Introduction to Job Skill Share

I found Job Skill Share through youtube while looking for IT related videos while taking classes in college. I hope to find my first IT job this year now that I have graduated and believe this site will help give me some real world knowledge of IT.

What precisely do you do? What are the duties/functions/responsibilities of your job? I am a Grocery Replenishment Specialist for a large Supermarket chain. I am mainly responsible for  tracking inventory of merchandise but also stocking shelves and assisting customers.

What is your job like? Fast paced, most of my time is spent restocking product to shelves but I spend a lot of time counting on hand merchandise to ensure there is an accurate amount in our inventory management system. I also remove damaged product from our system and order merchandise as needed to replenish out of stock or sale items.

How much job security do you have in this position? I have a fair amount of job security, the company I work for does not typically layoff or fire employees in general and if you underperform in your position you really only lose the opportunity to get a raise or promotion.

What is a typical day like? I start my day by checking the condition of the section I’m assigned, looking for empty product or sale items. After, I make sure to count items not found and order any product I need. Throughout the day I’ll assist customers find the merchandise they need.

What kind of hours do you normally work? I don’t typically have a normal schedule, it is different every week. Some days I work mornings and mid-shifts, others nights and rarely overnights.

Do you have to put in much overtime or work on weekends? Usual I work both days of the weekend as my normal schedule. No overtime is allowed, 40 hrs or less.

Do you ever take work home with you? No, but I dislike shopping on my days off.

What kinds of problems do you deal with? Finding out why the counts on products are off and making sure there is as few out of stock items as possible. Special orders for customers.

What do you do if you can’t solve a problem on your own? Ask my manager for the best way to handle something and remember it for next time.

What kinds of decisions do you make? Usually how much merchandise to order particularly with sale items. Our system makes suggestions based on prior sales history but does not account for holidays, sports events, or increase or decrease in customers.

Describe some of the toughest situations you’ve faced in this job. Probably hurricanes, I work in a store in Florida and the days leading up to a Hurricane the store is a madhouse and and the week after is trying to fix everything that was messed up and filling all the empty shelves.

To what extent do you interact with customers/clients? I help customers all day every day that I work.

How does your time use vary? Are there busy and slow times or is the work activity fairly constant? The tasks I perform varies throughout the day and some tasks are easier than others but I am constantly doing something with no down time between tasks.

Which other departments, functional units, or levels of the hierarchy do you regularly interact with? I work in the grocery department and regularly interact with the other departments of the store, including the produce, meat, and bakery departments. I also work with my department manager and the store manager.

How much flexibility do you have in determining how you perform your job? I am mostly left alone to perform my responsibilities as I see fit. As long as I am completing the expected workload and my section looks good nobody bothers me.

Is your work primarily individual or predominately in groups or teams? During my shift I am working as an individual but we are a team because when I go home someone else takes over my section.

What do you like and not like about working in this job? I like that I am paid fairly well for what I do and that it is simple enough to allow me to focus on the classes I was taking online for my degree. I dislike the randomness of the schedule and the lack of a work-life balance.

Do you find your job exciting or boring? Why? Seeing weird new products and seeing customers reactions to them is always interesting and even though the it is stressful, hurricanes bring excitement because our regular routine and rules don’t apply. The daily work is relatively boring because it almost always the same work as the day before.

What particular skills or talents are most essential to be effective in your job? Basic work ethic and the ability to keep track of multiple tasks at once and not being afraid of saying I don’t know how to do something..

How did you learn these skills? (Links, Sites, etc) Most skills like learning to use our inventory management system and ordering system requires on the job training and a desire to learn to use them.

What are the educational, requirements for this job? None

Is graduate school recommended? An MBA? Some other graduate degree or certifications? No

How has your job affected your lifestyle? Made it impossible to plan anything more than a few days in advance. Schedules come out Wednesday for work weeks starting Saturday meaning you need to hope you can make appointments and plan to spend time with friends and family on your days off.

To what extent does this job present a challenge in terms of juggling work and family life? My job is the reason I have no work-life balance. I have little to no time to spend with my wife and can not make plans with friends because of schedule issues.

What are the major frustrations of this job? Lack of balance and time to spend with family.

If you could change anything about your job, what would it be? Better scheduling.

Is there a great deal of turnover in this job? Usually no, many people stay for the long haul. We are paid fairly and if someone is going to leave they do in the first 2-3 weeks because of the schedule or because they don’t want to work at the same speed as everyone else and walk around doing nothing productive.

How many people do you supervise? Myself but I am asked to train new hires and help other associates learn what they need to grow in the company.

If you ever left your job, what would most likely drive you away? Work schedule randomness and not being able to plan out any life events.