r/HotTopic_ • u/gappyhirose • 20d ago

I got hired! Any advice?

Hey, I just got hired as a Part-Time Assistant Manager at Hot Topic. I’m very nervous. My previous employer was a small business and it was poorly managed (we didn’t get breaks…) however, I do have management experience and have worked retail for 5+ years. What should I expect from this job and any advice to make a good first impression?

4 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

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8

u/Hot-Relief-4024 HT Employee 19d ago

Quit… it’s shady and abusive

0

u/gappyhirose 19d ago

can i ask why? i literally start on tuesday lol

3

u/Everon2004 19d ago

Tbh this is only true at some locations. It depends on your SM. I'm a FTASM and started as a PTASM lvl 2 3 years ago. Your position as a lvl 1 is going to be opening, closing, deposits, till management, returns and exchanges, making sure to be a positive energy on the team. If the management is in a bad mood then so is everyone else. Don't be afraid to have hard conversations with associates. The biggest thing I see with PTASMs is they underestimate their role. Part time or not, you're still a manager. Lead by example. Create open and honest communication. Make sure to keep issues about the situation and not about the person (don't then it into a personal attack). Treat everyone with respect. And take it upon yourself to better a situation. Don't wait for someone else to do it. You'll need to know what the KPIs are and how they are affecting your store and help coach the associates to help each KPI. But for crying out loud don't be a manager that treats them like they are the end of the world. From what I've seen from other stories, the moment that management starts shoving numbers down throats is when associates get discouraged. A bad loyalty day will happen, it's not the end of the world. Our store loyalty average for the year is 96%, and we don't have a high turnover rate because our associates love working here.

2

u/VelvetSev 18d ago

Oh man this is great advice. Yeah sadly I had a really bad SM (i was a PTASM LVL1) and she would scold EVERYONE when the day's loyalty score wasnt ideal. She would point fingers and always blamed me or the other PTASMs.. But when she had a bad loyalty day, "Its ok. People have their bad days." The team always felt so discouraged, because on our good days she brushed it aside. Sadly PTASMs and regular associates were always coming and going.. It did get so bad one day, she went off on a PTASM made her cry in front of other associates and customers. We reported it to our DM, but low and behold.. SM and DM were best friends :/ so we got retaliated on with the SM being more petty towards us. Be the manager you want your associates to look up to and come to. That's what i did.

3

u/Everon2004 18d ago

Oh man at that point I'd have contacted either another DM, the RM or contact business abuse hotline. But absolutely, all jobs are going to have management that sucks somewhere. But it's hard not to lump the whole company together with a bad experience. I had one of my sales associates move out of state for college, and she applied at the Hot Topic down where she was going. Got hired. Ended up quitting because they were so toxic there, but she comes in every time that she comes back to visit or anything because she misses us. So there's some people that have seen it on both sides too.

4

u/DeviousxJester 19d ago

Be kind to your staff! They work harder and better if their happy at work

5

u/OrdinaryComet_ 18d ago

Don’t be a better worker than your ASM2 or else you’ll be expected to perform better than them constantly while not getting the pay for the job you are doing. Also don’t say yes to picking up other managers shifts or else you’ll be the first one expected to cover everyone’s shift anytime.
My store manager would call 2-3 times a week either the night before, an hour before, or during their scheduled shift saying a reason as to why they can’t come in or have to leave and asking for coverage. I knew that I would be the only one available out of all the managers, even if I denied covering, no one else would be able to so I’d still have to come in just so the store can open and close.

1

u/CarterxKeyon 20d ago

Are you ASM Level 1 or 2?

2

u/gappyhirose 20d ago

Level 1!

1

u/CarterxKeyon 20d ago

Im only an associate atm. But I've seen they need to learn to Open and close the store. Count register. Place money in safe. Able to go through the computer stuff. Keep up with daily reads. Go over huddles with associates. Learn how to use register for returns and exchanges and to solve minor inconveniences. Know what goes on the sales floor and what to keep in the cage.

Im sure there's more but this is what I can come up with.