Hello Readers,
My name is Julia Papaevangelou and I am a third year undergraduate student at Queen’s University. I am a Sociology major and Political Studies minor with a certificate in Employment Relations. Over the past few years I have developed an interest in the study of sociology through the different interactions in society, why these interactions occur, and why individuals in society respond the way they do. A main area of interest in this field discusses these interactions through a comparison of different social contexts, for example, workplace behaviour vs. behaviour around grandparents vs. behaviour around close friends.
When I was 15 I started working at my first job at a local grocery store, Longo’s. To this day I am still employed at this company. When I started in 2015 I was hired as a customer service representative where I was able to learn valuable skills such as customer service, problem solving, and money handling. Since then, I have expanded my job title and have been able to gain experience in almost all other departments including floral, garden centre, grocery, dairy, store demonstrations (yes, the free samples), and the Longo’s loft experience. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work for this company and be able to gain experience in numerous departments because I now have expanded my knowledge in customer service and problem solving while gaining experience in product presentation, sales, teaching as an assistant and as the main instructor, and working with children.
In this course, I am most excited to learn about new ways to organize and increase efficiency in the workplace as well as the ways to keep the workplace a safe environment in terms of reducing workplace hazards and discrimination. These topics will add onto my field of study in sociology as my second year of my undergraduate degree focused primarily on minority groups and different ways that they are discriminated against in society while looking at ways to fix these problems.
If you would like to connect via social media to discuss topics in employment relations or non-class related topics feel free to reach out to me and I’d be happy to chat!
– Julia Papaevangelou
Julia Papaevangelou's Blog 2019 
Hi Julia!
Love that you’re still with Longo’s! I’ve heard mixed things about working for grocery stores and I am wondering if your experience is difference because of their more independent/local nature. Do you think your experience working in a grocery store has been different than others because it isn’t like a big box No Frills or Freshco?
I’m almost done my BA in English Lit and have been a distance student since the beginning, but I have also been slowly completing a diploma online at my local college in HR, and have been managing retail, and int eh last two years, donated goods and retail businesses for about 5 years or so. I love how you brought up behavioral differences because it’s so true! Even just between coworkers and management or when I’m interacting with my team versus my family, friends, my direct managers, or anyone above them. Behavior varies greatly based on who you’re interacting with, and the different motivations for such variations are always interesting.
Looking forward to learning with you!
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