SoapZone Community Message Board

I had my interview at Chico's yesterday and it went well. The store manager (SM) told me to "think it over for a couple of days" and get back to her on Wednesday but I feel the job is mine to accept or reject.

Reasons I should accept the job:

- I *need* to do something. Just sitting around the house all day isn't good for me physically or mentally

- the job is reasonably close (about the same amount of driving time as my last job), in a lovely little town

- the store is small and not very busy, so there probably wouldn't be a time where there was a line at the cash register and people grumbling about having to wait

- I would be able to add "customer service"/ "retail experience" to my resume

- employees get a 65% discount on all store merch (I do love me some Chico's clothes)

- and the two most important reasons...I'm down to probably about 8-9 months left of savings, which is making me twitchy, and no other potential employee has reached out to me

Reasons to reject the job:

- it's not only part-time, it's likely only 10-15 hours a week. Which of course means no benefits

- the pay is terrible. I was quoted "$12-13/hr" and since I don't have retail experience, I'd likely get $12. Which isn't even enough to cover my monthly car payment, let alone the rest of my bills

- there could be very small raises down the road but no advancement. The store is too small for that.

- I would be on my feet the entire shift. No opportunity to sit down, even for short stretches. After 30+ years standing on steel-reinforced concrete, my feet get very unhappy if I'm on them for more than a couple hours straight.

- there's a pretty strict dress code. Obviously I wouldn't show up to this kind of job in a ratty T-shirt and sweatpants but they expect their employees to wear Chico's clothing, current if possible. SM told me she would be OK with jeans not from Chico's as long as the top covered the logo, and she'd also be OK with very basic pieces in neutral colors as long as I accented it with a lot of jewelry. Shoes can be whatever I want but if I wear sandals, they have to be "strappy" (no flip flops, which isn't a problem as I don't wear flip flops anyways) and my pedicure needs to be "perfect" if my toes are showing. Oh, and no tank tops or sleeveless dresses, unless I throw a cardigan or jeans jacket over it. Right now my wardrobe consists of older clothing you can wear to work in a factory, casual wear that's clearly cheaper brands and NOT Chico's and dressy clothes that are bright colors and again clearly not Chico's. So I'd have to do some clothes shopping...

- SM would be fine with me getting a second part time job but she cannot guarantee me the same hours every week, so I wouldn't be able to tell another employer "Oh, I'm always available on x days at x hours".

- SM was...kind of intense about how proud she is that she came on two years ago and increased the store sales almost 50%. Intense in a "don't screw that up!" kind of way. I was also a bit put off by how she refers to her employees--all older women--as "girls". GIRLS? What is this, 1954?

- the store is, of course, somewhat upscale and the town is full of wealthy people. SM told me some would expect me to "dress" them from head to toe, suggesting tops to go with bottoms, jackets to go over tops, jewelry from head to toe, etc. She also said there's a lot of...expectations from regular customers who basically want you to be attentive to the point of fawning. Not sure I can provide that level of obsequiousness and keep a civil tongue in my head <g>.

I have honestly been going back and forth about this for hours. Some times I think "it's not permanent, it'd be good experience...maybe...some income is better than no income". And other times I think "standing all shift, not having a permanent schedule, being grossly underpaid in a wealthy town in a store that charges $50 for a T-shirt, having to basically buy a new wardrobe, having to kowtow to rich b!tches and take the abuse many entitled Karens like to lay on salespeople". I asked a quintet of friends what they think I should do...while all of them will support me no matter what, three said "RUN!", one said "suck it up and give it a try" and one said she's praying for me. Mostly I wonder if my reluctance to take the job is me listening to my gut and knowing what's best for myself or me once again resisting a (potentially) long-term change. Like Sparky once said--affectionately!--I overthink things 😁

Thoughts?