# Just started at Old Navy today - HATE it! Felt like crap. :(



## Storm in Jupiter (May 19, 2014)

Sorry - I posted this in the other "work" thread before realizing this is where it should have gone - my bad!

So, after a few training meetings, today was my first official day on the floor and I was told to do recovery of clothes in the fitting rooms. I also had to be on the cash register while the main girl went on break.

I made several mistakes at the cash register and probably came across as a flustered buffoon. I was also so slow at putting clothes back because it was hard for me to find where garments were supposed to go - I felt like such a failure and an incompetent idiot.

This is the first "real" job I've ever had at the age of 23 and many years of social anxiety that has prevented me from living life as a normal person. My interviews went surprisingly well and I think I convinced the managers that I was "normal" and capable, but now I feel like I'm only proving that I'm a **** up and totally inept.

Not sure if I should quit or try to stick it out. Gosh, even just answering the phone and talking on the walkie talkie to the managers and other employees is really difficult for me. T_T I'm already thinking of quitting but at the same time I feel like I will be even more of failure and a jerk for wasting everyone's time.


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## mca90guitar (Sep 12, 2012)

Damn man, settle down. Its was your first day, no one expects you to be perfect and know it all the day you start.

You will have it down by your second week for the most part im guessing, takes a little to learn where everything belongs. When I worked at a store the cashiers would train for a week with the lead and they still made mistakes when put on their own, its expected for a new employee. 

Also do not quit, you will never get any work experience if you give up so fast, it will look horrible for future interviews when they see a list of jobs you quit after a week. Tough it out and make the best of it.


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## Storm in Jupiter (May 19, 2014)

I guess I'm just very hard on myself in general (and hella insecure), and I've also been dealing with severe depression the last few years, as well as an eating disorder. Most of the time, my emotions are not stable, though I can usually put on a cheerful disposition for strangers who don't know my true inner demons. 

I don't talk much about my issues with anyone, so everything gets bottled up and negatively internalized. When I make mistakes, I ruminate over them constantly and it's hard for me to get over small things. *sigh* I'm trying.


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## monotonous (Feb 1, 2013)

are you kidding me i would love to work at a fashion store


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## Imbored21 (Jun 18, 2012)

Sounds hard as ****. I would've quit already. Good luck. You'll get better.


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## lonerchick (Feb 7, 2015)

It takes time to get good at a job. The people who work faster than you were not that fast when they first started. Training meetings mean nothing. Its being on the floor and actually working with people that makes you good at the job. They can't train you for all the unique situations that will arise. 

Take your time at the register. If you go too fast and mess up because you are not paying attention it will take more time to fix. I'm not sure you should even be on a register by yourself day one.


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## HenDoggy (Jul 26, 2014)

Is it getting better? The first couple of days are rough, hang in there.


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## Storm in Jupiter (May 19, 2014)

It's not really getting better and it seems as if I am not suited to the job. Multi-tasking under the stress of social anxiety is so difficult for me and I am so much less efficient than everyone else - even other new people. It's prodding at my already wounded insecurities and I'm not sure if I can deal with it. I end up crying after every shift and just giving into my ED.


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## otherworldlyem (Feb 24, 2015)

Sorry to hear it's going so rough for you.  I worked at Forever 21 for two years, so I can definitely relate to your stress! The walkie-talkies, fitting rooms, messing up on the register, wandering around with a pair of pants for an hour because you can't find where they go... yep. But it comes with the territory of starting a new retail job. That first month is definitely the most difficult. Since most of us with SA are perfectionists, we want to get it right starting DAY ONE, so it's difficult not to be hard on yourself. Try not to compare yourself to the other new people too much and just focus on the task at hand. Being a bit older, you have the benefit of being perceived as more mature/likely to stick around/willing to learn so that's good. Don't be afraid to ask any questions! It's the only way to learn, and shows that you're trying. Managers don't expect you to be perfect after a week, and they have definitely seen worse employees than you!! As long as you give genuine effort and do your best to keep a good attitude, that's all you can do really. If you can manage to stick around for a couple months at least, you'll be able to look back to your first day and see that you really have made progress, and that's worth it.


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## Storm in Jupiter (May 19, 2014)

otherworldlyem said:


> Sorry to hear it's going so rough for you.  I worked at Forever 21 for two years, so I can definitely relate to your stress! The walkie-talkies, fitting rooms, messing up on the register, wandering around with a pair of pants for an hour because you can't find where they go... yep. But it comes with the territory of starting a new retail job. That first month is definitely the most difficult. Since most of us with SA are perfectionists, we want to get it right starting DAY ONE, so it's difficult not to be hard on yourself. Try not to compare yourself to the other new people too much and just focus on the task at hand. Being a bit older, you have the benefit of being perceived as more mature/likely to stick around/willing to learn so that's good. Don't be afraid to ask any questions! It's the only way to learn, and shows that you're trying. Managers don't expect you to be perfect after a week, and they have definitely seen worse employees than you!! As long as you give genuine effort and do your best to keep a good attitude, that's all you can do really. If you can manage to stick around for a couple months at least, you'll be able to look back to your first day and see that you really have made progress, and that's worth it.


I appreciate your advice, thank you! ^_^ But one thing that really sucks about Old Navy is that they push every employee to get customers to apply for their store brand credit cads - basically awkwardly hassling every customer with crap they don't need. I really dislike that aspect of the company.

Today the managers were really heckling us about it, as well as selling add-ons to the customers. I didn't apply for the job to be an obnoxious car salesman, I just wanted to do a repetitive, thoughtless task with a smile on my face.


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## Storm in Jupiter (May 19, 2014)

*cards, not "cads". >_> lol


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## HenDoggy (Jul 26, 2014)

Storm in Jupiter said:


> I appreciate your advice, thank you! ^_^ *But one thing that really sucks about Old Navy is that they push every employee to get customers to apply for their store brand credit cads - basically awkwardly hassling every customer with crap they don't need.* I really dislike that aspect of the company.
> 
> Today the managers were really heckling us about it, as well as selling add-ons to the customers. I didn't apply for the job to be an obnoxious car salesman, I just wanted to do a repetitive, thoughtless task with a smile on my face.


I absolutely hate that! They were also pressuring us to do the same thing when I was working as a cashier in retail. Like you said, it's so akward pushing unwanted merchandise/cards the customer doesn't want. Making them agitated in the process. I just didn't bother asking them after a couple of days. :stu


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## Storm in Jupiter (May 19, 2014)

Well, totally quit. Only lasted a week before I pulled the plug. I wrote a long and honest letter of resignation to my general manager - which I emailed, but I ended up sending it only an hour before my shift started because I apparently got the address wrong beforehand. 

I ended up being a no-call, no-show because I basically panicked and couldn't siphon up the courage to call and let anyone know I wasn't coming in. I feel so bad about it because my coworkers and most of the managers were really nice and I was a cowardly ******* for just bailing on them like that. *sigh*

I live to ruin things.


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## bottleofblues (Aug 6, 2008)

Storm in Jupiter said:


> Well, totally quit. Only lasted a week before I pulled the plug. I wrote a long and honest letter of resignation to my general manager - which I emailed, but I ended up sending it only an hour before my shift started because I apparently got the address wrong beforehand.
> 
> I ended up being a no-call, no-show because I basically panicked and couldn't siphon up the courage to call and let anyone know I wasn't coming in. I feel so bad about it because my coworkers and most of the managers were really nice and I was a cowardly ******* for just bailing on them like that. *sigh*
> 
> I live to ruin things.


You shouldn't have quit, you need to give it more time i've had tons of jobs in the past where i've found it too much when starting (like the one i'm working at the moment) but time is my friend and eventually i get my head around things and get more confident.
That's not to say i'm not racked with insecurities and anxieties, and probably if you stayed at that job 6 months you would probably still have similar problems to what you do now. But you'd be better at your job, you'd know what you were doing and you'd have more confidence as you went about it.
Try and stick it out for longer next time a week isn't enough, go for a month then quit if nothing improves. First weeks are always hard.


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## Storm in Jupiter (May 19, 2014)

bottleofblues said:


> You shouldn't have quit, you need to give it more time i've had tons of jobs in the past where i've found it too much when starting (like the one i'm working at the moment) but time is my friend and eventually i get my head around things and get more confident.
> That's not to say i'm not racked with insecurities and anxieties, and probably if you stayed at that job 6 months you would probably still have similar problems to what you do now. But you'd be better at your job, you'd know what you were doing and you'd have more confidence as you went about it.
> Try and stick it out for longer next time a week isn't enough, go for a month then quit if nothing improves. First weeks are always hard.


You're right, next job I most certainly won't quit so abruptly. However, I think my gut instincts are usually correct. There was actually another reason I quit that I'd rather not mention, even anonymously. Everything was just too much at once and the job was simply not suited to me. My first inkling to quit was actually during training, so in a way, I'm glad I managed to last as long as I did, LOL.

I'm going to move forward instead of being regretful, but it was at least a learning experience. I really did try to be as positive as I could out of the gate, I even baked my coworkers homemade cookies and cupcakes. My positive attitude wasn't enough and I think that sometimes, things just aren't meant to be and the world has a way of telling us that.


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## srschirm (Jun 25, 2006)

Damn, I was about to help you out, since I've worked there. I'm sorry you had a bad experience.


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## seaport (Sep 19, 2010)

Storm in Jupiter said:


> I'm going to move forward instead of being regretful, but it was at least a learning experience. I really did try to be as positive as I could out of the gate, I even baked my coworkers homemade cookies and cupcakes. My positive attitude wasn't enough and I think that sometimes, things just aren't meant to be and the world has a way of telling us that.


This is a great outlook.


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## slowlyimproving (Jan 2, 2014)

Storm in Jupiter said:


> Sorry - I posted this in the other "work" thread before realizing this is where it should have gone - my bad!
> 
> So, after a few training meetings, today was my first official day on the floor and I was told to do recovery of clothes in the fitting rooms. I also had to be on the cash register while the main girl went on break.
> 
> ...


Totally normal and expected!! You will make mistakes, lots of them. That's how you learn.


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## needformeaning (Mar 9, 2015)

But, did one of your co workers treat you bad or sth?

well, cheer up and move on to the next challenge


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