I have worked part time at Marks and Spencer’s for just over 2 years, the hours easily fit around my studies and the pay is definitely worth it.
THE WORK
At the simply food store where I work there are 2 shifts that you can do, either the morning shift or the late shift. The morning shift runs from 6:30am-3:00pm and the night shift runs from 12:00pm-8:30pm, both of these shifts allow 2 half hour breaks.
MORNINGS
If you work the morning shift your day will start with doing 3rd checks on the foods for the previous days date and writing down any items that there are 3 or more of that run out of date on that day so they can be reduced in the afternoon. Once this has been done the delivery should have arrived, depending on the size of your store and the size of the delivery it will probably take until the time the store opens to get all the stock out. Being a customer assistant your role will entail serving customers at the till, filling shelves and if it’s the beginning of the week you will have to do price checks to see if all the tickets are up to date. When you are serving at the tills Marks and Spencer’s have a number of procedures that they like employees to follow; smile, thank you for waiting, offer to pack, make conversation, ask if they will be using a Marks and Spencer’s card and say goodbye. These are the steps that the mystery shopper will look for if they come to you. If you are not on the tills you might be asked to work ambient. Ambient stock is any stock that does not belong in the fridges or freezer; savouries, beers wines and spirits, confectionary, biscuits, groceries and ambient celebration. At around midday all staff will be asked to “rumble”, this is when all the stock in the store has to be pulled forward in order to make it look tidier. Once this has been done the cold chain which is fridge stock will have to be worked again. By the time that has been done it should be time to reduce the items that had been written down earlier. A member of staff will walk around with the lists and take off the stock that there are 3 or more of then take them backstage to record these items and put reduced stickers on. Once this has been done it should be time for the morning team to go home.
EVENINGS
Generally the evening team will carry on sorting out the reduced stock and put them back out onto the shop floor for the customers to buy. Then it should be time to do “DEF WASTE” this is Date expired Food waste. You will be asked to date check a certain area of the store, if you find something that’s out of date you need to take it off the shelves and book it. This stock can be bought by staff at quarter of the price. Waste checks are conducted by 2 different members of staff in order to check that the 1st member of staff hasn’t missed anything. Once this has been done cold chain will have to be worked again. While this is being done one member of staff will have to sort out the newspapers so they can be collected in the morning. Another member of staff will have to go around the store and take off the remaining reduced stock that is on the shelves.
DISCOUNT
Members of staff at Marks and Spencer’s will receive a discount card entitling them to 20% off, this can be used in all Marks and Spencer’s stores. They will also be given the opportunity to get a card for a member of their family so they can also receive discount. One of the best reasons for working at Marks and Spencer’s is the fact that you can buy waste at the end of the night, all foods including the food that had been reduced can be purchased by staff at quarter of the price. Most of the foods can be frozen as well which is a bonus.
UNIFORM
Marks and Spencer’s supply you with all your uniform; black trousers/ skirt, shirt/polo shirt, jacket, gloves. If you work in the warehouse you can also be supplied with safety boots. You are required to wear your name badge at all times; this is one of the things the mystery shopper will look for.
WAGES
Once you are qualified customer assistants receive £6.53 per hour and on a Sunday Marks and Spencer’s pay time and a half. One of the things I disagree with at Marks and Spencer’s is that they pay in advance this gets confusing if you are ill and need time off so I tend to keep a note of all the hours I work extra. You receive 4 weeks paid holiday and also celebration time which will depend on how many hours you work.
OPPERTUNITIES
There are a few opportunities in Marks and Spencer’s stores but these are only really available if you work full time. You could be a first aider, key holder or section co-ordinator. Being a first aider or key holder mean you get an extra 10p and hour. If you are promoted to section co-ordinator I think the wages are around £7.80 per hour.
SHIFTS
Marks and Spencer’s work on a 2 week rota system; week A and week B. You have to work at least one Saturday within these 2 weeks. And your hours must be the same each week. Another good thing about working at M&S is that there are plenty of extra hours over busy times such as Christmas but the store does get extremely busy.
I enjoy working at Marks and Spencer’s and would recommend it to anyone especially students for the flexibility and cheap food