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Interview with an E-commerce Operations Manager
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In this career interview, we talk to an operations manager at an e-commerce retailer that specializes in retro shirts and other merchandise. He describes his days as chaotic with order fulfillment, customer service issues, and a variety of other tasks he can expect at any given time.
Q: What is your job title and what industry do you work in? How many years of experience do you have in this field? How would you describe yourself using only three adjectives?
A:I have six years of experience managing a small e-commerce website. I've worked in the retail industry for years and the world of e-commerce is somewhat new to me. The company that I work for has been in business for eight years. We sell retro t-shirts and other gear.
I have a few job titles, but my main title is Operations Manager. If I had to describe myself using only three adjectives, I would say busy, busy, busy. Just kidding. The three adjectives that describe me best are hardworking, shrewd, and intuitive.
Q: What’s your ethnicity and gender? How has it hurt or helped you? If you ever experienced discrimination, how have you responded and what worked best?
A:I am a white guy. I guess it's neither helped nor hurt me. I can't say that I've experienced any discrimination because of my race or gender, but I will say that people are a bit intolerant of super-nerds like myself. I guess I've been fortunate to be surrounded by a diverse bunch of great people that I work with.
Q: How would you describe what you do? What does your work entail? Are there any common misunderstandings you want to correct about what you do?
A:A typical day for me starts with getting into my office at around 8:00 in the morning. Many of our orders come in overnight, so it's crucial for me to get in early and make sure that we're ready to fill them first thing in the morning. I check the email to gather new orders, and we immediately send them to our fulfillment department. Fulfillment then checks the inventory(the computer does this automatically when the orders come in, but our guys double-check) and make sure we have the products in stock and ready to ship.
Many people think that people who work for e-commerce sites just sit around and drink coffee and shoot the breeze all day. That's simply not true. While we do appreciate a great cup of java (we have a great break room), we don't just sit around all day. We have orders to fill, customer service calls to answer, websites to work on and administrative issues that have to be handled. It's chaotic but we love every minute of it.
Q: On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate your job satisfaction? What might need to change about your job to unleash your full enthusiasm?
A:On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say that my job satisfaction is at a 10. I know that sounds cliche but it's true. I enjoy the hectic nature of it, and we have a lot of creative freedom to make suggestions to the buyers and the designers.
Q: If this job moves your heart – how so? Ever feel like you found your calling or sweet spot in life? If not, what might do it for you?
A:With this job I do feel like I've found my calling. I worked for a corporate company before this one and I felt like a square peg in a round hole. At this company I feel valued and it's easy for me to be exactly who I am.
Q: Is there anything unique about your situation that readers should know when considering your experiences or accomplishments?
A:I think what's unique about my situation is that I never expected to be operating an e-commerce website. I thought I would be a stock broker or something. The opportunity to work in this industry was completely by chance and I'm just glad that I was open-minded enough to accept the challenge.
Q: How did you get started in this line of work? If you could go back and do it differently, what would you change?
A:I got started in e-commerce management purely by accident. I was between jobs when one of my friends got hurt in a car accident and needed someone to cover his job at work. I worked for the company for a few months before they hired me on as their operations manager.
Q: What did you learn the hard way in this job and what happened specifically that led up to this lesson?
A:I learned the hard way not to overestimate the preferences of the buying public. We got an idea for a new product that we thought would go over well on our site. We were wrong. We ended up having to slash the prices drastically and we took a loss.
Q: What is the single most important thing you have learned outside of school about the working world?
A:The single most important thing that I've learned about the working world is to keep an open mind and not close myself off to any career possibilities.
Q: What’s the strangest thing that ever happened to you in this job?
A:I guess the strangest thing I've ever had happen to me was an avalanche of orders that came in right before ComiCon came to town. Apparently someone put the word out that we had these Spiderman limited edition shirts. We got swamped and it created a lot of drama in the office.
Q: Why do you get up and go to work each day? Can you give an example of something that really made you feel good or proud?
A:I get up and go to work every day with a sense of happiness about my line of work. I've always been a creative type, and I have always been afraid that I would end up at a boring job that sapped my creativity and robbed me of my passion. With this job, I get the challenges, I get the respect for what I do and I get to create. One of my proudest moments was when one of the graphic designers chose one of my ideas for a shirt. It was, and still is, one of our best sellers.
Q: What kind of challenges do you handle and what makes you want to just quit?
A:One of the biggest challenges that I face is the lack of respect that I get from people that don't understand what I do. My folks tell everyone I play on the computer all day. That makes me want to quit sometimes and find a more traditional job. Then I come back to reality and remember that very few people get to earn a living doing what they love.
Q: How stressful is your job? Are you able to maintain a comfortable or healthy work-life balance? How?
A:I would say that my job is not overly stressful. I have a great work-life balance. Sometimes I'm able to work from home and spend more time with family and that makes it easier.
Q: What’s a rough salary range for the position you hold? Are you paid enough and/or happy living within your means?
A:My salary is pretty standard for my area. I earn about $33,000 as an operations manager and that's about on par with what other OMs make. I know that some areas of e-commerce pay more than others. I guess it's all about how well the company is doing and what geographic location you're in.
Q: How much vacation do you take? Is it enough?
A:I usually take about two weeks vacation a year. It's enough for me to recharge.
Q: What would you tell a friend considering your line of work?
A: If I had a friend considering a career in e-commerce I would tell them to go for it.
Q: What education and skills do you need to get hired and succeed in this field?
A:There really is no standard level of education you need to succeed in e-commerce. You just have to be knowledgeable about your product and your industry and be able to perform the work.
Q: If you could write your own ticket, what would you like to be doing in five years?
A:If I could write my own ticket, I'd be owning my own e-commerce company in five years.
Q: What is your job title and what industry do you work in? How many years of experience do you have in this field? How would you describe yourself using only three adjectives?
A:I have six years of experience managing a small e-commerce website. I've worked in the retail industry for years and the world of e-commerce is somewhat new to me. The company that I work for has been in business for eight years. We sell retro t-shirts and other gear.
I have a few job titles, but my main title is Operations Manager. If I had to describe myself using only three adjectives, I would say busy, busy, busy. Just kidding. The three adjectives that describe me best are hardworking, shrewd, and intuitive.
Q: What’s your ethnicity and gender? How has it hurt or helped you? If you ever experienced discrimination, how have you responded and what worked best?
A:I am a white guy. I guess it's neither helped nor hurt me. I can't say that I've experienced any discrimination because of my race or gender, but I will say that people are a bit intolerant of super-nerds like myself. I guess I've been fortunate to be surrounded by a diverse bunch of great people that I work with.
Q: How would you describe what you do? What does your work entail? Are there any common misunderstandings you want to correct about what you do?
A:A typical day for me starts with getting into my office at around 8:00 in the morning. Many of our orders come in overnight, so it's crucial for me to get in early and make sure that we're ready to fill them first thing in the morning. I check the email to gather new orders, and we immediately send them to our fulfillment department. Fulfillment then checks the inventory(the computer does this automatically when the orders come in, but our guys double-check) and make sure we have the products in stock and ready to ship.
Many people think that people who work for e-commerce sites just sit around and drink coffee and shoot the breeze all day. That's simply not true. While we do appreciate a great cup of java (we have a great break room), we don't just sit around all day. We have orders to fill, customer service calls to answer, websites to work on and administrative issues that have to be handled. It's chaotic but we love every minute of it.
Q: On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate your job satisfaction? What might need to change about your job to unleash your full enthusiasm?
A:On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say that my job satisfaction is at a 10. I know that sounds cliche but it's true. I enjoy the hectic nature of it, and we have a lot of creative freedom to make suggestions to the buyers and the designers.
Q: If this job moves your heart – how so? Ever feel like you found your calling or sweet spot in life? If not, what might do it for you?
A:With this job I do feel like I've found my calling. I worked for a corporate company before this one and I felt like a square peg in a round hole. At this company I feel valued and it's easy for me to be exactly who I am.
Q: Is there anything unique about your situation that readers should know when considering your experiences or accomplishments?
A:I think what's unique about my situation is that I never expected to be operating an e-commerce website. I thought I would be a stock broker or something. The opportunity to work in this industry was completely by chance and I'm just glad that I was open-minded enough to accept the challenge.
Q: How did you get started in this line of work? If you could go back and do it differently, what would you change?
A:I got started in e-commerce management purely by accident. I was between jobs when one of my friends got hurt in a car accident and needed someone to cover his job at work. I worked for the company for a few months before they hired me on as their operations manager.
Q: What did you learn the hard way in this job and what happened specifically that led up to this lesson?
A:I learned the hard way not to overestimate the preferences of the buying public. We got an idea for a new product that we thought would go over well on our site. We were wrong. We ended up having to slash the prices drastically and we took a loss.
Q: What is the single most important thing you have learned outside of school about the working world?
A:The single most important thing that I've learned about the working world is to keep an open mind and not close myself off to any career possibilities.
Q: What’s the strangest thing that ever happened to you in this job?
A:I guess the strangest thing I've ever had happen to me was an avalanche of orders that came in right before ComiCon came to town. Apparently someone put the word out that we had these Spiderman limited edition shirts. We got swamped and it created a lot of drama in the office.
Q: Why do you get up and go to work each day? Can you give an example of something that really made you feel good or proud?
A:I get up and go to work every day with a sense of happiness about my line of work. I've always been a creative type, and I have always been afraid that I would end up at a boring job that sapped my creativity and robbed me of my passion. With this job, I get the challenges, I get the respect for what I do and I get to create. One of my proudest moments was when one of the graphic designers chose one of my ideas for a shirt. It was, and still is, one of our best sellers.
Q: What kind of challenges do you handle and what makes you want to just quit?
A:One of the biggest challenges that I face is the lack of respect that I get from people that don't understand what I do. My folks tell everyone I play on the computer all day. That makes me want to quit sometimes and find a more traditional job. Then I come back to reality and remember that very few people get to earn a living doing what they love.
Q: How stressful is your job? Are you able to maintain a comfortable or healthy work-life balance? How?
A:I would say that my job is not overly stressful. I have a great work-life balance. Sometimes I'm able to work from home and spend more time with family and that makes it easier.
Q: What’s a rough salary range for the position you hold? Are you paid enough and/or happy living within your means?
A:My salary is pretty standard for my area. I earn about $33,000 as an operations manager and that's about on par with what other OMs make. I know that some areas of e-commerce pay more than others. I guess it's all about how well the company is doing and what geographic location you're in.
Q: How much vacation do you take? Is it enough?
A:I usually take about two weeks vacation a year. It's enough for me to recharge.
Q: What would you tell a friend considering your line of work?
A: If I had a friend considering a career in e-commerce I would tell them to go for it.
Q: What education and skills do you need to get hired and succeed in this field?
A:There really is no standard level of education you need to succeed in e-commerce. You just have to be knowledgeable about your product and your industry and be able to perform the work.
Q: If you could write your own ticket, what would you like to be doing in five years?
A:If I could write my own ticket, I'd be owning my own e-commerce company in five years.