Office Max: My First Months

One random day, I decided that I could use a job. I knew that I would have some spare time in which I waste away sitting in front of the computer waiting for people to talk to me via instant messaging. Of course, nobody ever really talks to me because I'm a boring person to talk to. So I thought, "why not just forget about those people like they forgot about me and take the time spent wasted on them and get paid for it by doing work?"

Naturally, I quickly typed in craigslist.org and browsed for available jobs that would suit my full-time college student status. I was adamant about not working at a fast-food restaurant, so that narrowed down the search quite a bit. My ideal job would've been to just find a nice local musical instrument store and learn more about something that I have a passion for (that would be the guitar and music recording technology in case you didn't know-which I didn't expect you to). However, I was also open to working at either an office or technology store such as Office Depot or Best Buy. Then, there it was, written on the 8^th page with all capital letters, "OFFICE MAX HIRING."

I immediately clicked into it and started the application process. The time was 12:45AM. I got a call from a man by the name of Brian asking me a few questions about my application at around 11:30AM that same day. We eventually scheduled an interview for the next day at around 11:30AM as well. I went in for the interview and was offered the job roughly an hour later. After the interview, I went home wondering how the heck I got a job in under 36 hours after I applied for it. I guess I consider myself lucky for being quite successful on my first ever job interview.

Anyhow, throughout the next couple of weeks, they got me acquainted with everyone there at the time. Afterwards, they gave me a crash course on where everything was and what Office Max sells including their MaxAssurance performance/replacement plan as well as other important features such as MaxPerks for Business and Teachers. Other then that, the training was pretty much just pick it up as you go. The managers were all pretty nice. The first couple of sales associates I met that really guided me through the first few days were very helpful. I was able to get a pretty good vibe from the atmosphere of the co-workers as well, which makes working there much easier and much more comfortable.

My work hours have steadily increased throughout the first month. On the first week of official work, I worked 17.5 hours. On the second, I logged 25. It fell slightly to 21.5 the third week, then jumps back up to 28 the fourth week. The fifth week I clocked in for 31 hours. I'm currently going through the sixth week in which I will accumulate 33.5 hours. Full-time associates usually work 40 hours/week. As of now, I am closer to getting full-time hours than I am to getting part-time hours. I think this is kind of ridiculous, but what the hey, I'm getting paid for it.

But of course, the thing that everyone is looking for is my opinion on my co-workers. Unfortunately, I don't really have anything negative to say about them (as of now, at least). In fact, I won't really have anything negative to say about Office Max throughout this series of stories mainly because this is the internet. If I state an opinion about anything that may cause any offense against Office Max, then my job would be at risk as well as my little-known reputation.

I can say this, though: as an avid office supply/tech store shopper, Office Max really does stand out in terms of the customer service that it provides. Other office stores such as Office Depot and Staples hardly give the same customer attention that Office Max associates do.

Like most places, there are times where there will be almost nothing to do since there are hardly any customers. We all find our unique ways of passing time. Katie, one of our cashiers, assigns a character from The Office to each one of us based on either our personality, physical appearance, or the way we walk. Vic, one of our sales associate, likes to talk about stories of his past-which may or may not be accurate. I will either print out a maze from the HP printers or start writing down which printers need to be pulled from the top stock later on when we recover the store. Other time-passing activities include helping the ImPress people (who never really have any down times to get bored) on some of their projects, reading a magazine, studying a product that we carry, or do go-backs. However, as soon as that new customer walks in through the automatic sliding doors, we're back in business and ready to provide all the assistance that is needed.

That pretty much sums up my experience during the first month of work. I should be expecting to refine my selling skills as well as increasing my knowledge about the products, protocols, and procedures of Office Max. Also, the 'Now Hiring' sign is still outside and people have been coming in for interviews. However, there haven't been any new associates besides the new cashier and the new ImPress associate. Main word of advice to those who are going for interviews at Office Max (and to any other interview really), have a good sense of humor and let a witty, but clever joke that's also obvious slip out during any verbal communication.