Hawkin's Bazaar

.../> ***ABOUT HAWKINS BAZAAR***
Hawkin's offer a uniqur range of toys, gadgets and gifts for children and afults of all ages. Hawkins have a lot of, out of the ordinary products and also offer a different range of toys and gifts for young children and adults.

Hawkins Bazaar started off as a mail order company in 1973, but due to the succes off this they now have a large chain of shops across the high street. You can also buy ...
...***APPLYING FOR THE JOB/INTERVIEW***
It was quite handy as I was un-employed and was desperate to get a job and I knew the assistant manager of the store where I wanted to work, so I had a very brief interview as I had worked with her before.

I just sat down with the manager and went through a few things with him such as experience/working hours etc, and I also had to fill out an application form as well for their records.
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This review is based on a Christmas Temp Sales Advisor position.

***ABOUT HAWKINS BAZAAR***
Hawkin's offer a uniqur range of toys, gadgets and gifts for children and afults of all ages. Hawkins have a lot of, out of the ordinary products and also offer a different range of toys and gifts for young children and adults.

Hawkins Bazaar started off as a mail order company in 1973, but due to the succes off this they now have a large chain of shops across the high street. You can also buy from their website as well.

***APPLYING FOR THE JOB/INTERVIEW***
It was quite handy as I was un-employed and was desperate to get a job and I knew the assistant manager of the store where I wanted to work, so I had a very brief interview as I had worked with her before.

I just sat down with the manager and went through a few things with him such as experience/working hours etc, and I also had to fill out an application form as well for their records.

As this was an xmas temo job, my last working day was on xmas eve.

***MY ROLE SALES ADVISOR***
I worked here for about 2 months from October 07 until December, 2007. My duties included:

* Putting deliveries out/away

• Stock Replenishment
• Customer Service (Serving customers, helping them, etc)
• Cash Handling (Sometimes I would help count money at the end of the day, when cashing up)
• Training other xmas temp's on the till

I was familiar with the duties as I also worked in the temporary Hawkins Bazaar in Portsmouth a few years before working here!

***DAILY DUTIES***
Sometimes we would be allocated specific tasks to do, but other days we would use our own intiative and if we saw something needed filling up we would go and get stock from the stock-room. We did also got given a section to look after and we would have write a list of stock we needed and then we would go in pairs to fill up a cage with stock and then bring down to the shop floor, ready to put out.

Customer service, was also very big in this store. Customers ask for specific items and they also ask for suggestons for what they should buy people. You have to try and help them to the best of your ability. You will also have to go on the till, to serve the customers. Normally they will have a person for each till and 1 or 2 staff members packing the goods into a bag as well.

A rota is normally done for the till so everyone gets treated fairly, you may also get allocated to stand at specific places in the store to avoid shop-lifters and to help customers out.

***SUNDAY WORKING/BANK HOLIDAYS***
I was a xmas temp and told them I was unable to work Sundays, so I can't comment on this.

***STAFF ROTAS***
Rotas were avaliable in the staff room, which were completed for upto 4 weeks at a time. How-ever if you are an xmas temp your hours are unlucky to change unless you are asked to do extra hours.

***LATE NIGHTS/EXTRA HOURS***
I did work some late nights at this store, which included working until 8pm in the evening. This how-ever would mean that you started later in the day such as 11am., so you are still doing the same hours. As a xmas temp you are expected to work late nights for th xmas period!

***UNIFORM***
You will get given 1 or 2 t-shirts to wear, which are normally red and very christmasy. You will be required to wear these with smart black trousers and sensible, smart work shoes.

***SALARY/WAGES***
I got paid about £5.06 an hour, which got paid into my bank account every week. Tax and National Insurance would get deducted as normal.

***BREAKS/LUNCHES***
I used to work from 9am - 6pm, and I would get 1hr for lunch.

***DISCOUNT/BENEFITS***
You will receive a small bonus if stores meet their targets and you will also be entitled to staff discount on products which if I remember rightly is 25% or 50%, off of full priced items.

***MY OPINION/EXPERIENCE***
This shop is great to work in, with a bright, bubbly atmosphere. How-ever, this shop does get extremely busy and it gets so busy you cant physically move in there yourself because of all the customers. I really enjoyed working here.

You will have customers moaning that you havent got specific items in stock, and expect queues all day of about 10-20 people non-stop. I remember the store I worked in had a queue from the till to the back of the shop and up to the front of the shop again!

If you like to keep busy and like to keep on your toes I would definately suggest working here as a temp. How-ever if you can't face putting up with customers getting rude and annoyed with you i would not suggest it, as you will no doubt get this in here!

(Review also on dooyoo) 

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