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I have an interview on Tuesday at Mind Charity shop in Town

Mr Allen

Mr Allen

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
In 2 minds about it because last year I worked in another Mind shop in Hillsborough, Sheffield for 3 months before I resigned because they kept sending me Home early because there was nothing to do, and I'm a bit concerned same thing will happen here even though it's a City Centre branch.

I did specify when I set the interview up last week that my main skills lie in Customer service having worked in several Charity shops over the years, and that due to physical problems I can't fold clothes or do that kind of manual work.

Do you think it's worth attending the interview?

Other thing is, as mentioned I've been doing Charity shop work for years, should I move on and look for better work or stick to "more of the same"? Bare in mind I'm HFA.
 
Sounds like a great opportunity...city center and all that... but it all depends on you... might be a good choice to work there...might be able to make a contact there that could maybe even get you a link to another job...possibility right...
 
You have nothing to lose trying. But this time around perhaps it's time to face the realities of your situation.

I've found that with basic retail jobs there are few positions that don't involve physical handling of merchandise for inventory purposes. I once worked as a cashier, but was also expected to interact with customers in showing and explaining merchandise. But when business was slow, I was also expected to restock inventory and clean up. So there was always something for me to do as a paid employee.

Doing charity work however, you'll always likely be faced with the possibility of being sent home having only the limited option of verbally dealing with customers who at times won't be there. There's just no point in being resentful or frustrated to the point of quitting. The odds of you finding a job in retail where that doesn't happen is probably remote at best.

In essence, under the circumstances you have to accept your own limitations rather than those of your employer.

Otherwise the only suggestion I can think of to instead use all that free time to learn some real skills on the computer. Where whether for pay or not someone might appreciate you in a sedentary capacity where you aren't sent home when business may be slow. Where instead of merely dealing with customers, you're actually charged with creating something.

That would be my choice if I was in your situation.
 
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I've been to interviews where I've either not wanted the job, or knew I'd have no chance of getting it. I always go just to practice interview techniques. A opportunity is a opportunity, I would guess that a charity shop in a city center would be more busy.
I wouldn't know what it would entail manually as I've never worked in retail/charity shops.
Good luck Rich Allen :)
 
Since you agreed to the interview then you need to go - first and foremost, be a man of honor and integrity by doing the things you say you'll do.
 
I just took a call at my Parents' about the "job", she says they have no vacancies at the moment because on the days I'm free to volunteer they're fully Staffed, I didn't say it on the phone but after I was literally like, WTF?! Why did she not tell me that yesterday then I wouldn't have wasted my time attending the flippin' interview!

In the end I was very polite, and said I'd look elsewhere, even though she said she'd keep a copy of my CV on file and in the extremely unlikely (IMO) event anyone leaves and a spot opens up, she'd be in touch, meh, I have more chance of winning something on tonight's Lottery than someone conveniently leaving a job to create an opening for me, Charity shops tend to be Staffed by Students and old people, who have endless time to give.
 
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And that is how it goes in real life, you invest time and effort in a direction and sometimes the direction changes. The best thing you can show to an employer is the flexibility to follow the change in direction without being affected or impacting others.
 
Keigan said:
And that is how it goes in real life, you invest time and effort in a direction and sometimes the direction changes. The best thing you can show to an employer is the flexibility to follow the change in direction without being affected or impacting others.
Click to expand...

And therein lies the problem, if I could be flexible, I would, but the hours I can work are dictated by my care arrangements, 27 hours per week, which in about 3 weeks will be changing because the company that does my care now are going bust on the 27th.
 
Maybe you got interviewed for 2 reasons. One- these companies can't predict their situations, so if they lose someone, they could hire you in place of the person that left.
Two- maybe they have statistics to meet, so even though they might not actually want you, they interview you to go through the motions.
 
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