retail sales associate

Jaycar Electronics

What is the best part of working at the company?
the tech is awesome and a good team of friends

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
being micromanaged by people who do not have any idea about what they are doing and being told to change things constantly then asked why things were changed and needing to put them back, 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
No longer good the new format of management is now so hands on thart store managers may as well just be senior sales assistants and just do as there told without any real input into store running. Cutting staff dramatically than asking why sales drop. Balloons are not the answer when the shelves are half empty because managers are no longer able to order stock  and customers no longer are able to interact with staff because there is barely enough staff available to man the registers on any given shift. You need people on the floor selling and helping customers or else they just leave without getting the full service they deserve with recomendations for items they require but did not know were available. With this style management there has been a drain on the knowledge of staff with only new staff without technical knowledge wiling to work there.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
answering emails and serving customers. printing new tickets changing displays and blowing up balloons this is not w areal managers job and should not be regarded by any one wanting to be a manager as a job that offers real management experience.

This has been a highly interesting environment, with many new aspects to learn about. Product-wise I have learned about many different electrical and electronic systems, DIY electronics, audio/visual setups and CCTV security systems. Skill-wise I have learned how to rapidly learn new information and retain it, retain long strings of numbers and information, process reports, data entry, stock management, scheduling, etc. I have learned to be polite and professional in moments of stress and pressure, and how to best manage a situation to achieve the best outcome for all involved. For the most part my coworkers have been fantastic people, and my current team are some of the best people I've had the opportunity to work with. Despite this, the management and support within the company has left a lot to be desired. With very little proper interaction between the shop floor and upper management, many things do not get communicated properly. The hardest part of the job was perhaps the prejudice I have dealt with being female in this particular field, but I've had immense satisfaction in proving wrong many people who have doubted my abilities and intelligence.

customers tend to overestimate you very often. not an engineer? good luck. often customers will walk in or call not with the intent of buying things but instead purely to ask you for advice (often because they don't know how to use google)

upper management sucks. just try to call any of their phone numbers, 20 bucks they won't pick up. they also don't respond to emails asking them to do their job in any form. tbh i wanna work for upper management

if you get good coworkers and a good manager a shift is usually alright. 

personal anecdotes: i often feel undervalued in this position. new hires reportedly make 1.5-2 times as much as i do, so apparently i'm worth less to jaycar than a new hire (which i have a part in training) purely because of my age. you can and will be paid the absolute minimum they can get away with.

will i be able to live off of this job once I start university? no. if you're a student or something, i recommend against jaycar. otherwise, if you're an adult, pretty tolerant to idiots and don't mind the occasional skyscraper of boxes getting shipped in for you alone to sort, it's not that bad, you could probably live off of it

If you are interested in learning about electronics or have a project you wish to complete, Jaycar can help to acheive that as we sell loads of specific parts. a typical day at work will involve opening up the store, marking off stock and putting them away, answering phone calls and physically assisting customers with their queries and general assistance such as cutting wire, and helping with school or uni related projects. I have learned quite a fair bit working in this industry, I had no prior knowledge of soldering, or resistors, or capacitors, or solar panels etc. The hardest part of the job would be remembering all the technicalities, there are still things i need to learn and every time i come to work, i learn something new. The most enjoyable part of the day is when the shop is closing and we have reached target for that day it feels like we have achieved goal. and I get to go home and relax.

I started at Jaycar Electronics with little knowledge of the products I was selling but came into the store with knowledge of customer service.
I learnt a range of products ranging from gizmos and gadgets to solar panels, electrical components, led lighting and security.
On a typical day at work we will work as a team to receive and mark off stock and get it out onto the shop floor, all in the mean time making sure our customers are number one.
We will greet a customer on entry of the store and ask if they need any guidance and help from there onwards.
Some of the harder aspects of this job is some questions about products that I know only little about although try and do quick research on the computer to see if I can find the correct answer.
The most enjoyable part about my job is the one on one I get with the customer and making them feel good about the product they are buying and just in general.

So I'd always get to work 10 to 15 mins early so I could get a iced coffee and get to work on time if not before, I have a quick chat to the manager about the plan for the day. So then it would be time to unload any new stock and check it all off the list, then proceed to move the stock onto the shop floor and into back stock room if didn't fit in shop, all at the same time as serving customers. General housekeeping of the shop, on occasions I'd get to deliver catalogues to other business's and do the meet and greet. Most of the time I'd also stay back after my shift was finished to help out if I could and to talk about products and to learn all I could. I'd have to say the most difficult part of this job was the ability to meet sales targets as some times there were simply no customers to make the sales. The best part of working in an electronics shop is I love electronics.

Daily work involves serving customers with technical needs sometimes using your own personal experiences to assist as well as maintain store and stock levels. Personally, have started at Jaycar as a sales assistant and made my way up to store manager so i have seen the full scope at store level. Jaycar has the potential to be a great company but due to management being, tight everyone suffers.

The culture is sometimes toxic but depends on your staff and managers. The hardest part of the job is living up to managements expectations as sometimes what they require from you is unrealistic, I am not also saying this because I was not good at what I have done but they really were ridiculous in there KPI's on occasions.  

Most enjoyable was the new and emerging products which you got to experiment with and learn about.

Joined Jaycar after high school without much customer service experience but my team were very helpful and have since managed to get me up to speed. There's always something to do in a Jaycar store, whilst the job is generally relaxing, the tasks are non stop. The staff are truly excellent, we even meet up outside of work. 

On the other hand, there's always tough customers who will throw you off with a weird question and the pay isn't great for all the assumed knowledge, technical advice and occasional observations of customers various projects. Most of the staff have an engineering degree and it comes in handy on a daily basis.

Highly overworked and not properly compensated, expected to perform long hours and often without correct breaks.
Learnt many technical things while working there, however nothing a quick internet search wouldn't have told me.
Management are a "Boys Club" often sexist.
Co-workers were a variety of highly skilled and complete morons, neither particularly socially adept. A few workers were great but often leave quickly.
Hardest part of the job was dealing with overly technical questions as though we were expected have a degree in electronics and be working as electrical technicians or engineers.
Most enjoyable part was having a sense of accomplishment when you were able to help a client with their project and they brought photos or videos of what they had constructed.

Tight upper management, ideas/contributions are ignored. Vast majority of processes are outdated and very manual. Minimal reward for above and beyond performances - upper management pocket your hard work without so much as a thank you. Commission is not worth considering.

If you want to work in retail technology, pick Harvey norman or JB....dont choose jaycar unless you know the environment at your local store is good. 

As a whole extremely tight a** to the point theyre shooting themselves in the foot. 

If you have a good team with you it is enjoyable, but that goes for any job.

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