Challenges in store
Meet youngest-ever manager at Argos
DOMINIC Welsh has climbed the retail career ladder very swiftly to become a store manager at the age of just 21. He’s the youngest-ever store manager at retail giant Argos after a part-time Christmas job and wanting to get out of education launched his rise to the top. How did you make it to management level at so young an age?
I think everyone could see from day one how keen I was to learn and work hard. I applied for my first job within days of turning 16 after I got my National Insurance number – I had a paper round and delivered milk.
That first Christmas in 2012 I got a part-time job at Argos and absolutely loved it, even staying on afterwards to work weekends. At that stage I had a plan to go into the police, so I started on my A-levels, but after my first year, a vacancy came up for a team leader.
I was torn to start with but I was beginning to realise that I was better suited to working than exams. I wasn’t really happy staying on at school. I spoke to my parents and finally just took a leap of faith and got the job working in the jewellery centre.
You’ve come a long way in a short space of time
I suppose I have. After a few months, I was transferred repeatedly and each time I was learning a different part of the business.
I gradually started to manage people which, at 18, I found a bit tricky at first. I was a bit uncomfortable telling older colleagues what to do but soon realised that how you speak to people is really important. If they respect your knowledge and experience, that is what counts.
Along the way, I have been on several internal training and apprenticeship courses.
I feel I really understand the business. Last September, I was offered the chance to manage the brand-new Cobham store in Surrey, which involved recruiting and opening up just 13 days before Christmas – our busiest time of the year.
Now THAT was hectic!
What are you doing now?
Last month, I left there to manage an Argos unit within Sainsbury’s, which BOSS MAN Dominic gets a real buzz from his role recently took over Argos. Working within a superstore is a new type of challenge which is fantastic.
What’s so special about the job?
The buzz is phenomenal – I never know what a day will bring. Argos is very different to other shops. Customers usually know what they want or have already ordered online. Often they just want to chat – you really get to know the regulars.
Although everyone, no matter what age, knows Argos, the business is constantly changing and there’s never time to get bored. WhileI am always on hand for an absolute emergency, I make sure that when I finish work for the day, I go home and switch off. I didn’t always do that to start with and I began to feel the effects of working all the hours in a day. That’s not good for anyone.
Do you think you missed out on university?
Not a bit. Bizarrely I would only just be finishing university now with no guarantee of a job and a lot of debt. I certainly wouldn’t be a manager. At Argos, managers can earn up to £30,000 – much more than the average graduate.
BAG A JOB
We have tracked down 35,281 retail jobs.
At fish4jobs.co.uk, there are 1,478 vacancies ranging from a sales assistant in Nuneaton (£15,000-£20,000), a shop manager in Ashbourne, Dorset (£15,960-£16,900) and a trade accountant in Helston, Cornwall (£17,000-£19,000) to a deputy general manager in Chelmsford (£38,000£40,000) and a shelf replenisher in Cambridge (£10.41 per hour).
Check out gov.uk/jobsearch where we found 19,156 jobs available, including 3,480 in the south east, 2,059 in the north west and 1,094 in Yorkshire and the Humber.
This is where most supermarkets advertise their vacancies.
We spotted 14,124 more jobs at retailchoice.com, including in design and merchandising, e-commerce and graduate jobs. These include 852 jobs in department stores.
At getingofar.gov.uk, the official apprenticeship site, there are 523 retail opportunities.
Also check out Argos (argos.careers/ Xmas), which last year was looking for 10,000 temporary sales assistants over Christmas. It will start recruiting for this festive season very soon.
Managing people at 18 was a bit tricky at first...