Black Friday

Next week is going to be insane. I'm working 40 hours a week including the early morning shift at 6 am on Black Friday. I never got the appeal of Black Friday. I hate shopping in general and the idea of having to park in our ridiculous small parking lot and standing in line for hours for what? Maybe save $20 on a Wii? I have no idea what our sales are going to be but I can almost guarantee you they will not be that great. We'll probably have one or two good deals that will be gone by 8 am. Anyway, I'll be crazy busy but I will try to post as much as I can.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood/Need 4 Speed: Hot Pursuit

I got stuck working the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood midnight yesterday. I had about 4 hours of sleep the night before and class all day so when I showed up to work at 5, I instantly wanted to go home. Throw in hunger and boredom and it was one of my worst days at work. My SM, Mac, was pretty much the same as me. Though he had a longer drive home AND he had to open this morning. We only had about five people pick up their game and two dudes who left their trades in the store after telling us they'd be right back. I hope they come back tomorrow or there's gonna be some POSITIVE SHRINK YAY. It was pretty sad. Both Mac and I were sitting on the floor, half passing out while the Ass Creed video kept replaying itself on the TV. I swear to god if I hear ASSASSINO! one more time...

And then of course it was raining and foggy on my drive home. You know, on those roads that are one lane wide, in the forest, filled with retarded deers that jump in front of your car? Fun times.

Everything I Need to Know About Working at GameStop

I get asked these questions ALL THE TIME



How old do you have to be to work at GameStop?
In my area it's 17, you sell M rated games, you gotta be 17. I know some store managers who don't hire minors though.

How much will I earn working at GameStop?
If you're going to be a GA, you're going to make minimum wage! Whatever that may be in your state/province. SGAs usually make about $2 more per hour in my area, ASMs make about $3 more than SGAs and SMs don't get paid hourly, they make an annual salary.

What discounts do you get working at GameStop?
You can get a 15% discount on everything EXCEPT new game consoles. Used are fine but not new. Add the 10% you get off on used games and accessories with the Edge/Power Up card that adds up to %25. Not very much I know. I used to get 40% off working at American Eagle :/

How many hours can I expect to get working at GameStop?
Again, this changes depending on what store you are at. I've worked at stores and only got 6 hours a week, other stores want to give me 30. Most GAs will not get more than 12 hours a week except for around Christmas time, that can go up slightly.

I applied at GameStop, why didn't I get hired??
Look guys, we get about 3 applications a day. Most likely the store isn't hiring at the moment.

How can I increase my chances of getting hired at GameStop?
When you fill out the application please write neatly, in pen, don't make spelling errors, take your time. I know this sounds really basic but I see so many applications that are impossible to read, that have weird food stains on them and I've even seen someone misspell their high school's name. Also, when it says expected salary, don't write $9.00 an hour or something like that if you're applying to be a GA (Unless that's what minimum wage is where you live). Starting off, ALL GAs MAKE MINIMUM WAGE. If you want to make the big bucks, don't apply at GameStop. Also, where it says availability, don't put that you can only work 3-6 during the week. Most GAs will work from 5 to 9:30 on weekdays (depending on when the store actually closes, some close at 10 so then you stay until 10:30) and on weekends you will either get a 4-5 hour opening shift, midday shift or closing shift. Also, don't bring drugs to work. I can't believe I have to say that.

What can I expect working at GameStop?
As a GA, you will most likely start off by organizing the walls (MAKE SURE YOU KNOW YOUR ALPHABET GUYS SRSLY). Then when you get the hang of where everything is they might show you how to gut new and used games, how to print stickers and how to look up inventory. Eventually you'll start learning how the registers work, how to do trades, returns etc. You'll answer the phone occasionally. That's about all GAs do. SGAs will have to learn how to open and close the store, all the different counts that have to be done, how to do shipment, how to do marketing etc. ASMs do all that and work even more hours and they have a weekly conference call. SMs do all that as well and work even more hours than the ASMs. They also have to do inventory counts at different stores in the region.

What's the overtime pay look like?
Nonexistent since no one is allowed to go into overtime. SMs are salary so they can work as many hours as they want/are forced to. I've seen my SM work 70 hour weeks before.

What's the commission look like?
Again, nonexistent. We don't get paid commission though I wish we would, I know I'd try way harder to sell stuff.

Are there any health benefits stuff like that?
There's basic health, dental insurance and the like. I don't know too much about it since I'm still under my dad's excellent health care plan. GameStop's is very bare-bones I would avoid it. Also once you turn 21 they will hound you to get life insurance. HINT GAMESTOP STOP CALLING MY HOUSE

Wow, working at GameStop doesn't sound like very much fun, why should I work there?
If you can put up with the dumb customers and pushy corporate people, working here isn't too bad. I've met some of my best friends working at GameStop. You get to check out used games for four days. Small as it is, you do get a discount. You can also join retail loyalty websites: SONY, MICROSOFT, NINTENDO. I've only joined Sony's but I'm really happy with it. You take quizzes on upcoming titles to earn points which you can spend on games and accessories. I've gotten LittleBigPlanet GOTY, Uncharted and a new controller from them so far and I still have 30,000 points saved up. I've also gotten a bunch of freebies like the LittleBigPlanet Pirate pack and the water pack, all the extra Uncharted 2 GOTY content, extra God Of War: Ghost of Sparta content, Modnation Racers stuff etc. They also have insane quarterly giveaways: one time they gave away a PS3, a 46 inch Bravia TV and a mini fridge filled with Red Bull. Another time they gave away a PS3, a Move bundle pack, extra move and navigation controllers, a charging station and all the Move launch games. The best one was a PS3 and about 30 exclusive PS3 games, I can't remember all of them but I'm pretty sure it was every single exclusive that was out at the time, insane.

Any other questions? Let me know in the comments and I will answer them!

Random Customer Comment

Me: "Hi what can I do for you today?"
Customer: "I need to get Call of Duty: Black Ops."
Me: "Ok, did you reserve it?"
Customer: *Laughs* "...oh no."
Me: "What system did you want it for?"
Customer: "360, WHAT OTHER SYSTEMS ARE THERE?!" *laughs at his own fanboy comment*
Me: "Actually Black Ops is out for the PS3, PC, Wii and DS as well. The Xbox is not the center of the universe. That'll be $62.99."
Customer: *pays, grabs game and runs off*

Stop Robbing Us Goddamn

From Kotaku:
Fox News reports that Adrian Tyrone Snow walked into the store in the middle of a robbery, with suspects Giovannte Maddox and Demarkus Williams having already tied up an employee of the store. It was when they tried to restrain Snow, who resisted, that he was shot twice, later dying in an Atlanta hospital.

They're just video games -__-

Call of Duty: Black Ops

I love love love it when a big game is about to be released. It allows me to have numbers like this:



To put that into perspective, normally a 20%-25% reserve percentage is considered very good. And to be fair I ended the day at 242% but 350% was the high point.

I clocked out around 10 o'clock and headed over to my other store to pick up my copy. There were a bunch of people dressed up, there was even a guy in a ghillie suit. He got to cut to the front of the line (after me :D). I really regret not getting any pictures.

So far I'm at level 38 online and I really like it. It's a VERY nice change from Modern Warfare 2, which to me has gotten stale lately. I love that you can do splitscreen online, the COD points/wager system, zombies and pretty much all the little things they've added like the ability to create your own emblem and to carve your clan tag and emblem into your weapons. You can even give your guy face paint. I'm a total sucker for customization.

I played three levels of the campaign and while I'm a little confused as to what's going on, it's super high energy and frantic and ridiculously fun. I'm playing on the easiest difficulty level to run through the game recklessly and I'll replay later for all the rest of the trophies.

Armed Robbers Snatch 100 Copies Of Black Ops In GameStop Heist

From Kotaku:
The Harford County, Md. sheriff's office said the heist happened Saturday evening, and the robbers waited until closing time to hold up the GameStop in the Festival at Bel Air shopping center in Bel Air, about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore.

This is why Maryland stores have to check up on every single game they get traded in. Because half the time they are stolen.

A Rundown of My GameStop History - Part I

I started working at GameStop when I was 18 and a sophmore in college. My mother kept pushing me to get a summer job and I started jobhunting. And by jobhunting I mean driving around, hanging out with my friends and NOT filling out any applications. Eventually she wised up to my plan and I had to actually get a real job. I had worked before so holding a job wasn't a completely foreign idea. In high school, I worked at American Eagle for about three months and I also interned on Capitol Hill for a Congressman (Can you guess which one? XD). So I headed to the only place I'd seriously considered working at.

I'll be honest, I'd been in GameStop twice in my life before applying. I usually bought my games at Best Buy instead but I didn't want to work at a big store. I walked in to XX41, my first store, and met Pierce and Vinny. Pierce is gigantic and covered in tattoos. He is also the nicest person I have ever met. He is about 6 years older than me. Pierce was our ASM. He'd started at GameStop as a GA and worked his way up. Vinny was the SGA at the time. I call him Vinny here because he looks EXACTLY like Vinny from the Jersey Shore. He's nice enough though we butted heads at times. I filled out an application on the spot and hung out for a bit. When I left, I figured they wouldn't call me and that would be that.

Later that night I got a phone call from Barney, the store manager. He asked me to come down to the store later that week. Barney is about three years older than me. He's tall, super skinny with glasses and is totally awesome. I met him at the store to do an interview. The interview was pretty basic. He asked me questions about my work history and what kinds of games I played. He had me sell him some stuff (I hate roleplaying with a passion -__-).

He called me back the next week to offer me the job with a starting pay rate of $6.55 an hour! At the time minimum wage was $6.50 in my state and the only reason I got an extra 5 cents was because I asked. I didn't care, I finally had a job! I could get my mother off my back!

I worked at Store XX41 for a year and a half. I met some of the best people working there. And the worst. My coworkers included the GAs: Harold, the biggest stoner I have ever met. One of my favorite people, Harold is super chill and funny. I love working with him. Also he would totally hook me up with weed if I asked. Harold worked at GameStop as a second job to pay for his gaming needs though he was eventually let go and he's now back in school (with me XD). Harold and I were the main GAs at the store along with Jen, a former ASM who demoted herself down to GA when she got another job. She's around Pierce's age with bushy straw colored hair and pale pale PALE skin. We got along at first until I got promoted to SGA and she turned into a raging b*tch. She was always commenting about what I wore and what I did. But that's for another day :) Other GAs included: Ash, a chubby asian kid a couple years younger than me who loves everything from Pokemon to Twilight, and Cappie and Beaver, two typical college freshmen who love sports games and shooters. Their only defining characteristic was that Cappie had short brown hair and Beaver had long-ish blond hair.

This post is already super long and I'm pretty tired. I'll continue this in another post :)

Copypasted from my facebook status:

I'm tired of giving 110% to a company who couldn't care less about its employees