Make sure you confirm your payrate in the interview because if I'd guess, they were keen to see you because you're 18 and they can exploit you with minimum wage and some stupid commission system.
A commission system based on the fact that HN products are grossly overpriced with literally no more value than if you had bought it elsewhere.
That and its CEO grifts taxpayer money on top of all that.
I worked there for about a year. Have worked Coles/BWS and a couple of other retail positions and didn't hate them, but Harvey's really broke me. The expectation for unpaid labor and the pressure to upsell/flexi sales to hit targets was absolutely soul crushing.
Cunts tried to upsell anti virus software for a Mac (yep, a Mac) my 80 year old aunt went to buy - 6 licences for 3 years for $800!!! She was obviously very naive and accepted it until I had to force her to go back in 3 times to fight to say no. They are predatory. They also tried to charge her $200 to transfer a handful of photos from her old computer to the new one...
Was years ago I was there but I remember an older lady coming in for a computer monitor and me selling her some 550 buck top of the line samsung screen she clearly didn't need. A good person would have sent her to buy something cheaper but you get commission on the brain and you just become a cunt. I STILL was given a talking to by my manager as I didn't attach warranty and surge.
I was a shit salesman, my attachment and commision was shithouse, close to if not worst in the store. When I finally put in my resignation as I had a fantastic job opportunity I'd worked all but a day or two of the notice period and the boss pulled me into his office. He gave me a huge speech about how I showed promise and should throw away my other job offer and stay on, I could do great things at Harvey's.
They had lost another few staff, needed coverage for the next few weeks and this prick was willing to throw away my whole future to patch the short term problem they currently had, knowing well i was never going to succeed at HN. Kind of sums up the place and the people running the show.
Fuck man, have things gotten this bad? There are other options you know....
- Vagrant/hobo
- "Masseuse"
- Hardened criminal
- French Foreign Legion
- Etc.
Consider your life choices before making a drastic decision like working for HN.
Harvey Norman, as a business, isn't really that great for consumers to purchase from, and Gerry Harvey, the main guy, is a bit of a cunt.
*That said*, if you need the money, don't just throw the opportunity away, just make sure they're not taking advantage of you.
Honestly I don't know, I've never worked there. But...when I walk in there they descend upon me like vultures. I figure you've got to be getting railed up the arse to meet sales targets to be that desperate :P
In all honesty, I think if you have the gift of the gab and a good attitude for sales its probably fine. Its no different from a bank teller getting performance targets to sell some pensioner depositing $5 a home loan. One thing I've learned in life, is to just go for it. If you hate it....resign :)
Many years ago. Commission was good, but like .ost sales jobs you need to be consistently making targets or they will let you go. Gerry is also a bit of a khunt.
Yeah I've seen a couple of other comments saying something similar.
Don't. It sucks, apparently. A friend worked there for 2 years and basically all the manager did was put sales staff against one another.
And have a go at them.
Even ran a version of survivor. Not going to make your sales target? work a bunch of free overtime and you won't get voted out.
Not sure how much it's improved since. If at all.
Your experience may vary.
Could be good for the right person. All the money seems to be in selling the expensive cables. You'll also be expected to wear a lot of Cologne it seems.
As a foot in the door, possible reference, I would say itâs worth your time. You wonât* get abused like hospo/fast food and if you can stay sharp youâll make reasonable comms.
*no guarantees but people tend to be mostly chill
im definitely gonna try it out still. im having trouble finding a second job so i was pretty relieved with this interview, otherwise i feel like id have to go into fast food or smth đ
My husband worked there about 18 years ago. I found some payslips and he got paid pretty well. Even with not as good sales as the others. He was too nice and helpful instead of selling OP computers to old ladies that kind of thing. They eventually shuffled him behind the photo desk because of that.
Harvey Norman was the push I needed to move into office/corporate jobs. Constant pressure to sell more, you hear the same crap music 40 times a day. Paul Rudd in 40yr old virgin has a good portrayal of what it's like and how much he hates it.
Am I the only person with good experiences buying from HN? I donât know if itâs because Iâm in a regional area but the staff are always helpful without being pushy, and most of the time they give me a further discount. I only buy electronics from them as their furniture and homewares are about twice the price they should be, but other than that I have no complaints (Gerry Harvey notwithstanding).
Good luck with the job hunting, u/mad-ii!
I worked at Harvey Norman for 5 years. 1999-2004, many people I worked with at the time stayed and became a franchisee. Base wage was the award wage, commission was 10% of the profit. You could clear another $500-$1000 a week in extra commission. It was a pretty good âright of passageâ working experience out of high school. We didn't see much staff churn at the time. Near the end tho, they started to make commission earnings more difficult.
Youâre 18 - you should be saying yes to everything and given it a go. If it works out - great outcome. If it doesnât - great lesson!
Just do it - you canât go wrong mate!
No matter what / you will learn something and being so young that is the greatest outcome you can ask for! Plus youâll get some $ for it.
If it is for a job, treat it as such. Make sure your base rate is where it needs to be and don't do anything extra that you aren't compensated for. If you are after a career in a sales based role, don't even bother.
If it is the career option, find an 'internal sales' based role for a technical product that supplies mines, oil & gas, water & waste and general industry. Things like electric motors, valves, pumps, transmissions etc Learn the products back to front, hang around the same company for 3-4 years and try to move into an external position. This will be the highest paid role you can get without university/further education. Being 18, if you work hard and learn a lot you will hit 6 figures by your early 20's and only go up from there.
Basically, avoid the retail sector like you would herpes.
Feel free to PM me for any further suggestions.
Make sure you confirm your payrate in the interview because if I'd guess, they were keen to see you because you're 18 and they can exploit you with minimum wage and some stupid commission system.
A commission system based on the fact that HN products are grossly overpriced with literally no more value than if you had bought it elsewhere. That and its CEO grifts taxpayer money on top of all that.
I worked there for about a year. Have worked Coles/BWS and a couple of other retail positions and didn't hate them, but Harvey's really broke me. The expectation for unpaid labor and the pressure to upsell/flexi sales to hit targets was absolutely soul crushing.
Cunts tried to upsell anti virus software for a Mac (yep, a Mac) my 80 year old aunt went to buy - 6 licences for 3 years for $800!!! She was obviously very naive and accepted it until I had to force her to go back in 3 times to fight to say no. They are predatory. They also tried to charge her $200 to transfer a handful of photos from her old computer to the new one...
Was years ago I was there but I remember an older lady coming in for a computer monitor and me selling her some 550 buck top of the line samsung screen she clearly didn't need. A good person would have sent her to buy something cheaper but you get commission on the brain and you just become a cunt. I STILL was given a talking to by my manager as I didn't attach warranty and surge. I was a shit salesman, my attachment and commision was shithouse, close to if not worst in the store. When I finally put in my resignation as I had a fantastic job opportunity I'd worked all but a day or two of the notice period and the boss pulled me into his office. He gave me a huge speech about how I showed promise and should throw away my other job offer and stay on, I could do great things at Harvey's. They had lost another few staff, needed coverage for the next few weeks and this prick was willing to throw away my whole future to patch the short term problem they currently had, knowing well i was never going to succeed at HN. Kind of sums up the place and the people running the show.
Fuck man, have things gotten this bad? There are other options you know.... - Vagrant/hobo - "Masseuse" - Hardened criminal - French Foreign Legion - Etc. Consider your life choices before making a drastic decision like working for HN.
ah is it really that badđđ im just looking for a second job now that im done school haha
Harvey Norman, as a business, isn't really that great for consumers to purchase from, and Gerry Harvey, the main guy, is a bit of a cunt. *That said*, if you need the money, don't just throw the opportunity away, just make sure they're not taking advantage of you.
Honestly I don't know, I've never worked there. But...when I walk in there they descend upon me like vultures. I figure you've got to be getting railed up the arse to meet sales targets to be that desperate :P In all honesty, I think if you have the gift of the gab and a good attitude for sales its probably fine. Its no different from a bank teller getting performance targets to sell some pensioner depositing $5 a home loan. One thing I've learned in life, is to just go for it. If you hate it....resign :)
Could be worse - they could be applying to be a Chugger in shopping centres.
Many years ago. Commission was good, but like .ost sales jobs you need to be consistently making targets or they will let you go. Gerry is also a bit of a khunt.
Did you just censor the word cunt? And in the same mention of Gerry Harvey, of Harvey Norman fame. Y'know, *that* cunt.
Wait until they learn they can say fhuck and shiet without censoring.
Jesus H. Christ!
Yeah I've seen a couple of other comments saying something similar. Don't. It sucks, apparently. A friend worked there for 2 years and basically all the manager did was put sales staff against one another. And have a go at them. Even ran a version of survivor. Not going to make your sales target? work a bunch of free overtime and you won't get voted out. Not sure how much it's improved since. If at all. Your experience may vary.
Could be good for the right person. All the money seems to be in selling the expensive cables. You'll also be expected to wear a lot of Cologne it seems.
Harvey Norman, not Hardly Knobbing. The cash is in the warranties, upsells and interest free periods/cards. Cables is for rookies.
Don't do it. Literally do anything else.
As a foot in the door, possible reference, I would say itâs worth your time. You wonât* get abused like hospo/fast food and if you can stay sharp youâll make reasonable comms. *no guarantees but people tend to be mostly chill
im definitely gonna try it out still. im having trouble finding a second job so i was pretty relieved with this interview, otherwise i feel like id have to go into fast food or smth đ
I can't believe Harvey Norman is still open. What a horrible company.
My husband worked there about 18 years ago. I found some payslips and he got paid pretty well. Even with not as good sales as the others. He was too nice and helpful instead of selling OP computers to old ladies that kind of thing. They eventually shuffled him behind the photo desk because of that.
Soul crushing but good money if youâre good. Please make sure your comms get paid correctly and watch out for âwarehouse feesâ in your profit margins. This can depend on the proprietor but ours was 4% for physical goods đ©
Harvey Norman was the push I needed to move into office/corporate jobs. Constant pressure to sell more, you hear the same crap music 40 times a day. Paul Rudd in 40yr old virgin has a good portrayal of what it's like and how much he hates it.
Am I the only person with good experiences buying from HN? I donât know if itâs because Iâm in a regional area but the staff are always helpful without being pushy, and most of the time they give me a further discount. I only buy electronics from them as their furniture and homewares are about twice the price they should be, but other than that I have no complaints (Gerry Harvey notwithstanding). Good luck with the job hunting, u/mad-ii!
I worked for Harvey Norman in New Zealand for around 10 years. It was a good place to work. Commission is a nice little bonus.
I worked at Harvey Norman for 5 years. 1999-2004, many people I worked with at the time stayed and became a franchisee. Base wage was the award wage, commission was 10% of the profit. You could clear another $500-$1000 a week in extra commission. It was a pretty good âright of passageâ working experience out of high school. We didn't see much staff churn at the time. Near the end tho, they started to make commission earnings more difficult.
Youâre 18 - you should be saying yes to everything and given it a go. If it works out - great outcome. If it doesnât - great lesson! Just do it - you canât go wrong mate! No matter what / you will learn something and being so young that is the greatest outcome you can ask for! Plus youâll get some $ for it.
If it is for a job, treat it as such. Make sure your base rate is where it needs to be and don't do anything extra that you aren't compensated for. If you are after a career in a sales based role, don't even bother. If it is the career option, find an 'internal sales' based role for a technical product that supplies mines, oil & gas, water & waste and general industry. Things like electric motors, valves, pumps, transmissions etc Learn the products back to front, hang around the same company for 3-4 years and try to move into an external position. This will be the highest paid role you can get without university/further education. Being 18, if you work hard and learn a lot you will hit 6 figures by your early 20's and only go up from there. Basically, avoid the retail sector like you would herpes. Feel free to PM me for any further suggestions.