This blogpost was originally published in German as part of the Retales series on countessleto.wordpress.de.
"Where am I?"
This seems to be a question that customers just love to ask themselves but only after entering a shop and asking the assistants one or two questions. Or not at all. You usually get whether or not they did based on what they ask you.
During my bookseller apprenticeship, there were two types of people. Type 1 was all the people (and yes, they were quite a lot) entering and saying something like: "Hello, I'd like a book please." Internally, I'd roll my eyes at them and make a huge gesture around the room, as if to say: "IF ONLY WE HAD BOOKS!?" Of course you can't really do that. Instead, I'd ask a simple counter-question: "Would you like to specify that question a bit?" Usually, that'd do the deal.
Not with type 2 though - type 2 enters and asks for everything except for books. Sure, we can help out with some of those things, like calendars, planners, notebooks and so on. But then... all the times people asked me for stamps. Kind of related, sure, but no, you get stamps at the post office just down the road. Usually, they said that's too far away. But people also requested completely unrelated things like CD-players. And the best thing about that is: When you start explaining that you don't have what the customer was asking for - they start discussions. "That's incredibly bad service!" I mean, sure, but that doesn't make the thing appear magically out of thin air. I'll order any available book for you overnight, it would be my pleasure, really, but I can't get my hands on a CD-player just like that. That's not my job either. I'm a bookseller after all.
Now, about a year after I finished my apprenticeship, I work at a crafts shop because the job market for booksellers is shit. Maybe that would be different if people would ask us for books for once instead of CD-players. But oh well... crafts shop it is. Don't you think that kind of conversation was done now, oh no, it just changed.
"Hello, I'd like to present my gift of money in a lovely way, do you happen to have a good idea for that?" (By the way, I love it when the word 'idea', which is the name of the shop as well, gets emphasized like that and then the customer thinks they made the greatest pun ever. Didn't hear that one before. Yes, you came up with that as the first person ever. So funny.) Yes, I have one or two ideas. Look, here, frame with cords, you can hang your money on there and put some stuff around that matches the occasion or the presentees interests. "Oh, that's too elaborate for me, that would require crafting." Thanks to some colleagues I know it's perfectly fine here to answer: "Well, you are in a crafts shop here..." Doesn't help though. Crafting ideas in a crafts shop, who would come up with that crazy kind of ideas? Then the customer lays an eye on the models in the shelf for inspiration and asks if they could buy that one instead. In some cases, they can, for example, the Schultüten (school cones, google it, that's pretty specific for Germany). When you tell them the price though, they usually lose it within seconds. They absolutely love to make a counteroffer that doesn't only disrespect the hours of work one of my colleagues put into it but also is way below the mere cost of the used materials. But buying ready for use packaging for gifts of money somewhere else is bad because you want something individual and not staple goods.
And here, as well, there are customers that go completely wild and yell and curse when you don't have what they are looking for. My favourite so far was an elderly man, I still don't know what he was actually looking for because his explanation was really inadequate before he started yelling at me, cursing on about todays youth and, anyway, no surprise retail is dying when we don't have what he wants. I could only smile about that. Because at some point you learn that those kind of moments are actually reeeeally funny when you yourself actually have nothing to do with them at all.
Showing posts with label bookseller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bookseller. Show all posts
11.9.18
30.11.17
Missing retail - A Love Story
Due to christmas shopping I went to a tiny little bookstore this week. I found it right in the middle of our city, it has always been there, but since it technically isn't on one of the big High Streets, I never noticed it before.
I tend to buy a lot of books as christmas presents, I guess it's a habit very typical for people of my profession. So we went in there and went out half an hour later with 5 books in my fiances backpack and one more being ordered for us for two days later. It was a lovely shop, two floors, one with German books and one with English ones, all decorated with a lot of love and care. The employees were typical booksellers, you could just sense their love for their goods, they were authentic and with burning passion for their work, and of course helpful and polite as they should be.
When I left the shop I bursted into tears. Being in such a lovely little bookshop hurt.
Why? Because I miss this. I miss being one of those passionate booksellers instead of one of those indifferent office job workers. I miss caring for my work. I miss burning for my work.
I always did burn for selling books. I burned for every bit of it, from unpacking the boxes full of new books in the morning to handling even the most tedious customer with a smile to counting the cash in the evening, hell, I even burned for dusting the shelves for hours. All the boring, unnerving, exhausting tasks I thought I'd be happy to leave behind when I started at my current job, I even miss those. I miss all of this a lot.
Sure, my current job is not too bad. It does pay more than I'd get in a bookshop, I don't have to do physically demanding works like carrying several kilos of books up and down stairs, I don't have to deal with customers too often and if I don't feel like smiling I don't have to, my colleagues are lovely, my superiors take pretty good care of me, I can work flexible times and I have a lot of chances to learn and grow as a person work-wise. This job does have a lot of perks. But it is not what I burn for. I don't really care for what I am doing here. If it wasn't for paying my bills, I propably would not go here everyday, 40 hours a week. It's a bearable job, it's pretty ok, but it isn't great. It doesn't make me happy.
Now this would be a lot different if I would have actively decided to do this instead of working in a bookshop. Then it would be a) my fault and b) changable. However, the reason it hurts even more is that it was never my decision to make. There are simply too few jobs in book selling, especially if you want them to pay you a living (there are mostly part time jobs that would hardly cover my rent and food) and limit yourself to one city. Thus, I never stood a real chance to decide if I wanted to stay in bookselling or do something else. I was kicked out of my personal paradise and took my current job only for the sake of having a job at all.
For the first time in my life I feel truly betrayed by capitalism, personally offended. In Germany, several hundreds of booksellers are trained, but there are not even closely enough jobs for them after they finished their apprenticeship. There are a few lucky ones who can stay in the shops where they did their apprenticeship, there are some who find work in other shops and some who don't want to be a bookseller anymore, and then there's people like me who would die to keep doing this job but don't find a job in their field. A lot of booksellers are basically bread for unemployment and it is frustrating. It is frustrating having worked so hard for years below minimum wage for nothing. It's even more frustrating wanting to highly recommend this work field because it makes you so happy just to realise you couldn't possibly bear to see someone becoming that disappointed as well.
In the end, it feels a bit like being in love with someone who doesn't reciprocate your feelings. It hurts a lot but you can't change it, they can't change it either, it just is what it is: Not meant to be. Their feelings might change at some point, but you have no guarantee for it, so it is the best for everyone to move on for now.
I tend to buy a lot of books as christmas presents, I guess it's a habit very typical for people of my profession. So we went in there and went out half an hour later with 5 books in my fiances backpack and one more being ordered for us for two days later. It was a lovely shop, two floors, one with German books and one with English ones, all decorated with a lot of love and care. The employees were typical booksellers, you could just sense their love for their goods, they were authentic and with burning passion for their work, and of course helpful and polite as they should be.
When I left the shop I bursted into tears. Being in such a lovely little bookshop hurt.
Why? Because I miss this. I miss being one of those passionate booksellers instead of one of those indifferent office job workers. I miss caring for my work. I miss burning for my work.
I always did burn for selling books. I burned for every bit of it, from unpacking the boxes full of new books in the morning to handling even the most tedious customer with a smile to counting the cash in the evening, hell, I even burned for dusting the shelves for hours. All the boring, unnerving, exhausting tasks I thought I'd be happy to leave behind when I started at my current job, I even miss those. I miss all of this a lot.
Sure, my current job is not too bad. It does pay more than I'd get in a bookshop, I don't have to do physically demanding works like carrying several kilos of books up and down stairs, I don't have to deal with customers too often and if I don't feel like smiling I don't have to, my colleagues are lovely, my superiors take pretty good care of me, I can work flexible times and I have a lot of chances to learn and grow as a person work-wise. This job does have a lot of perks. But it is not what I burn for. I don't really care for what I am doing here. If it wasn't for paying my bills, I propably would not go here everyday, 40 hours a week. It's a bearable job, it's pretty ok, but it isn't great. It doesn't make me happy.
Now this would be a lot different if I would have actively decided to do this instead of working in a bookshop. Then it would be a) my fault and b) changable. However, the reason it hurts even more is that it was never my decision to make. There are simply too few jobs in book selling, especially if you want them to pay you a living (there are mostly part time jobs that would hardly cover my rent and food) and limit yourself to one city. Thus, I never stood a real chance to decide if I wanted to stay in bookselling or do something else. I was kicked out of my personal paradise and took my current job only for the sake of having a job at all.
For the first time in my life I feel truly betrayed by capitalism, personally offended. In Germany, several hundreds of booksellers are trained, but there are not even closely enough jobs for them after they finished their apprenticeship. There are a few lucky ones who can stay in the shops where they did their apprenticeship, there are some who find work in other shops and some who don't want to be a bookseller anymore, and then there's people like me who would die to keep doing this job but don't find a job in their field. A lot of booksellers are basically bread for unemployment and it is frustrating. It is frustrating having worked so hard for years below minimum wage for nothing. It's even more frustrating wanting to highly recommend this work field because it makes you so happy just to realise you couldn't possibly bear to see someone becoming that disappointed as well.
In the end, it feels a bit like being in love with someone who doesn't reciprocate your feelings. It hurts a lot but you can't change it, they can't change it either, it just is what it is: Not meant to be. Their feelings might change at some point, but you have no guarantee for it, so it is the best for everyone to move on for now.
18.8.17
New job, new me - Update
When I leave at 2.30 pm today, I'll be 4 weeks into my new job.
It's surreal taking that in. Four weeks working for this new company, four weeks living in my hometown again, almost 9 weeks since I finished my apprenticeship. I guess I am a grown-up now? (I hope not)
I am not exactly working as a bookseller anymore. I am, in the broadest sense, but I am not spending my days standing in a shop, advising customers, recommending books, carrying shitloads of books anymore. I've got an office job now, and I like it a lot better than I thought, to be honest.
My job title is Customer Success Manager. Well, doesn't that sound fancy? Mostly, my work is managing subscriptions for university libraries. I make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible, have an open ear for complaints when something doesn't go smoothly, and on the side I do a bit of marketing as well. So far, everything goes well. I have a bit of trouble adjusting to the new software and learning a whole lot more about how eBooks work and suddenly having to write business corespondation in English (because you bet your ass I am hella insecure already when confronted with being professional in German to start with). But I learn and grow more confident every day.
Speaking of the company size (in my old job we were 5 people, now we're 60-something), I was pretty sure a lot would change for me transferring to such a (comparably) huge company. But I am good, actually? The people here are very lovely, welcoming me with open arms, taking care of me when I need help learning something, and the working conditions are great as well. I have flexible working hours, the possibility to get further education to do a better job at all times, we get informed about all the important stuff going on (for example, the re-organisation that is about to happen) and get a say in the stuff happening, and on top of that, I am paid well. What more do I want?
Right now, I am just a stand in for a colleague in maternity leave, so this job is only temporary right now, I'll work here until Autumn next year. But that's the great thing about this re-organisation - I might be able to stay because of that. I have a great opportunity here - everyone wish me luck things turn out as I plan.
It's surreal taking that in. Four weeks working for this new company, four weeks living in my hometown again, almost 9 weeks since I finished my apprenticeship. I guess I am a grown-up now? (I hope not)
I am not exactly working as a bookseller anymore. I am, in the broadest sense, but I am not spending my days standing in a shop, advising customers, recommending books, carrying shitloads of books anymore. I've got an office job now, and I like it a lot better than I thought, to be honest.
My job title is Customer Success Manager. Well, doesn't that sound fancy? Mostly, my work is managing subscriptions for university libraries. I make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible, have an open ear for complaints when something doesn't go smoothly, and on the side I do a bit of marketing as well. So far, everything goes well. I have a bit of trouble adjusting to the new software and learning a whole lot more about how eBooks work and suddenly having to write business corespondation in English (because you bet your ass I am hella insecure already when confronted with being professional in German to start with). But I learn and grow more confident every day.
Speaking of the company size (in my old job we were 5 people, now we're 60-something), I was pretty sure a lot would change for me transferring to such a (comparably) huge company. But I am good, actually? The people here are very lovely, welcoming me with open arms, taking care of me when I need help learning something, and the working conditions are great as well. I have flexible working hours, the possibility to get further education to do a better job at all times, we get informed about all the important stuff going on (for example, the re-organisation that is about to happen) and get a say in the stuff happening, and on top of that, I am paid well. What more do I want?
Right now, I am just a stand in for a colleague in maternity leave, so this job is only temporary right now, I'll work here until Autumn next year. But that's the great thing about this re-organisation - I might be able to stay because of that. I have a great opportunity here - everyone wish me luck things turn out as I plan.
23.1.17
So you want to become a bookseller.
Ever since I started my apprenticeship in 2014 and started working as a bookseller, friends of mine (and friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends, and...) started stating that they would like to become one, too - or at least they heavily considered it.
I am not in the age anymore where you get all defensive about people doing your thing - in fact, I only started working in this field because I met my ex who is a passionate bookseller, told me about his job and gave me the opportunity to try it out at the shop he works at. When I hear people telling me that they want to do what I do, I feel like I am following in his footsteps, and since he is an amazing person with remarkable work ethics and so much love for what he does, I'd be proud if I was.
Thig is, I always feel like my job is not portrayed correctly. Not even by me. Of course I tend to only post/tweet about the nicr stuff. The moments that warm my heart and reassure me that I made the right choice. A lot of people seem to think that as a bookseller, you're mostly a bibliophile who gets paid for reading and gushing about books with customers - which is not inherently wrong, but simply not the whole truth.
To be very, very honest: I have seen a lot of people starting to work in this field and get disappointed, then frustrated, then quit because it is not what they expected.
And even though I love my job, my reality is very different to the reality of other booksellers (mostly due to a great team of coworkers and our amazing, kind customers) - and even I don't always love it.
To be very honest again: If it wasn't for my awesome colleagues and people in my life I can vent to, I wouldn't speak of my work half as fondly in public.
Now all of this may sound like I wanted to unsell becoming a bookseller to people. I really don't! But I think people should get disillusioned so they can choose this job without false expectations.
So here is a few tips and experiences that you should consider while considering a bookshop as your working place:
1. Think bookselling is reading and loving books for a paycheck? Think again!
As I said, my reality is really different to others. Yes, in my shop I get to read at work sometimes, and I get to gush about books I liked with customers. But this is an absolute exception. A lot of the other booksellers I know don't. It really depends where you're working. In a big chain? Forget it! In a small shop there might be the chance, but usually, there is too much to do. Because bookselling is, in the end, a retail job like any other retail job. There are things to be organized, shelves to be stocked, shelves to be cleaned, there is just so much to do most of the time. That I get to read is only due to the fact that I am still an apprentice and thus not qualified to do some of the work behind actually running a bookshop, and even then, it rarely happens that I am finished with everything and it's a quiet afternoon so I can spend time between customers reading. In fact, I am pretty sure that, once I started my next job, I'll have to go back to only reading in my free time.
2. Selling books is hard physical work!
This is also something that differs depending on where you work, but every shop has deliveries from publishers and wholesalers, and that means: hauling, hauling, hauling! If you are not at least a bit fit, either get fit or give up on that idea. Especially if you work for a shop that equips schools with textbooks, you'll be able to spend days just carrying tons of books from A to B and back. It's exhausting, and you will come home in the first few weeks and just fall asleep as soon as you went through the door. Promise!
3. Selling books is hard mental work!
Jup, it's both. This point is actually two points. First, it is mentally exhausting because you have to think a lot. You have to calculate a lot of stuff, even with the most mundane tasks you'll have to be fully concentrated because if you make one mistake you might be sending your company right into insolvency, and you have to be a true Sherlock Holmes, which brings be to the second point. If you work retail, it's inevitable that you will come across customers that will be very demanding. "I don't remember the title [nor the author nor the publisher nor anyting that might be actually something I can put in my catalogue to look it up] but the book was blue!" isn't a well-known phrase amongst booksellers for nothing. Or you get titles that are completely messed up from what they actually are. Or you get "You know, that English textbook for year 7!" Mate, there are literally a few hundred of those. Finding what your customer actually wants is something that will happen. Often. And you need to think, think, think. And, if you're lucky, remember all the books you ever saw in your life (not read, saw). And the ones your whole family, all your friends and your coworkers read. Being a catalogue on legs is helping a lot. I am still working to get to that point at some day right before my retirement.
4. It's not for introverts.
By that, I don't mean introvert as in having to recover all for yourself after spending time with people to charge your social battery again. I am that kind of introvert, and it's fine, really. I mean introvert as inbeing shy, being sensitive, generally prefering to be left alone. Soft skills are key in this field. You'll come across a lot of different kinds of people at work, and it is vital to treat all of them well, from the elderly highly-intellectual person over the soccer mom over the loud overly-excited lover of crime fiction over the sci-fi nerd to the small child who wants to spend their pocket money on Diaries Of A Whimpy Kid. No matter how they treat you. Keep smiling, stay polite, even if the soccer mom yells at you for ordering the exact English textbook for year 7 she pointed at the other day in your catalogue to be the book she needs that turned out to be the absolute wrong book for her childs class. This is hard as well, and you need to be thick-skinned to get through that. Luckily, I can say that, for me, that happens about... once a month, maybe? But those moments are hard, and it's a huge learning process to get to the point where you stop taking it personally and just get over with it. Just smile and wave - and vent to your coworker once there are no customers in the shop anymore.
5. It won't make you rich.
In fact, I am glad we have minimum wage in Germany, because when I finished my apprenticeship, if I work the same hours as I do now, I can comfortably survive on minimum wage as long as I still only have to feed myself. Bookselling is not a well-paying field. I compared wages with my boyfriends field the other day, and his entry wage will be my absolute top - ya know, in case I ever start my own company and it does well.
To be a bookseller, a Spongebob-like work ethic is helping a lot - you know, that episode where he pays Mr Krabbs for letting him work at the Krusty Krab? That. Being a bookseller is being an idealist. If you don't love the job enough that'd you'd do it for free, don't consider it.
If at this point you still think that sounds like a lot of fun - congrats, you have what it takes to be an awesome bookseller, and I'd be happy to have you as a colleague some day! Because, and this is important: In the end of the day, no matter how long and exhausting it was, no matter how much my back and my head hurt, I still wouldn't want to do anything else. Being a tad masochist helps, I guess.
I would still recommend, if possible, to do an internship at a bookshop first. Try it. Actually live it for a week or two and see how it feels. I am still not sure if I would be as enthusiastic about it if I didn't know what I got myself into beforehand. Maybe I would've been disappointed as well.
I am so very glad I wasn't.
I am not in the age anymore where you get all defensive about people doing your thing - in fact, I only started working in this field because I met my ex who is a passionate bookseller, told me about his job and gave me the opportunity to try it out at the shop he works at. When I hear people telling me that they want to do what I do, I feel like I am following in his footsteps, and since he is an amazing person with remarkable work ethics and so much love for what he does, I'd be proud if I was.
Thig is, I always feel like my job is not portrayed correctly. Not even by me. Of course I tend to only post/tweet about the nicr stuff. The moments that warm my heart and reassure me that I made the right choice. A lot of people seem to think that as a bookseller, you're mostly a bibliophile who gets paid for reading and gushing about books with customers - which is not inherently wrong, but simply not the whole truth.
To be very, very honest: I have seen a lot of people starting to work in this field and get disappointed, then frustrated, then quit because it is not what they expected.
And even though I love my job, my reality is very different to the reality of other booksellers (mostly due to a great team of coworkers and our amazing, kind customers) - and even I don't always love it.
To be very honest again: If it wasn't for my awesome colleagues and people in my life I can vent to, I wouldn't speak of my work half as fondly in public.
Now all of this may sound like I wanted to unsell becoming a bookseller to people. I really don't! But I think people should get disillusioned so they can choose this job without false expectations.
So here is a few tips and experiences that you should consider while considering a bookshop as your working place:
1. Think bookselling is reading and loving books for a paycheck? Think again!
As I said, my reality is really different to others. Yes, in my shop I get to read at work sometimes, and I get to gush about books I liked with customers. But this is an absolute exception. A lot of the other booksellers I know don't. It really depends where you're working. In a big chain? Forget it! In a small shop there might be the chance, but usually, there is too much to do. Because bookselling is, in the end, a retail job like any other retail job. There are things to be organized, shelves to be stocked, shelves to be cleaned, there is just so much to do most of the time. That I get to read is only due to the fact that I am still an apprentice and thus not qualified to do some of the work behind actually running a bookshop, and even then, it rarely happens that I am finished with everything and it's a quiet afternoon so I can spend time between customers reading. In fact, I am pretty sure that, once I started my next job, I'll have to go back to only reading in my free time.
2. Selling books is hard physical work!
This is also something that differs depending on where you work, but every shop has deliveries from publishers and wholesalers, and that means: hauling, hauling, hauling! If you are not at least a bit fit, either get fit or give up on that idea. Especially if you work for a shop that equips schools with textbooks, you'll be able to spend days just carrying tons of books from A to B and back. It's exhausting, and you will come home in the first few weeks and just fall asleep as soon as you went through the door. Promise!
3. Selling books is hard mental work!
Jup, it's both. This point is actually two points. First, it is mentally exhausting because you have to think a lot. You have to calculate a lot of stuff, even with the most mundane tasks you'll have to be fully concentrated because if you make one mistake you might be sending your company right into insolvency, and you have to be a true Sherlock Holmes, which brings be to the second point. If you work retail, it's inevitable that you will come across customers that will be very demanding. "I don't remember the title [nor the author nor the publisher nor anyting that might be actually something I can put in my catalogue to look it up] but the book was blue!" isn't a well-known phrase amongst booksellers for nothing. Or you get titles that are completely messed up from what they actually are. Or you get "You know, that English textbook for year 7!" Mate, there are literally a few hundred of those. Finding what your customer actually wants is something that will happen. Often. And you need to think, think, think. And, if you're lucky, remember all the books you ever saw in your life (not read, saw). And the ones your whole family, all your friends and your coworkers read. Being a catalogue on legs is helping a lot. I am still working to get to that point at some day right before my retirement.
4. It's not for introverts.
By that, I don't mean introvert as in having to recover all for yourself after spending time with people to charge your social battery again. I am that kind of introvert, and it's fine, really. I mean introvert as inbeing shy, being sensitive, generally prefering to be left alone. Soft skills are key in this field. You'll come across a lot of different kinds of people at work, and it is vital to treat all of them well, from the elderly highly-intellectual person over the soccer mom over the loud overly-excited lover of crime fiction over the sci-fi nerd to the small child who wants to spend their pocket money on Diaries Of A Whimpy Kid. No matter how they treat you. Keep smiling, stay polite, even if the soccer mom yells at you for ordering the exact English textbook for year 7 she pointed at the other day in your catalogue to be the book she needs that turned out to be the absolute wrong book for her childs class. This is hard as well, and you need to be thick-skinned to get through that. Luckily, I can say that, for me, that happens about... once a month, maybe? But those moments are hard, and it's a huge learning process to get to the point where you stop taking it personally and just get over with it. Just smile and wave - and vent to your coworker once there are no customers in the shop anymore.
5. It won't make you rich.
In fact, I am glad we have minimum wage in Germany, because when I finished my apprenticeship, if I work the same hours as I do now, I can comfortably survive on minimum wage as long as I still only have to feed myself. Bookselling is not a well-paying field. I compared wages with my boyfriends field the other day, and his entry wage will be my absolute top - ya know, in case I ever start my own company and it does well.
To be a bookseller, a Spongebob-like work ethic is helping a lot - you know, that episode where he pays Mr Krabbs for letting him work at the Krusty Krab? That. Being a bookseller is being an idealist. If you don't love the job enough that'd you'd do it for free, don't consider it.
If at this point you still think that sounds like a lot of fun - congrats, you have what it takes to be an awesome bookseller, and I'd be happy to have you as a colleague some day! Because, and this is important: In the end of the day, no matter how long and exhausting it was, no matter how much my back and my head hurt, I still wouldn't want to do anything else. Being a tad masochist helps, I guess.
I would still recommend, if possible, to do an internship at a bookshop first. Try it. Actually live it for a week or two and see how it feels. I am still not sure if I would be as enthusiastic about it if I didn't know what I got myself into beforehand. Maybe I would've been disappointed as well.
I am so very glad I wasn't.
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