What job do these skills imply to you?
June 11, 2012 8:46 AM Subscribe
[Career Change Filter] My friend is getting out of retail after 10+ years and has no idea what's next. What jobs do his strengths imply to you?
My friend has worked as a manager in an academic bookstore for over a decade. The ridiculously low pay, shitty corporate culture, and ineptitude of his bosses have finally gotten to him. But after so long he's having trouble thinking of what his options are. He's considering opening a small bookshop on his own, but the economy, risks of entrepreneurship, future of the book business, etc are making that seem like a stretch. And he definitely doesn't want to do any sort of online business.
So, beautiful hive mind, what jobs seem good for someone of the below skills?
-Excellent book knowledge...encyclopedic, kung-fu master level book knowledge
-General knowledge of the world of ideas
-Service: can form solid customer relationships, inspired by customers
-Stock-management skills
-Visual Merchandising
-Loyal (obviously!)
-Work-horse, energetic...will often put in 12+ hour days
-Scheduling others
-"Self-motivated" a cliche, but basically he's good at seeing what needs to be done and doing it
-Training/developing other employees who want to be trained (in retail there are a lot of people who don't care, but for those who do care he is an excellent teacher)
-Creative (ex. basically designed the layout of many sections, with an eye to making them more browse-able to the customers. designs most of the displays in the store)
-Working around/with systems (ex. the stock management software is pretty shitty but he's found a million little tricks to get the information he needs from it)
-Good at seeing trends/big picture, not being knee-jerk reactionary to little pieces of intel
-Can work at a fast pace (and I think likes this)
Note:
I personally (and I may be wrong) don't think he would enjoy an office environment. He is very kinetic. Likewise, a job that involves a lot of time in a car or a plane is probably undesirable.
Feel free to ask if it seems like I left anything out or if something would give you a better sense of him as a worker. (ex. Does he love technology? (not really))
Thanks!
My friend has worked as a manager in an academic bookstore for over a decade. The ridiculously low pay, shitty corporate culture, and ineptitude of his bosses have finally gotten to him. But after so long he's having trouble thinking of what his options are. He's considering opening a small bookshop on his own, but the economy, risks of entrepreneurship, future of the book business, etc are making that seem like a stretch. And he definitely doesn't want to do any sort of online business.
So, beautiful hive mind, what jobs seem good for someone of the below skills?
-Excellent book knowledge...encyclopedic, kung-fu master level book knowledge
-General knowledge of the world of ideas
-Service: can form solid customer relationships, inspired by customers
-Stock-management skills
-Visual Merchandising
-Loyal (obviously!)
-Work-horse, energetic...will often put in 12+ hour days
-Scheduling others
-"Self-motivated" a cliche, but basically he's good at seeing what needs to be done and doing it
-Training/developing other employees who want to be trained (in retail there are a lot of people who don't care, but for those who do care he is an excellent teacher)
-Creative (ex. basically designed the layout of many sections, with an eye to making them more browse-able to the customers. designs most of the displays in the store)
-Working around/with systems (ex. the stock management software is pretty shitty but he's found a million little tricks to get the information he needs from it)
-Good at seeing trends/big picture, not being knee-jerk reactionary to little pieces of intel
-Can work at a fast pace (and I think likes this)
Note:
I personally (and I may be wrong) don't think he would enjoy an office environment. He is very kinetic. Likewise, a job that involves a lot of time in a car or a plane is probably undesirable.
Feel free to ask if it seems like I left anything out or if something would give you a better sense of him as a worker. (ex. Does he love technology? (not really))
Thanks!
Interior designer?
posted by space_cookie at 8:53 AM on June 11, 2012
posted by space_cookie at 8:53 AM on June 11, 2012
How about very, very upscale retail, like fine art, antiques, or high-end consumer goods?
posted by deanc at 9:06 AM on June 11, 2012
posted by deanc at 9:06 AM on June 11, 2012
Yeah, he sounds like he's really good at retail... has he definitely ruled out doing retail for a better company?
posted by mskyle at 9:11 AM on June 11, 2012
posted by mskyle at 9:11 AM on June 11, 2012
I have no idea if such a position exists, but could he do something client management or sales related for the companies that sell (books or services) TO these bookstores? Sounds like the right personality and skills.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 9:16 AM on June 11, 2012
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 9:16 AM on June 11, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
Or perhaps something in a museum or auction house where they have something to do with managing collections.
posted by like_neon at 8:50 AM on June 11, 2012 [1 favorite]