Beat Writer  Posts: 139 Joined: 17 Aug 2008     | |
BANNED  Posts: 2513 Joined: 3 Dec 2008     | Well I worked at an EB Games. If you want to know the truth about how terrible it is to work there watch the Zero Originality series. Its spot on about working there. On the other hand, I worked there for about 4 months before moving on to a better job. I enjoyed my time there and its not exactly a terrible first job, its just not a great one. It was like, my fifth job though. User was banned for: The artist in thee. (Permanent) |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1010 Joined: 11 Jan 2009     | I currently work at a Gamestop....It isn't a very fun job and they ask you do alot for practically no pay, but that's just about all part-time jobs, however some of the benefits working there are good. Just remember if you work there, quotas. |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 757 Joined: 26 Jul 2008    | This has really colored my opinion of GameStop. |
Infamous Scribbler  Posts: 549 Joined: 24 Sep 2008 | I thought you had to be 18 to sell the M-Rated games? I could be wrong. I might be thinking of the food industry where you have to be 18 to sell alcohol. Of course I've only had 3 jobs (Car washer at a Honda dealership, Busser, and Busser/Host/Server at another restaurant). Either way good luck with joining the ranks of the working class. |
On the Record  Posts: 5743 Joined: 9 Jul 2008    |
Me too. Amazon and Steam from here on out. |
Pulitzer Laureate Posts: 757 Joined: 26 Jul 2008 |
Gamefly for me, thank you! |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 4577 Joined: 22 Jun 2008    | Have fun working for 7USD/H, and selling your sell to be grinded down and turned into a paste to pad their palaces. |
Beat Writer Posts: 139 Joined: 17 Aug 2008 |
It can't be that bad can it? Btw, the min. wage in my state is over $8 :P |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 4577 Joined: 22 Jun 2008 |
Still selling your soul, ask khell. I think he ranted extensively about this. If not him, somebody did. |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 732 Joined: 2 Jan 2009     | i work there now and love it its only part time but when im workin i pretty much talk about video games all day like they do to you when your there and the discount is good to and the works not to bad i dont mind puting the games in the sleeves for the drawrs or setting up display boxes just when sombody knocks over a rack on the wall and every game case comes down gets old real fast |
BANNED  Posts: 2505 Joined: 19 Aug 2008 | I've heard working there isn't that good but minimum wadge isn't that bad for part time. I might like to work there one day for a bit, depends on how much I can make per week though, when only making $8.50 an hour. User was banned for: Poll: Round 5 - Field of Four - (1) Turbine vs (1) Nintendo. (Permanent) |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 4577 Joined: 22 Jun 2008 |
I am taking a class in high school so I will be educated enough to get a part-time job that isn't minimum wage. :) (Finding one that isn't full-time, is another beast entirely.) |
BANNED Posts: 2505 Joined: 19 Aug 2008 |
Yeah me to I have a job lined up next summer, part time, for $15 an hour. User was banned for: Poll: Round 5 - Field of Four - (1) Turbine vs (1) Nintendo. (Permanent) |
Beat Writer  Posts: 141 Joined: 30 Jul 2008   | It's more of a moot point as you cannot work for GameStop until you're 18. Trust me, I tried, several times. And yes, it was all because of Jack Thompson and Hillary Clinton's Hot Coffee fiasco. I've asked every potential employer for gaming retail about it. That said, I can't say how the job is myself, but most people I know who have the job say they enjoy it. As for general advice, I would keep your standards low. It is, after all, a job, and a retail one at that. Working retail will, 99.99% of the time, mean having to either cave to the customer's unyielding and irrational demands, or getting your manager to tell them to STFU and leave the store. Usually the former. I hated working retail... |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1744 Joined: 21 Aug 2008  | Despite it's rather spotty reputation, Gamestop seems like a good choice. Even if the pay sucks, the hours are long and the corporate fat cats see you as expendable, you're still surrounded by your favorite things and most likely your peers at the end of the day. What you have to keep in mind, though, is that it's a job. It doesn't really matter where you end up working, because in all likelihood, it isn't going to be fun, or at the very least something you can stand doing for long periods of time. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2126 Joined: 30 Dec 2008   | Dude I worked a Christmas shift to help pay for books and I almost shot myself. Good thing the manager is one of my friends because I probably would have been fired for yelling at some little shits mom because she was mad he couldn't buy himself Gears 2. |
Copy Clerk Posts: 107 Joined: 3 Oct 2007   | Even if you haven't graduated from highschool yet, you should still be able to secure a position for better than minimum wage. It might be worth it to consider employment elsewhere if the pay is higher, especially if the environment is better. If you can secure one, an office job - even a secretarial or copy-boy position - can often be used very effectively on a resume. That said, there are a few things to remember about any part-time retail job. First, a lot of your experience (and hours) at the store will be dependent on your managers and coworkers. If you don't like the people, you probably won't like the job. Conversely, great people can add enjoyment to an otherwise poor quality position. Second, consider your benefits. In retail, your primary benefits are going to be some nominal discount (often around 10%), which might just cover sales tax (which you probably have, considering your high minimum wage). Still, it might be worth it if you already spend (or plan on spending) much of your earned income at your place of employment. As a minor, I'm guessing this job isn't to pay rent or bills - maybe just gas and spending money. See if there are any additional benefits available. I'd heard some stores allow employees to temporarily borrow games they have in-stock. Look into it. Third, customers will (often) suck. That's actually a good thing, because it will help you deal with difficult people later in life. If there's one thing good about the retail work I did back in highschool, it's that the demands of a customer-facing position forced me to overcome my natural introversion. That, plus some luck and a few good positions in college, was key in landing me an excellent job after university. Fourth, retail employees are a dime a dozen. Don't expect to get much in the way of raises, job security, or respect. At your age, this isn't really that important, but you should at least be aware. So, should you go to Gamestop? It's really your call. You could certainly do worse for a first job. Heck, it never hurts to apply, and at least you'll get some interview experience. Just consider the pros and cons before you accept the position. |
On the Record  Posts: 6209 Joined: 10 Mar 2008  |
Most everything what this guy says. I plan on working at Gamestop for my first job atleast. It's about a 5 minute drive from my house, and my experience with it has been pretty good overall. You could do much worse than Gamestop, but I'd think it's a good starting job to get into the whole business. |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 884 Joined: 19 Sep 2008 |
This is probably the biggest point. It doesn't matter if you work in a shop that sells candyfloss and flying unicorns, because you'll have to deal with assholes on a daily basis. You never realise what kind of people exist in this world until you have to serve them. |
Copy Clerk  Posts: 91 Joined: 24 Nov 2008 | Don't get your hopes up. I applied there when I turned 16, along with best buy and a few other places. Just because you want to work there, doesn't mean they want you to. Good luck |
On the Record  Posts: 5490 Joined: 13 Aug 2008   |
Use punctuation please, and proper capitalization. Other than that, I'm glad to see that at least someone likes working there. It's just like my job at my local grocery store, a lot of people hated it but I found it quite enjoyable. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2301 Joined: 20 Feb 2008   | I'll say it once and I'll say it again. INTERNSHIPS! INTERNSHIPS! INTERNSHIPS! Unless you want to work as a salesman for your life retail is a STAIN on your resume. No matter how successful you are at it or how well of a story. There are no chances for any recognition from the company and really hard to get a well written letter of recommendation from your manager. Do not make the same mistake as me and get a part-time job over an internship. There are plenty of paid internships as well if you look hard enough. Once you are out of college like me it is everyman for himself and the one thing that seperates you from the pack is how much related internships, volunteer work, and club activity(leading not membership) you do. |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 767 Joined: 4 Sep 2008    |
Here is your answer. I really do not recommend working at GS or EBG. |
Infamous Scribbler  Posts: 590 Joined: 3 Nov 2008     | If you're going to work at a gamestop find out that is either near a college of some sort (usually better treatment because a handful of college kids have or will work there at some point for pay and they're afraid of word of mouth if they treat their employees badly.) Or find a gamestop that is community starved. Example, one I used to work was in an open mall, but it was no mall that anyone under the age of 30 would be at. Had a huge Korean Grocery Store, an Orthopedic place, dentist place, Home Depot, no clothing stores etc. And thus the flow of customers was extremely slim and they really loved employees who were charismatic and knew alot about games to rope in the few people who came. Other than that I'd advise you to work in a place like Best Buy if any retail at all. I generally found the work to be fair and while most gamestops only have like 2-3 people (if that many at all) on staff at one time it can get annoying if you don't like the one or two other people working with you, a bigger retail store you usually can find a handful of people you like to help you pass the drudgery of work. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2347 Joined: 21 Aug 2008    |
I'm betting you live in a state that has a law about it, in my state the only thing that might stop people was a store policy, and even then my bro got a job at 16 at EB even though they only hire 18-year-olds. Although in all honesty he was good friends with the manager and the manager was possibly the nicest person ever and promised almost ever potential employee a job despite never hiring half of them. I intend on getting a job at my local gamestop this summer when I'm 16. I'm lucky enough to live by one of those odd gamestops that have good employee's that actually know about games. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2976 Joined: 7 Oct 2008 |
I'm been going the Half.com and Ebay route for quite some time, but I'd like to personally thank the guy who introduced me to those videos. I have a lot of reasons why I don't like GS, and it's nice to see all those reasons neatly compiled into a video or three. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1457 Joined: 2 Jan 2008    | I would never work at any place that gave you a card in leiu of actual pay. Someone above me aleady linked it, but there's a whole video of really good reasons why there are so many better jobs than Gamestop. All that said, however, I'm going to go with the guy that said internships. Whenever I have to look over resumes for potential new-hires at my company, having served an internship while in school is always a plus. The folks who worked a retail part-time gig either don't put that on there at all (these are the smart ones) or actively lose points for writing "Toys R Us" or what have you on their professional resume. Screw Gamestop, they've already got a stack of applications a mile long anyway. Try to be successful instead. Plus, a paid internship would pay about double what you'd make at Gamestop. - J |
Beat Writer  Posts: 160 Joined: 1 Jan 2009  | I work at Game Stop... We're supposed to hire kids 17 and up. *hugs* Edit- You can get direct deposit really easily. The card IS gawdawful, though. |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 826 Joined: 14 May 2008   | This is reason enough why I refuse to ever work in retail. The people are absolute morons and I refuse to waste my time serving them or listening to the irrational whining about why their seven year old devil spawn cannot purchase a game that quite clearly states it is meant for people seventeen plus. I would last no longer then a week at best because it would take one high school drop out screaming at me in the above scenario for my retaliation to commence, where I inform him/her how much of an idiot they are. |
Copy Clerk  Posts: 84 Joined: 23 Oct 2008    |
It's really hard to watch this without Yahtzee voice.. eerie. |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 857 Joined: 24 Mar 2008  |
And why are they not options for you? If you have a disability that would keep you from working at a department chain, I don't see GameStop as a viable employer for you. Besides fast food there are many other "first job" styled positions in food services: Serving, Bussing, cleaning duties (and while "dish washer" may not be the most glamorous sounding of job titles, putting stuff into a dishwasher means you don't have to put up with ignorant customers or making mistakes, etc. it is a sweet gig), there are call centers, there are far more retail opportunities than walmart or EB, When I worked at Gap I enjoyed it much more than it seems the people who worked at GameStop have. Work where you want, a couple of points: 1. you very well may never get the chance to work at your local GameStop, they only need a handful of people, and while turnover is high, there are a pile of resumes for the manager to choose from all of which say "avid video game player" Good luck |
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Okay, so this isn't about a video game per se, but it does certainly involve them.
I'm 15, about a year away from working part time, at minimum wage. (Yay for me :P)
I understand that at 16, my choices for work are either fast food, department stores, or video games, and the first two are not options for me. (Btw, I'm an avid video game player)
Anyway, I thought I'd ask, either from a current (or former) employee of the chain, or simply from a customer, should I consider GameStop to take the title as "My First Job"?