Most of us have had to work a part-time job during school, but did you ever consider the hidden opportunities that your part-time job could give to you? when considering the retail industry specifically, job opportunities can come from anywhere, whether or not you have a plan for your future.
See what kind of opportunities are there because where you want to see yourself going might not be where you actually end up, but there also might be another way to get there, advises Natasha Slater, national audio marketing and new media manager with HMV Canada Inc. When I first started [school], my whole intention was actually to go into teaching. In the late 90s, there was a teachers' strike and I couldn't get my in-class hours to be able to go forward with that plan.
Slater graduated with a bachelor of arts in English literature and had planned to go to teachers' college to get a bachelor of education. Unfortunately, due to the teachers' strike, she was unable to continue her plan. She knew she wasn't ready to enter the workforce with just her BA, so she enrolled in a one-year journalism for new media course at Sheridan College.
It was during this course that she was introduced to website construction, a completely new concept at the time. During her time in school, Slater had a part-time job at HMV and decided to build a website for the company, just for fun for this course. It was a lot more fun than I realized it would've been.
Slater found herself becoming more and more interested and involved with the business side of HMV and was really interested in pursuing a job in new media. Suddenly, a position opened within HMV that involved developing their first e-commerce website. It was at that point that Slater applied for the job and got it.
It was really strange because they were actually building the website from scratch at that point because there was no HMV.ca and there was no selling online, she says. It was really a new endeavour for Canada, especially for HMV [I was] literally building pages and filling it with product, filling it with content.
Natasha's career with HMV began 17 years ago with her part-time retail position while she was in school.  She then saw herself managing HMV's content for their first website and was promoted to content manager. After a few years, she moved into in-store merchandising and marketing and became the marketing manager. Slater's title later expanded to include the responsibility of managing HMV's new media marketing, followed by the addition of audio marketing.
Alternatively, Emily DiCarlo, media relations coordinator for The Home Depot Canada, didn't really know where she would see herself after school. When I was in university, I really didn't know what was going to happen and, as the years went on, my path was developed through my experiences at The Home Depot Canada. Instead of making a rigid 10-year plan, I was open to whatever would happen, DiCarlo explains.
While in school, DiCarlo found a part-time position with Home Depot in the d├®cor section. I do have an undergraduate in visual arts which sometimes people might not think that it's directly related, but it actually proved to be a great foundation in my years working at Home Depot Canada, she says.
DiCarlo was always impressed with the sense of community and recognition that Home Depot had established. Even though I was only working a few shifts a week as a part-time associate, my store manager knew me by name. I was recognized for the work I was doing even in the short time I was there. For a store of 200 people, I could still walk around and everyone would know my name.  I felt right away that Home Depot Canada was a very warm, inviting company to work for.
During her seven years with Home Depot, DiCarlo started out as a part-time employee in the d├®cor section while in school. She later began working full-time and was also a specialist in the flooring department. DiCarlo also had the opportunity to take on a summer contract with the contractors at the Pro Desk.
She was then promoted to installation services manager and found herself working closely with Home Depot's PR department within their Store Support Centre (SSC) as a product placement coordinator, as well. [The SSC] is similar to the concept of a head office but functions under a bottom-up model of management, she explains.
DiCarlo aided in the company's product appearances as product placement coordinator. Any Home Depot Canada product that would appear in a magazine or television spot like House & Home, HGTV, Breakfast Television, Canada AM, that was me working behind the scenes to figuring out the logistics. For me, that was the bridging point to getting where I am today.
 I'm extremely interested in PR and communications, even though I had never even thought that that was in the cards. Working as the product placement coordinator was such a game-changer for me. It completely shifted my path. A year later, she is the current media relations coordinator.
Both Slater and DiCarlo agree that the best course of action for someone to take when trying to discover what job opportunities are present within any retail company is to ask questions.
Always ask questions, always inquire, recommends DiCarlo. If you see someone doing a job that maybe you don't quite know what it is and it looks interesting to you, ask about it. I think that the opportunities are always there but it is really up to the individual to see those opportunities and to go after it. I really believe that no one can do that for you, however Home Depot Canada has laid it out and made it simple, that if you want it you can have it. You can go for it and they will be there to support you to get it.
Slater adds that your career path is going to change so much in your life; you have to kind of be willing to go with it.