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Wouldn’t it be great if you had a part-time job or paying internship while at college that directly related to what you want to do with your life? But what if you can’t find one—or if you’re not sure what you want to do with your life yet? What if you have to “settle” for a job at your nearby fast-food joint, department store or supermarket
Then consider yourself lucky. Jobs in the service industries can provide you with experiences and skills that you can use in any career you choose.

What retail jobs have in common is that they all involve customer service. And learning how to help customers—answering their questions, solving their problems or providing them with prompt and courteous service—means developing skills that can help you succeed in just about any career area, from law and medicine to computer programming and engineering. Unless you plan to live and work in total isolation, success in any job you choose will depend on how well you learn to work and deal with people.

So what can you learn from serving up burgers, running a cash register or answering the office telephone that you might not otherwise learn in school?

You learn how to treat people professionally.
“Professionalism” isn’t something you get to practice in the classroom every day. Nor is it something your friends expect from you. But on the job, it’s required. When you work with customers either face to face or on the telephone, you gain experience in greeting and talking to people in a professional, courteous manner. You get to practice using phrases and a tone of voice that may not be necessary in your day-to-day life now, but will certainly help you in your career down the road.

You learn how to handle “difficult” people.
When dealing with customers in a store or restaurant, you’ll find that most people are friendly and pleasant. This is also true in any other kind of job. But some people just aren’t easy to please. They may come off as demanding, impatient, angry or even rude. What you learn in customer service jobs, however, is that their emotions have nothing to do with you. Many times people are faced with stresses at home or at their own jobs that cause them to behave badly in public. Learning how to cope with these people in your part-time job without taking their behavior personally helps you to deal with difficult bosses, co-workers and customers in the career of your choice.

You learn how to work as part of a team.
Sure, you can learn this skill playing a team sport or in some other school team activity. The difference in working as part of a team on a job, however, is that you aren’t doing it to “win” anything—you do it simply because it’s expected of you. This means noticing and helping out a swamped or tired co-worker, coming into work early or staying a bit longer if your “team” needs you, and performing less desirable tasks (such as cleaning up) without complaint when your boss asks. Experience as a “team player” will get you noticed by many employers, and you can obtain this kind of experience in any customer service position.

You learn how to step up during busy times.
Imagine what it’s like working in a restaurant when a bus of hungry teenagers pulls up unannounced. Or working in a supermarket the day before Thanksgiving. At times like these, you need all of your energy to work faster and smarter while keeping your poise and professionalism. Do situations like these arise in other jobs? Absolutely. And if you can demonstrate through your part-time job experience how you’ve handled stressful job situations and busy, fast-paced periods, employers will admire (and hire) you.

You get to meet a lot of interesting people.
In customer service jobs, you meet or work with people of all ages, personalities and backgrounds. You can learn a lot from these people, whether it’s about careers and colleges you never thought about before, cool places to go when you’re not working or studying or how others view the world or handle tough situations. Chances are, you’ll make some excellent friendships with those you work with in your part-time job or with customers you meet there—people you would have never met otherwise.

As you can see, landing a customer service job means so much more than earning a paycheck. You get to develop skills, gain work experiences and meet all sorts of people to boot. Helping customers can help your career in ways you’ve never imagined.

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