A Sales Assistant in the UK

– So, what's your name and profession?– My name is Rebecca Johnson and I'm a sales assistant.

– And where do you work?– I work for a company called Goodman Morris,they're in the South Lanes in Brighton.

– Are they, what size company are they?– They're a small company, they're a husband and wife company and there's a total of four employees.

– So, why did you choose this profession?– I like working with people and I have a real interest in jewellery.

– So, can you perhaps explain what a typical day looks like in your line of work?– So, a typical day, we arrive at the shop, unlock the safe and set up the jewellery before any customers arrive.Then we will start cleaning the shop, which will be mopping and sweeping the floor, dusting all the shelves, just making the shop look really good for customers.Then when our doors are open, we'll be dealing with customers, whether it be having a look around, helping out with commissions.And then in between dealing with customers, I'll be answering emails, updating our Twitter and Facebook accounts, going through items that perhaps need to be sent to hallmarking, items to be posted to customers, go through and check all jobs have been done for repairs and are there any outstanding commission work. When we've locked up, we have to take all of the items back out of the shop and put them back in the safe, ready to lock up and leave.

– What personal qualities do you think you need to be a shop assistant?– You need to have good people skills, be able to read people, to know whether they would like a lot of assistance or to be left to browse.

– So, can you describe one or two work processes or services that you provide?– One example is if a gentleman comes in and wants an engagement ring, we will show himthe different styles we do, show him these options of diamonds and then we can sit down and discuss a ring to be made by one of our jewellers in-house.Our in-house jeweller offers a repair service, so we quite often have customers that come in with family heirlooms that they would like to be resized or refinished and I sit down and discuss those options with them.

– So what do you like best about your job?– I get to work with pretty jewellery all day.

– And what do you like least about your job?– When you have a difficult customer.

– So, how do you think this line of work will change in the future?– I'm not sure it will change too much because people always like to go into jewellers,but there will be more internet-based and I think we'll be working more online and more computer-based rather than actually interfacing with the customer.

– So where do you see yourself in, say, five to ten years' time?– I'd like to get into visual merchandising, so help with shop displays in large companies.