My First Job – a Cashier at The Mini Supermarket

“Our past experiences shape our future.” Experience is the best teacher is a saying that resonates with me every single day and this has been a great motto from my formative years. This philosophy is what pushed me to apply for the job as a cashier at the mini supermarket in my hometown as a teenager after my final year in high school. This job certainly did not disappoint when it came to the experiences I got from it.

Being a cashier was a great stepping stone in my life that I am forever grateful for through the good and the bad days of the job. This job helped me to examine my life and got me thinking about my adult life and put everything in perspective for myself. Other than that, it is from being a cashier that I finally realized that I am a patient and tolerant person. My interaction with the customers was often a pleasant one that I was always praised by my supervisor. Without this great opportunity, I would not have discovered those attributes that greatly influenced my career path.

There is always room for improvement. This is a phrase that I had always heard but never seen its application happen in my life until I took up the job at the mini supermarket. As a cashier, timeliness was a very crucial and important factor that was a must for me to adhere to. I got to plan out my days well as soon as I took up the job so that my clocking in and clocking out was always on time since failure to which the whole work system in the store would be distorted. This is a great behavior that I have carried on from that time that it has become a habit for me. This makes sure that I do my activities on time and do them thoroughly.

The job gave me exposure especially from the customers who were all from different demographics. The young and the old alike were all customers of the store since it was stocked with an assortment of different goods that attracted different groups alike. I was able to see the pattern of sale where the popular goods were recorded and therefore notify the management of which products to stock. This experienced enabled me to get an interest in data analysis which I later came to understand is a big business venture, and therefore I am keen on the subject.

Diligence is another quality that I got from being a cashier. The management trusted me to handle the returns they got from every day’s work efficiently without being micromanaged. This duty enabled me to do my work appropriately and diligently so there would be no mistakes with the store’s funds. My salary also taught me how to handle cash and how to manage money diligently and to make a reasonable budget. I was able to keep a budget and follow it to the latter, a technique that has proven useful in my life.

As much as the experience was enlightening and satisfactory, it had its shortcomings. Inability to create a social group with my peers and have free time with my family was rare. The job took much of my time from Monday to Saturday, and on Sundays, all I wanted was to be well rested before my shift started the next day. Some memorable activities in my teenage life passed me by as I was often busy with work. This taught me that I had to prioritize and find time to unwind after working so that my productivity would increase.

Taking my first job is the best choice I ever made since it gave me the satisfaction and also was a learning experience in my later life. The good and bad choices I made as a cashier have enabled me to make a progressive and enlightened change in my life. My life has gotten more purpose now thanks to my experience.