Zoë Wundenberg | Retail work experience should be essential

This time of the year earned me my first experience of employment, working for a large retail chain store when I was 19. I never particularly wanted to work in retail for my career option, but I learned valuable skills and empathy in this role that have formed the basis of much of my success as an adult.

Perhaps the thing that surprised me the most when I was working as a retail assistant, was the friendships forged. Our team worked so well together because we liked each other. The senior staff helped and mentored the junior staff, if we didn't meet our targets, we were helped and trained rather than "disciplined" or put under greater pressure to perform, and this enhanced performance and engagement in the work.

The employability skills that I learned here were so valuable. More than just the technical skills like how to balance a till (which, to be honest, I still think involves a little bit of magic that I'm not privy to), receipt in stock, process transactions, think about merchandising etc, it was the underlying knowledge and broad stroke skills I learned that only become apparent in hindsight that really made this experience in retail so valuable.

I learned how to talk to people. How to approach them, engage with them, help them identify their needs and then build solutions with them to meet those needs. I learnt how to handle those "difficult customers" with professionalism and respect, even when I was shown neither in the encounter.

I learned how making things look attractive often attracted buyers, but when you got the item home, you had no idea why you'd bought it - as a consumer as well as a retail assistant, this was particularly useful to know! Although, I don't mind sharing that it took an awfully long time to learn!

I also learned the value of networking in business; of building relationships with customers and inviting existing friends and acquaintances to become customers.

Purchasing comes down to trust.

Do you trust that the person who is selling you the item is telling you the truth about its quality, serviceability, appropriateness for what you want it for?

The only way you can build trust is to establish rapport and demonstrate your honesty and transparency: never cover up an element of the product that may be unsuitable because a sale today may very well turn into a return tomorrow (plus, you know, it's not the right thing to do).

I also learned that sometimes, when you have a customer who is looking for a product, and the one you have to sell isn't quite suitable but they are thinking about purchasing it anyway, telling them about an alternative elsewhere you know about that is more suitable may be a poor business choice in the moment, but in the long term, you've likely made a customer for life. Why? Because trust.

Sometimes short-term pain is worth long-term gain in business.

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I actually landed one of my most interesting employment opportunities while working for the summer at this retail chain store.

I randomly served a lady who gave me the contact details of a big antiquities dealer in Melbourne, who dealt in ancient and medieval antiquities (as well as the more "recent" antiques).

I ended up working for him for a year, and while the experience wasn't all sunshine and roses, I remain grateful for the opportunity to be around those antiquities, learn a little about the business and listen to his stories of tracking them down overseas (including a stint in a Turkish prison!).

You just never know where your next opportunity will come from, nor what your current activities will lead to. Retail is hard work, but the skills you learn make it worth the experience.

I strongly believe everyone should work in retail or hospitality when they are younger.

If more people did, I think we'd have greater compassion and empathy for those working under incredible stress to try and make those seemingly incapable of being satisfied with service happy. Maybe we'll have less of those "difficult customers" if we all realise what it's like on the other side of the counter.