I would imagine most of their general employees are hired because they are cheap and teach them any sales skills.
I can't see GW seeking to hire experienced sale staff that they'd have to pay quite a bit more for.
Impressionable youths who have no concept of labour laws are a safe bet.
Some of the decades most popular video games? You've got to be kidding me.....Originally Posted by Yodhrin
Dawn of War was the only game since they've started pimping their IP to game developers that wasn't a trash bag. Still hardly one of the most popular this decade.
When I worked at a GW store, my manager ordered me to paint with less skill, because my quality of painting was setting an unrealistically high standard for customers to aim for.
Same here. Could it be an explanation for the low quality in the painting jobs of new models released by GW? I'm thinking about Savage orcs, minotaurs, and others....
When I was a Redshirt, they liked that I knew how to paint models. I worked on some of the store models, and definitely became better as I went along. Of course, that was way back in 2004, so times may have changed.
"Ember of Dreams"
http://www.amazon.com/Ember-Dreams-C...0408773&sr=1-1
I don't have a local GW as such but I've been checking out window displays for the last ten years or so. I do feel like maybe there has been a decline in the average.
I had an interview a month or so back: it was heavily sales based. They didn't ask or seem to care if I knew the games (although they did seem interested in my enthusiasm for the hobby as a whole) and I was very surprised that they didn't ask to see any of the painted models I'd brought along.
So, yeah, I don't think being able to paint store minis or even knowing the games is important anymore. You just have to be a salesman. I think that's a a shame, honestly, but there you are.
The quality has definitely gone off a cliff recently, even to the point where there are often unpainted minis in the window. I don’t blame the retail staff though; when running a one-man store, when are they supposed to find the time to paint – let alone paint well?
Was having a chat with my local staffer the other day about a cute little Cadian Guardsman he has by the till who’s been converted to hold up a little sign reminding him to flog glue, or be nice to people, or something. Turns out this single miniature was once part of a store army that said staffer had painted all by himself, but which had then been given to a new store in another part of the country so they could have a decent window display from ‘Day 1’.
Makes sense in terms of the big picture, but must put a real dent in your enthusiasm to paint up a new store army if you’re the staffer concerned, sadly waving goodbye to your months of effort.
Grrrr nean ole GW! I hate to bust a lot of bubbles,Gw gw is aiming for "average gamer" and not Hobby/painting pro. They want people to buy an army as seen in the back of the codex, paint the est they can in the time they have, and rope in their friends. I'll give two examples from my life. A buddy of mines played dawm of war, went to gw, and bought a baneblade after seeing the average paint job and thinking "I can do that!" A couple and there two kids walked into my LGS they are looking at the master paint jobs. "It looks cool but I could never do that" says the kid, The painter says "yeah I spent about 8 hours per model, blah blah blah" The parents note their kid doesn't have that kinda time and the almost leave, Till I rush over, and pull out my average Chaos lord go over how easy it was to get him up and running, and pint the to a few blister packs to start them off. My LGS needs the money ad the owner was very thankful.
I think people are beginning to realise the reality of working in a GW store. The demographic targeting means that enthusiasm, sales and communication skills are more important than hobby skills - indeed hobby skills can be taught to a reasonable degree but a good salesman is always worth more than a good painter.
Finding staff who could paint, play, make scenery, run a game, sell and maintain a store to a reasonable degree has always been a challenge for GW stores, especially in the UK. Now they are focusing on recruiting staff who can do what a shop needs to do - sell toy soldiers to 11-18 year olds and their mums.
As an aside, rules on painting, scenery and window displays come and go and because their is a finite limit to what you can do, they tend to be cyclical.
Free your hobby! Be creative and stop slavishly following the damn Book.
RIP Brimstone.
I used to read the GW Other Forum, but I am much happier now.
i have a question: when was the last time you saw a GW employee making terrain in store?
for me it was 4 years ago, in central leeds. an employee was making scenery for warhammer.
Yep, scratchbuilt scenery is no longer a common sight. Instead, you get a lot of the same buildings and those slanty hills that your models slide down and break.
With regard to painting, I won Golden Demons before and after working at GW. And I worked with a fellow who won a bunch of Demons in the Staff Category after I left the company (Staff Category wasn't an option while I was there). Now that he's gone too (he eventually became regional manager before leaving the company), there aren't many Golden Demon winners working for crap wages in retail stores around town anymore
In all seriousness, you're dealing with very small sample sizes. Only a few hobbyists at a time working in the stores. Skill levels vary wildly, and so do the lengths of time that people work in a single job. Some people will have the rose tinted glasses, and some people will be thinking "Wow things are really getting better around here." Since they're probably not talking about the same stores, they could both be right.
Only if dinner and the movie were both of a high quality...
When I was interviewed in the late 90s, I had to know two of the three systems inside out (no checking rule books/army books etc) and had to show evidence that I could paint to a high standard.
Once I worked for the company, the rules knowledge was invaluable, but as for the painting I think i got to repaint 2 Goff Orcs because someone had stolen them! All of our display models were painted by a customer who loved the models. He never played any games or bought anything, but his painting was incredible. He was given the models just before release and loved to paint them up for us. All very unofficial of course but it worked for us!
More than anything it is down to time. One man stores just don't have the time to lavish on painting figures which is a real shame.
When there were key timers and part timers there was both the time and the ability to have great cabinet and gaming armies.
Hopefully this is something that will be picked up on as great intro boards and cabinets help to draw people in.
As a former redshirt AND more recently a blueshirt (went back after a long hiatus) I noticed first hand the shift in attitude from 'great hobby store through epic models and terrain' to 'epic hobby environment through recruitment'.
Yes it was most fun working as a redshirt, but some of the stuff that we all got up to (from management down) would basically end up as court cases now. Stores turned into click clubs for the minority and were not welcoming to all. Hell, if you walked into the store I worked in as a redshirt in a tracksuit top or with a shaved head, people assumed you were going to steal something.
Back then we had a lot more staff per store for less customers also. I believe we had 1 manager, 2 full time staff and 6 part time staff in 2003, for a store that would now have just 3 staff on the rota at any one time. This means there is much less time to do cool things like gaming tables. There is also a company-wide policy in place atm that they must use the realm of battle bore, some Managers ignore it and some regionals dont mind, but they are very much in the minority.
There are some incredible exceptions though. The Manchester store has always churned out some stunning stuff, their manager is a Legend in his won right and anything cool you've seen at games day he has made. But the shift in staff recruitment is to focus on exactly that. They dont want you playing games in store anymore, they want you to go off and play games with your mates at home. i understand the business strategy and its not for me to say weather its right or wrong for the company. I still after two terms of employment with workshop would go back again, just not into retail.
The fact is that you could get someone enthusiastic about GW, without using any GW products. I could get a beginner of any age to love 40k using paint pots, dice and imagination, the gaming tables are not important. The Cabinets are great for regulars to look at. But in all honesty in the modern age, I really struggle to be impressed by anything i've seen in stores because i have access to sites like this and the W.I.P threads on here far outreach your average workshoppers games night army or most store cases of the past.
edit: typo removal =)
Last edited by Elfaen; 08-08-2012 at 20:59.
"You see a mouse trap, I see free cheese and a challenge!"
I'm for hire for commission work or any Photography needs!!!
My Personal Hobby Blog, Pheatons 4th Mech Gurad Project log,
My local GW was complaining about that around 2006/2007 before they started cutting out the staff. Basically, they were building and painting almost full time to send models off to other stores who couldn't get any of their hobby work done.Was having a chat with my local staffer the other day about a cute little Cadian Guardsman he has by the till who’s been converted to hold up a little sign reminding him to flog glue, or be nice to people, or something. Turns out this single miniature was once part of a store army that said staffer had painted all by himself, but which had then been given to a new store in another part of the country so they could have a decent window display from ‘Day 1’.
There was also a guy who quit to go back to selling used cars. He said the pay was better and he got more respect... ouch!
Fractured Mesh - my digital to 3d print blog.
And I bet when people asked you nicely you showed them what you were capable of. That's how the staff in my local GW showed me some world class painting techniques I am STILL trying to copy. Sat the whole day by my side and showed me how to paint like a Master. Never expected this from the stuff in the Cabin (which ALWAYS is awesome by the way).
No, I'm not kidding you, and I was not commenting on the quality of the games merely their strength of performance at retail, which was pretty hefty. Warhammer Online was a major release, and sold well initially until the bad word of mouth got around. Space Marine was a console Top 10 in most UK stores for its week of release. Dawn of War and its expansions, and the sequel and its expansions, have been a huge success in terms of sales, and were critically acclaimed to boot; the original in its GotY form(including all but the last expansion) was still in the UK retail PC Top Ten chart during Festive 2011, and the only time I ever saw it not present in some form was for a couple of weeks after the release of Civ5.
I know it's fun to bash GW, indeed for some on this forum that is the only remaining source of fun in their lives if you judge by their forum postings, but at least try to bash them for valid reasons.
Aye, but I was stopped from having my nicely painted armies in the store cabinets, so people stopped asking "how did you do that?".
Last edited by Chaos and Evil; 09-08-2012 at 10:18.
Maybe I should reapply, back when I worked for GW (8 or so years ago) my painting really dragged me down. The other guys gave me lessons but I still wasn't brilliant. If they've de-emphasised painting that'd be awesome.
Of course, it could just be that the staffers who are bad at painting don't sit around painting
Remnants: A log whereupon a veteran attempts to piece an army together from scraps and trades
Danger! May contain Oingo Boingo
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote