My first work experience at Value Village was when I was still in high school at D.W.
Poppy. I would only work a few hours in the afternoon ragging off (taking clothes that weren’t selling off the sales floor) , Letting people into the washroom and answer questions as best as I could.
After graduating from D.W. Poppy I went to study at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. I took a course called Job Prep from the APPD Program.
There I would learn about how to write great resumes and cover letters, interview skills, WHMIS, networking, The hidden Job Market, And how to best give customer service.
We even took a course called ‘Super Host’ to fine tune our customer service skills. Every other month we did work experiences at different locations.
During my first year in the program I went to many different places for work experience. Learning many different things about all kinds of work as well as myself. In my second year in the program I decided to do a work experience at Value Village like I did in high school. This time I got to work longer hours (still part time) at the store and I also got to see the lunch room for the first time. Everyone was really nice and I fell in love with the store all over again. At the end of my work experience they told me I could come back anytime. So I decided to do my next one there again.
I ended up doing every work experience there for the rest of the year. When the end of the year came I was offered a JOB!!!!!!!!!!!! And have since then been getting paid to do a job that I love.
I would later learn to do rolling on (Taking clothes from the back and putting them on the sales floor).
In time we would take the locks off the washroom doors so I just tell customers where to go now.
In 2012 I won one of the quarterly Service Star Awards! Which included a certificate, a star pin, a one hundred dollar bonus and my name sent in for an extra money bonus! (I didn’t win it but that doesn’t matter) Next month will mark five years I’ve been working at Value Village.
After five years they give you a five year certificate and a hundred dollar gift card to The Keg! I can hardly wait!!
