If you are a Jane Austen fan like myself (and you have also seen every film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice that has ever been made), you will immediately hear Mr. Bennet in your head after seeing this picture. It comes 5 minutes into the 2006 adaptation, and in the scene 4 of 5 daughters have been eavesdropping on their parents’ conversation regarding their newest neighbor… an eligible bachelor of substantial fortune. After hearing all of the unsolicited details from his wife, Mr. Bennet opens the door of his study to find his daughters standing directly outside and utters a good-humored line that is frequently quoted in my house today.
“Good heavens. People!”
I have this picture and quote posted above my desk at work, partially as a humorous relief and partially as my expressed thought towards the workforce. I have long lost count of the times I have muttered this to myself when something didn’t go as expected. It has also proved to be a connection with department managers who stop in my office. They see it hanging above my desk, crack a smile, and simply say “That’s good.”
My mom told me that everyone should work a [customer service] job at least once in their lives. Working any type of job gives you a unique perspective into that line of work, and therefore should give you a more compassionate attitude toward someone in that job when you’re on the other side. Once you’ve been a cashier, you should see your cashier at the store a bit differently. Once you’ve worked in retail, you should understand that sales clerk a bit better. I have worked in two areas of customer service, and I’m confident in saying it has made me a better customer.
Human Resources
After working in a Human Resources department for a year (during a pandemic and era of highly laziness-enabling ‘unemployment pay’), my perspective of the working class has been brought into a new light. As the company recruiter, I’ve had plenty of practice in estimating if a person will:
-have a resume that interests the manager
-will have a good interview (although I have been wrong about this one), or
-will even arrive for the interview.
After dozens of unsuccessful interviews, you would think that it would no longer surprise me when an applicant did not show for their scheduled interview. Yet, every single time, it frustrates me that someone would go to the ‘trouble’ of scheduling an interview with our company just to not bother showing up.
There was a time when you only applied for a job you actually wanted. Unemployment benefits were only given to those who truly could not work or could not find good work. Now, all it takes is “proof of application” to qualify to be paid to sit at home and not work. From the perspective of someone in a Human Resources department trying to hire good workers, it feels like a rude waste of our time for someone to apply for a job they don’t intend to pursue.
I was talking to a friend of mine recently, and she said that at her workplace there had been 120 people that had either not shown for work after being hired or didn’t stick to the job longer than a week in 2021… a 125% turnover rate. The numbers are absolutely ridiculous, and it baffles my mind that one business in one city would have that high of a turnover rate of employees. And we wonder why there’s a worker shortage…
Not that I would ever schedule an interview that I didn’t intend to attend, but being on the “flip side” has given me a greater appreciation for those people who are intentional about what they’re doing. When someone shows up for their interview, I automatically applaud them: they are intentional about wanting the job. They have showed common sense and courtesy, and it already puts them in positive standing with the interviewing managers.
Lesson from Human Resources: when you’re applying for a job, remember that there are people on the other side who are investing time into reviewing your resume and (hopefully) interviewing you. Be intentional about your time, therefore being intentional about taking their time.
Cashier/Customer Service
I worked as a cashier at a local business for 5.5 years before I went to Ireland, and I’ve worked for that same business (very part-time) for over a year now. As the first and last person a customer sees when they come to the store, you learn to be a cheerful representative of the business you work for. I’ve encountered nearly the full spectrum of customers: from the well-satisfied who think the store is the greatest place on earth to the very dissatisfied who are swearing at me over the phone because we didn’t have the part for their lawn mower, and of course everything in between. Having been on the receiving end of all comments and attitudes, I’ve experienced the ‘receiving end’ of customer service.
Customer service personnel deal with enough in a day. They often have multiple tasks juggling in their head at once. Even though most customers will pass through without leaving any sort of impression, they tend to remember two kinds of customers: the extremely nice ones and the extremely rude ones. Naturally, we don’t want to be remembered as the rude customer who lost their cool over the 10-minute wait for fast food. And while you don’t need to go out of your way to make someone’s day “sunshine and rainbows”, there are little things you can do to be a light in someone’s day.
*Tip 1: Make eye contact and greet the person. Remember that they are a person, not a machine.
*Tip 2: If they have a nametag, use it! It shows that you see them as a person and are willing to take the 3 seconds of effort to learn their name.
*Tip 3: Just because you are “in a rush” does not give the excuse to be rude. They can only move so fast, and it’s not their fault that you are in a rush. Regardless of your timetable, refer to Tip 1 & 2.
This blog may have seemed like a bit of a rant. Maybe it was… We have such a culture of entitlement that Customer Service personnel are often treated like servants. How do we change this? Without having worked a Customer Service job (waitress, cashier, sales clerk, HR assistant, etc), you will never fully understand both sides of an interaction. I believe that working in one of these jobs will give you a better appreciation for the Customer Service sector of the working world. Once you’ve been the worker, you should be a better customer. You’ve been in their shoes, so you can better practice the rule of ‘Treat others as you would like to be treated.’
Do you have other tips or ideas for better understanding Customer Service?
Life in a Stillshot 
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