Processing, processing...
Well, today has been a rather strange day.
About a month ago I posted that I was waiting for Helga, the Dept Mgr of ladies wear to put in her notice and retire. She decided she was retiring at the end of May but I guess didn't put in her official notice until about a couple of weeks ago. Management posted that the job would be open to people applying until last Friday. The process is that Dave (store mgr) interviews the top 3 likely prospects. Besides myself there was Heather, who took care of the department for a couple of months the last time Helga was out with knee surgery and she's actually been a Dept Mgr before - men's wear; Wanda, the Dept Mgr of produce who was mgr of boys & girls dept before Dave made it one large department with infants and Michelle, the Dept Mgr of OTC Pharmacy. So you can see, as far as seniority in the company, I was low woman on the totem pole.
Turns out Friday morning, Dave offered the job to Kathy, my Dept Mgr in infants and kids. Kathy is a little energizer bunny. She a dynamo, knowledgeable, she's been with the company for almost 27 years (I think she's barely in her 40s) and she's just a hell of a nice person and she'd expressed interest in the department in the past. But she turned it down. She told Dave that the way the department was now, cut down by nearly 1/2 and tucked in the middle instead of up front the way it used to be, would be no challenge for her so she'd stick with infants.
But by the end of the day the position for ladies wear was off the message board and the position of Dept mgr of produce was open. Wanda wasn't there that day but we all assumed she got the job. I was a little bummed, not because I didn't get the job (although that too) but because I wasn't even interviewed for it.
Dave was either off or tied up with his boss for the next couple of days and everything was in limbo. About an hour after I got in at noon I got a call to go back to the mgrs office. Dave was there, he sat me down and said that Kathy was taking over ladies wear and would I like to interview for department manager of infants and kids (the department I work in now). I said yes but asked what change that Kathy had accepted the offer.
It seems the mega-bucks and months that the company spent on the remodel last month were partly a bust. People hate the way parts of the store are set up, particularly the clothing departments. So we're going back to pretty much the way it was with racks instead of freaking huge walls. Plus ladies is going back up front and all the kids departments are shrinking a little (halle-fucking-lujah! they're too huge and spread out now) and moving back toward the back of the store. Woo-hoo! The mini-remodel will take place from June 5th to July 10th. Dave just got the new floor plan in the mail today.
So Dave asked me 6 questions that other people seem to find weird. Even Dave mentioned that they may seem a little 'off-the-wall' but for someone who's been a store mgr before they're very common and logical questions along the lines of 'Tell me about a time you had to take steps to rectify a situation. What did you do? What resources did you use?' Luckily, having been a mgr for many years, I have a lot of these types of situations to draw from.
Dave thanked me, told me I was the first he'd interviewed and that he wanted to interview at least 3 people and he'd let me know. About 2 hours later Rich - the assistant mgr over clothing - came by to say that Dave wanted to see me. So I went back.
I got the job.
There are pros and cons to this situation.
Pros:
*I know the department pretty damn well.
*Pay raise. It's still not as much as I made at my last job but I won't have to do the plasma thing anymore. Except maybe to just pad my savings account.
*Full time with a set schedule. With very few exceptions I'll be off by 4 pm every day.
*I will no longer be pulled all over the store to work a cash register, etc.
*When Dave interviewed Heather and asked her if she'd consider infants, etc. she said ohh! no! But she'd be glad to come help me because I'd need a strong back up. She told me she hoped she didn't offend me by saying that. I pffted and said of course not because it was true. It would be true even if I weren't a new dept mgr. My one question to Dave after the interview was 'Would there be a competent, full time person replacing me as second in the dept?' because even Kathy (as good and experienced as she is) flounders under such a large work load without me there. So Heather is going to be my second!
Cons:
*I know the department pretty damn well. It's a large and complex department and it's not one I would actually choose to begin as a department mgr in. But beggars can't be choosers.
*I have to be at work at 7am. That one won't be as bad as it would have been at the beginning though because it's only an hour earlier than I usually show up now.
*I'm inheriting Jackie V. She works boys & girls in the evenings and on weekends. She's very competent but she also quite unhappy working at WalMart (she's been there off and on for quite a few years) and she can get quite emotional under the wrong kind of pressure. Emotional with tears.
*I'll no longer be able to take my days off together. All dept mgrs who were hired after a certain date have to work either Sat or Sun and the other day off can't be Mon or Fri. So I'll have Sat and Wed off. This is kinda big for me. I'm really going to miss my 2 days off together to decompress and unwind. I'm just hoping that the lack of severe money stress will make up for it.
*Last but not least, once you step up to dept mgr you're in the cross-hairs and half of the infant department is a 'consumables' area (necessities that are bought daily like baby food, formula, diapers and wipes) and these areas are under constant scrutiny.
Well, it's not like I'm locked into the position for the rest of my life. I'll give it a go and see how I like it. In the meantime I believe I'm still going to put in job applications but I can now afford to be rather choosey.
I really need to go to bed. I'm very tired because I didn't get home until after 9:30 and I have to be up at 6 am, but unfortunately my mind is whirling like a hamster on a wheel so I don't think sleep will come anytime real soon.
Wish me luck! The position and the raise starts day after tomorrow. Or rather the day after that because I don't work on Sat.
About a month ago I posted that I was waiting for Helga, the Dept Mgr of ladies wear to put in her notice and retire. She decided she was retiring at the end of May but I guess didn't put in her official notice until about a couple of weeks ago. Management posted that the job would be open to people applying until last Friday. The process is that Dave (store mgr) interviews the top 3 likely prospects. Besides myself there was Heather, who took care of the department for a couple of months the last time Helga was out with knee surgery and she's actually been a Dept Mgr before - men's wear; Wanda, the Dept Mgr of produce who was mgr of boys & girls dept before Dave made it one large department with infants and Michelle, the Dept Mgr of OTC Pharmacy. So you can see, as far as seniority in the company, I was low woman on the totem pole.
Turns out Friday morning, Dave offered the job to Kathy, my Dept Mgr in infants and kids. Kathy is a little energizer bunny. She a dynamo, knowledgeable, she's been with the company for almost 27 years (I think she's barely in her 40s) and she's just a hell of a nice person and she'd expressed interest in the department in the past. But she turned it down. She told Dave that the way the department was now, cut down by nearly 1/2 and tucked in the middle instead of up front the way it used to be, would be no challenge for her so she'd stick with infants.
But by the end of the day the position for ladies wear was off the message board and the position of Dept mgr of produce was open. Wanda wasn't there that day but we all assumed she got the job. I was a little bummed, not because I didn't get the job (although that too) but because I wasn't even interviewed for it.
Dave was either off or tied up with his boss for the next couple of days and everything was in limbo. About an hour after I got in at noon I got a call to go back to the mgrs office. Dave was there, he sat me down and said that Kathy was taking over ladies wear and would I like to interview for department manager of infants and kids (the department I work in now). I said yes but asked what change that Kathy had accepted the offer.
It seems the mega-bucks and months that the company spent on the remodel last month were partly a bust. People hate the way parts of the store are set up, particularly the clothing departments. So we're going back to pretty much the way it was with racks instead of freaking huge walls. Plus ladies is going back up front and all the kids departments are shrinking a little (halle-fucking-lujah! they're too huge and spread out now) and moving back toward the back of the store. Woo-hoo! The mini-remodel will take place from June 5th to July 10th. Dave just got the new floor plan in the mail today.
So Dave asked me 6 questions that other people seem to find weird. Even Dave mentioned that they may seem a little 'off-the-wall' but for someone who's been a store mgr before they're very common and logical questions along the lines of 'Tell me about a time you had to take steps to rectify a situation. What did you do? What resources did you use?' Luckily, having been a mgr for many years, I have a lot of these types of situations to draw from.
Dave thanked me, told me I was the first he'd interviewed and that he wanted to interview at least 3 people and he'd let me know. About 2 hours later Rich - the assistant mgr over clothing - came by to say that Dave wanted to see me. So I went back.
I got the job.
There are pros and cons to this situation.
Pros:
*I know the department pretty damn well.
*Pay raise. It's still not as much as I made at my last job but I won't have to do the plasma thing anymore. Except maybe to just pad my savings account.
*Full time with a set schedule. With very few exceptions I'll be off by 4 pm every day.
*I will no longer be pulled all over the store to work a cash register, etc.
*When Dave interviewed Heather and asked her if she'd consider infants, etc. she said ohh! no! But she'd be glad to come help me because I'd need a strong back up. She told me she hoped she didn't offend me by saying that. I pffted and said of course not because it was true. It would be true even if I weren't a new dept mgr. My one question to Dave after the interview was 'Would there be a competent, full time person replacing me as second in the dept?' because even Kathy (as good and experienced as she is) flounders under such a large work load without me there. So Heather is going to be my second!
Cons:
*I know the department pretty damn well. It's a large and complex department and it's not one I would actually choose to begin as a department mgr in. But beggars can't be choosers.
*I have to be at work at 7am. That one won't be as bad as it would have been at the beginning though because it's only an hour earlier than I usually show up now.
*I'm inheriting Jackie V. She works boys & girls in the evenings and on weekends. She's very competent but she also quite unhappy working at WalMart (she's been there off and on for quite a few years) and she can get quite emotional under the wrong kind of pressure. Emotional with tears.
*I'll no longer be able to take my days off together. All dept mgrs who were hired after a certain date have to work either Sat or Sun and the other day off can't be Mon or Fri. So I'll have Sat and Wed off. This is kinda big for me. I'm really going to miss my 2 days off together to decompress and unwind. I'm just hoping that the lack of severe money stress will make up for it.
*Last but not least, once you step up to dept mgr you're in the cross-hairs and half of the infant department is a 'consumables' area (necessities that are bought daily like baby food, formula, diapers and wipes) and these areas are under constant scrutiny.
Well, it's not like I'm locked into the position for the rest of my life. I'll give it a go and see how I like it. In the meantime I believe I'm still going to put in job applications but I can now afford to be rather choosey.
I really need to go to bed. I'm very tired because I didn't get home until after 9:30 and I have to be up at 6 am, but unfortunately my mind is whirling like a hamster on a wheel so I don't think sleep will come anytime real soon.
Wish me luck! The position and the raise starts day after tomorrow. Or rather the day after that because I don't work on Sat.