help me navigate the world of retail/hospitality part-time jobs
September 28, 2013 8:22 AM   Subscribe

I need a part-time job to make some sort of income while I'm completing a post-bacc. I am okay with mindless jobs because my classes exhaust my brain enough. I am trying to decide between the hospitality industry vs retail. Share your knowledge so that I can have a better grasp on the pros/cons of each.

I have some retail experience and while I did not like it per se, I would not mind doing it again. I have no experience as a waitress/bartender.

I am drawn to these fields because of the flexible hours and because I cannot commit to a job for longer than a year or two due to plans for professional school.

Here's my understanding so far (please fill in the gaps/correct any glaring errors in what I think I know)--

Waitressing/cocktail waitressing/bartending/hostessing: better pay because of tips, more flexible hours but also more irregular hours (i.e., late nights, frequency of 12 hr shifts), lack of experience may be a huge obstacle for me, have to deal with rude customers

Retail: all the downfalls of micro-managing BUT free/discounted clothes and a decent hourly pay ($13?) if I work in NYC at a high-end store. I want to work for a designer/boutique that I like a lot but can't afford full price. Also has potential for commission. Problem could result from spending bulk of paycheck on clothes.

Let me know which field seems better for my situation, and any other jobs with flexible hours/OK pay/don't require a significant commitment. Also ways to get my foot in the door. I'm young, attractive, friendly, and female FWIW.

Thanks!
posted by DayTripper to Work & Money (10 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Possible third option: if it works with your schedule and you like kids, I spent years working in various after-school programs. It's decent pay, and you can frequently pick up extra babysitting on the side. Many private schools run their own after-school-- it's basically daycare from end of school til parents finish work.
posted by nonasuch at 8:33 AM on September 28, 2013


I worked a retail job while I was transitioning from one part of life to another, and when I took that job, I thought this would be sort of mindless work. I'd come from an intense job in higher education administration so I believed I could handle the stresses of a retail job.

I was so wrong.

While the company I worked for was not a clothing store, it did sell products I enjoyed using. I enjoyed shopping there, so surely I'd enjoy working there, right?

Again, I was wrong.

Working that job sucked my soul dry. We were micromanaged by an unhealthy megalomanic and our company had a million ridiculous rules that felt like being in kindergarten all over again. Minus the snacks.

I know that you've gotta do what you've gotta do, and since you have an end date in mind, the stint in retail might be more bearable, but be aware of how draining working with people in a retail environment can be. I routinely got home with no energy left at all, and I would not have done my best work if I had classes to do at the time. Caveat: I was full-time at the retail gig. Being part time would have made a tremendous difference in my overall quality of life.

Having said all of that...take the job that you think will give you the most predictability if that's important to you. Having a different schedule everyday, and then different from week to week, was Not Good For Me. Like, seriously, not good. I need predictability and routine and retail was anti- both of those things.

Keep in mind that when you're out of school for Thanksgiving or Christmas, retail and food service establishments are fired up and in full swing. Working on Christmas Eve and the day after Thanksgiving is a reality you will likely have to face in either of those positions.

I know this is not the most encouraging response, but enter these jobs with your eyes wide open! Is there any way you could get work in some sleepy corner of the university you're attached to? The job may not be a forever-job, but you only need it to be a right-now kind of job.
posted by heathergirl at 8:40 AM on September 28, 2013 [3 favorites]


I had a friend in grad school who swore by being a night clerk at a hotel - lots of quiet time for reading.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:48 AM on September 28, 2013 [6 favorites]


People can be pretty rude when you're working retail too. Maybe not as much as in restaurants (I've had several retail jobs but none in restaurants so I can't really compare them), but it's inevitable that it will happen occasionally.

You can make pretty good commission in retail sales. My sister used to make way more than her base salary working in a shoe department in a department store (not even a high end one).

Also based on my sister's experience, with waitressing and bartending, I would say that there is bigger chance of sexual harrassment (from coworkers and managers) in the restaurant industry. That's a huge generalization obviously and depends on the specific place you work but it seemed to consistently be a thing with those kind of jobs as compared to retail.

One other thing to consider might be working as a hotel front desk clerk. You can make commission on booking tours and packages. When I was a front desk clerk we used to sometimes take home an additional 50-150 dollars a day on a good weekend day. (This was in southern California with Disneyland, Universal Studios, etc. tours/packages, so it might be kind of location specific).

Also, maybe register with a few temp agency for admin assistant type work. That will be low-commitment/temporary jobs, and sometimes agencies have part-time temp jobs that will work around your school schedule.
posted by treese at 8:49 AM on September 28, 2013 [3 favorites]


Like heathergirl I also found almost every retail job I ever had to be soul-sucking and exhausting. Mindless, in a way, compared to school, but you're using other parts of your brain and it's not at all enjoyable. I've never waited tables, though, so I can't compare.

I wonder if there's a reason you're not considering part-time reception or admin work? In an office that isn't too busy, that really can be easy, and you might even have time to study. (I think the above ideas about clerking might be even better. Just any job where not much happens, but a human has to sit at a desk just in case.)
posted by DestinationUnknown at 8:52 AM on September 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


Restaurant work can be difficult to "wind down" from, especially if you have co-workers who like to have a few drinks after a shift- you'll end up spending the money you just made and staying out too late.

There are often blowhards who haze newcomers, and you'd need to find a very patient manager willing to mentor you. Front of house jobs are hard to get without experience, but it can be done. Look for a pooled house that prides itself on fostering talent, not a MAKE MONEY AT ALL TIMES high octane place.

If you land an interview do some homework beforehand, have a sense of the style of food and service the place is going for.

As far as rude customers, I worked as a waiter on and off for 20 years (doing it now, actually) and can't say that was a or is a problem. Asshole co-workers/hard-ass bosses would be much higher on the list.

Mefimail me if you want to pick my brain.
posted by vrakatar at 9:01 AM on September 28, 2013


Maybe also consider working at a grocery store or a place like Target. That's what I did from high school through college and I liked it a lot. (Pick a store that seems to have happy employees - I guess this would work for any place you think about working).
posted by dawkins_7 at 9:18 AM on September 28, 2013


Oh, as far as hours go with hotel/motel jobs. I don't know if this is a universal thing but the places I worked had three shifts: 7 am - 3 pm, 3 pm - 11 pm, and 11 pm - 7 pm, and were open to having employees that worked only 2 or 3 days a week. So schedule-wise it's possible to do this while going to school.

In one of my jobs I worked only Saturday and Sunday from 7 am to 3 pm. With the other I worked a couple days a week on the 3 pm to 11 pm shift, which was late enough to get there in time after my classes in the morning.

As far as the soul-sucking aspect that people have mentioned, that is present in hotel jobs too, in my experience. Basically with any kind of customer service job, the vast majority of people you deal with will be fine or even very nice, but there will be a few that are awful and feel entitled to treat you terribly because they've paid some money for something. And people being rude is only one source of it. Even if the customer/guest is being polite and patient, sometimes situations come up that are just stressful and you don't know exactly what to do.

The last retail job I had, my last few years of college, was the best service oriented job I've ever had. It was at a store that used to be a coop and basically everyone that I worked with and the overwhelming majority of customers were all really nice, and also there weren't many situations where I didn't know what to do. So something stressful happening/someone being rude would only happen once every month or two instead of once every week or two in other jobs. But I think it's going to happen occasionally even in the best circumstances.

So the bigger thing to figure out is whether you have the kind of personality that deals with that well and doesn't get stressed out being put on the spot and can brush it off on the occasions when someone is rude to you. There are definitely people who are like that and do great in those kind of jobs. I'm not. I get my feelings hurt easily and I don't think on the spot well so customer service oriented jobs were always pretty stressful for me. But if you're not like that, then I don't think you should be discouraged by me and other commenters mentioning this aspect of thing.
posted by treese at 9:21 AM on September 28, 2013


It might be different depending on where you work but I really enjoyed both of the retail jobs I had as a student; my first in an independent toy store while I was at college and another working on the furniture sales team at a trendy home goods store while I was at university.

Perhaps as an attractive, attentive and well presented young lady you could give furniture sales a go - either at a home goods place, department store or perhaps a specialist showroom / dealer?

The furniture store I worked at was pretty cool place to work and surprisingly low key sales wise; just being around, approaching people if they looked like they wanted to talk, being friendly, showing a interest and knowing enough to explain the products and take them through the ordering process it was pretty simple and generally involved selling pleasant middle class people the stuff they'd come through the door to buy and had no problem affording so was a very enjoyable and very sociable job and an often excellent commission at the end of the month as a thank-you.

Since leaving furniture I've always looked back on it with affection and would have been happy to go back into similar independent / low key places without hesitation had the situation arose.
posted by Middlemarch at 11:05 AM on September 28, 2013


I spend a lot of time in hotels and there are a lot of people in your situation that work the front desk or concierge desk. (The absolute best job is the concierge lounge - free time and tips.)

If you like kids, then a high volume child care situation is great (think the baby sitting at the gym). That will lead to baby sitting gigs which give you plenty of study time after the kiddos hit the hay.
posted by 26.2 at 11:46 AM on September 28, 2013


« Older Place in Baltimore (Mt. Vernon area) to watch the...   |   Perfect fabrics for work wear Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.