then when they phone you you usually have induction days which is usually in groups and then they pick from the groups who would be most suitable. My local asda generally always have vacancies that need filling, as i would think do most of them.

[dothawkes31]

I didn't think many large businesses had HR depts onsite these days.

[nolaces]

ok, thanks pink

[pinkfluffo]

this is what happened when i applied so thats what i was sharing. Obviously i may be wrong.

[dothawkes31]

fair enough, maybe I am looking at it from a management perspective. We've had work experience kids in this last 2 weeks and they have been brilliant. It's been very tiring for them though as they were not used to being on theirt feet 8 hours a day, I don;t notice it but 15 year olds only stand up when they are told!

[nolaces]

I'm not very good on my feet either to be honest Dot, that's why I thought a checkout job would suit me better..?

[queen 1954]

i work for sainsburys although i do nightshifts.the pay after probation period is £6 .23 an hour.i dont think they have paper application forms anymore, you have to go to their web site look for vacancys and apply online.i think they have longer lengh skirts so pop socks would be ok for you although we have a larger lady who wears ankle socks looks abit odd but they are happy to let her wear them.good luck

[nolaces]

Thank you Queen for replying.
It's Saisbury's that's at the top of my preferred list I must admit, as there always seems to be a nicer atmosphere in our local one somehow.

[DC_FC]

Yes i have experience of working on a till at sainsburys. There was nothing wrong with the job but it is something I couldnt do it full time as it isnt my cup of tea. I did it on occaison when busy but most of the time when busy there wasnt enough staff in at the right time. You need a nice smile, be chatty with people but not too chatty as you could create queues, be calm with problem customers, help customers with packing and notice when people would like a hand when packing eg mothers with a child in pram or baby in its eat in 1 of them trolleys designed for a baby seat and the mother was always appreciative for any help i offered. You could be asked to help put back on the shelf what the stores call put backs where customers decide they dont want an item or it gets left behnd. You may be asked at some point to help out on another department when the checkouts aren't busy.

[DC_FC]

Oh if sainsburys is top of the pile then 10% discount is after 6 months i think, it goes up to 15% at xmas, easter i believe and maybe the summer for a period, you should be told when the 15% discount is due to start so you can make use of it. There is a SSA(sainsburys staff association) that you can join for £1 a month and you can go on trips etc, go out for meals etc and pay a reduced rate and also take another person but they would have to pay of course. If you do join the ssa you also get discounts on car insurance(sainsburys ins), home ins i think and car breakdown. Anything else you would like to know. oh and pay is every 4 weeks so sometimes you would get paid twice in 1 month.

[wiggal]

Hey!

I seem to have completely the opposite opinion to everyone else who has posted!

When I was at college, I had a Saturday job on the tills at my local Somerfield, and OMG did I hate it! It was for all of 6 hours, but in the end I couldnt help but dread my weekend because of it! We had 20% discount, plus for family and friends which was upped at Christmas (but cant quite remember what to!) but I would not put myself through it again unless I realllllllllly had to!