HMV Job Vacancies

HMV is one of the leading retailers in the UK and Ireland providing music, games and DVDs. They are always looking for committed individuals who are both bright and energetic. HMV also has stores across North America and Asia Pacific. They began operations in 1921 as an established music retailer. After years of merchandising and a passionate staff, HMV has helped shape the way music has sold for the past 80 years.

The key to HMV’s success lies within their ability to look towards the future. Through the use of their website, as well as paid downloads, and their retail stores, the future looks very bright for HMV. So bright in fact that they are planning on opening 20 more stores within the coming year on the high street.

One of the greatest perks of working for HMV is the wonderful pay and benefits. You do not have to worry about having a large experience, due to the training and development programmes that you will go through. As long as you are eager and passionate, then HMV is interested in you. All of the management, such as team leaders, assistant managers and store managers have made it to the top through the Development and Fast Track Programmes offered through the company.

The following are the positions available with HMV:

Sales Assistant

If you have a vast knowledge and a passion for Chart music, Rock & Pop, Dance, Metal, Classical, etc, then you will be a great sales assistant. The position also requires you to be excellent in customer service, and this will lead to an exciting career within the company. Not only will you be helping customers, but you will be in charge of merchandise, re-stocking the merchandise, and eventually helping choose products for the store.

Full-time sales assistants work an average of 37.5 hours per week, including evenings and weekends. The weekend hours vary depending on which store you work in, but it might also include working all day on a Saturday or all day Sunday and some evenings during the week.

Loss Prevention Officer

As a loss prevention officer, your main goal would be to discreetly keep a presence around the store, while offering customer service. You will be in charge of lowering the risk of theft and using technical equipment to keep a watchful eye on the store. It is preferred that you have previous experience working in security, as well as retail crime prevention. The total hours needed to work are 40 per week, including weekends and an occasional evening.

Stockroom Assistant

The main core of any HMV store is in the stockroom. While this might sound like a non-interesting job, it is actually the most important one of all. You will be working behind the scenes helping receive stock, processing the stock in a timely manner, as well as answer telephone from customers with inquiries. You need to have a good eye for detail, with some experience working with stock and a little PC skills. The role is full time working around 37.5 hours per week. You will also have to work nights and weekends.

Cash Office Assistant

The last role at the company is a cash office assistant. You will be working behind the scenes, similar to a stockroom assistant. The role involves maintaining the daily cash, collecting paperwork, and inquiring about discrepancies. The best thing about the job is that you can work with the entire team. It is essential that you have prior cash handling experience, along with the ability to work with a team and to be flexible. The role is full time with up to 37.5 hours per week. There is also a part time role available that consists of 20 hours per week.

HMV Job Vacancies & Career Advancement

HMV is one of the UK’s leading music and entertainment retailers. It sells CD’s, DVD’s, video, games and other related products; and has also started to work in the music download market. It opened its 200th store in 2004, meaning it has grown by 20% over two years. This is notable against the backdrop of a changing market – anyone asking about the download market a couple of years ago would have been greeted with polite smiles at best. The long-term effects of this new medium have yet to be felt; fort he moment it’s certain that HMV is one of the foremost entertainment retailers in the UK.

Executive Summary

HMV is one of the best-established players in the entertainment market in the UK, having opened the doors of its first premises in London’s Oxford Street in 1921. The current HMV exists as a result of the formation of the HMV Media Group after a management buyout in 1998. The new organisation bought the HMV and Dillon’s bookstores from EMI, and acquired Waterstone’s from WH Smiths. The Dillon’s brand was subsequently absorbed by Waterstone’s.

This profile focuses on HMV, the music brand, as the book operation of Waterstone’s is run separately. Floated on the London Stock Exchange in May 2002, the business has continued to operate profitably. Recent years have shown rapid growth for the company in its core markets in the UK and Ireland in the face of a number of new entrants into its market. It has expanded successfully into the internet for orders as well as for downloads, and will monitor the emergence of the online market very closely.

Job Pay and Benefits

HMV believes that it offers a very good, competitive package to all employees entering the business for the first time. This includes its graduate training scheme, where salaries started at £18,500 in late 2004. In addition there is a quarterly bonus scheme and a 30% product discount. This is important to most of the company’s employees; the majority of HMV’s employees are also very passionate about the products they sell, and if they weren’t working for HMV would be heavy buyers. Discount is therefore valued as a very important benefit.

Holiday allowance is generous for newcomers, starting at 23 days per year, although the company asks that people don’t take time off during the busy month of December. Relocation expenses are available when someone is moving store; there is a company pension scheme and a share incentive plan as well as an employee assistant programme. Every individual in HMV is also able to tale part in a bonus scheme.

Moving up within the company, the benefits increase. Store managers can expect a competitive salary and excellent benefits – the company’s internal surveys suggest that managers consider they get better than average salaries in the retail industry, and the HR department keeps a constant eye on pay levels with all of the current marketing reports. There is an excellent annual bonus scheme for management, 23 holidays, paid attendance to the companies national conferences, and of course the same discounts and other benefits that are available to all employees.

Jobs at head office crop up from time to time, but inevitably they are in shorter supply than opportunities within the numerous retail stores. Nevertheless, if your specialism is within HR, IT, customer service or finance it’s worth checking the company’s recruitment website as the company will post any vacancies there when they arise.

Career Promotion and Development

Retail is a busy environment and before entering it, a candidate needs to consider whether they have the application and sheer energy required. Selling music sounds like great fun, but the work is hard and involves long hours with often quite repetitive work. For the right people who are driven to get on and succeed, and who are passionate about both the product they sell and their customers, the opportunities are many at HMV; and the organisation prides itself on the work it does to recruit, develop and hold on to the best people in retail – staff turnover is very low for the industry.

Career development begins with a company induction; staff receive a day’s training offsite plus a handbook covering the company’s history, the support they can expect from head office and company procedures. This becomes their company workbook and is signed off every month during the induction period. There are then a number of Fast Track development programmes for individuals showing the ability and potential, through which literally hundreds of talented people progress each year.

Training is available within the company’s different disciplines – it is split into a number of levels according to your role in the business. Core learning is divided into a number of areas including people management, finance and operations – everything an employee would need as a minimum to do their role effectively in either a store or head office role.

As HV continues to grow, there is a constant need to focus resources, time and effort on bringing talented employees through the career ladder; HMV particular prides itself on its ability to do this effectively.

At senior level, the company has worked with a range of high-profile business schools; including Templeton College at Oxford University, to work on the skills a regional manager would require. In 2003, the company developed its own management diploma in conjunction with Ashridge Business School, which it intended to run again in 2004. The diploma is designed to develop and challenge high-performing managers for future senior manager roles.

Everyone has a compulsory annual appraisal and a separate developmental meeting, and this entire process has been further reviewed and improved over recent months to ensure each individual received the appropriate levels of feedback, coaching and support needed to develop their career and maximise their performance.

Company Culture

The HR Director of HMV stresses that the company is informal yet highly driven. It’s informal in its style, although it’s clear that the stores are under the control of the managers and there is no room for prima donnas who don’t want to shift boxes, man the checkouts or are reluctant to perform any other particular tasks. Commercially, it’s an aggressive organisation that does what it takes to maintain and increase its market share, but this doesn’t translate into a tough workplace. In the past the perception of HMV is that it is a hard workplace and whilst commercially there is some truth in that, it is also a very supportive and career nurturing workplace.

It’s usually clear by the end of two years whether someone is likely to want to stay with the company, but everyone is treated as though they’re in for a permanent career from the start. HMV believes this is part of the reason it has only a 25% turnover rate; employees understand that within three or five years they could be running their own store if they put the hours and effort in.

Working hours are decided by head office on a store-by-store basis, with the other imperative that a shop must honour its commitment to the opening hours. Work/life balance is accommodated as far as is possible, although this means so many different things to different people that it’s difficult to generalise; the staff retention rates indicate that the company is getting it right.

Innovation

On the technical level, HMV was one of the first retailers to recognise the importance of the MP3 format and to start allowing downloads of music from its website. On the HR front, the company is proud of its recent equal opportunities training and also continuous development programme (CPD), on offer to all staff. This is operated in part through the company intranet, and can be used by staff to build up whichever skills they need to move on to the next stage in their career.

There is also a separate fast track scheme for promising graduates, which is highly rated as an innovation within the company.

Diversity and Social Responsibility

Although HMV doesn’t operate a quota system for people of diverse origins and abilities, it has recently launched a major equal opportunities initiative called Fair Play at Work, which has been very well received in the business. This initiative has produced ongoing activity and plans to further develop the company’s working conditions and opportunities. Fair Play at Work has involved demonstrations of scenarios by actors and role-playing for staff at all management levels in the company.

The company also plans to alter all of its store’ layouts with accessibility in mind, although this is no light undertaking depending on he building in which a branch is located. Clearly, new builds have accessibility by law, but upgrading the existing stores may cost a considerable amount.

There are no crèche facilities on offer because it would be unfair to offer these to returning mothers only (by law); the company makes efforts to be sensitive to any returning parent’s circumstances.

Corporate Governance

HMV is one of the leading retailers of any description in the UK; as such it is bound by trading standards, employee communication, health and safety, and numerous other pieces of legislation. In addition, as a company listed on the Stock Exchange it is regulated by the laws that govern the City. It takes all of its obligation s seriously starting at board level and filtering downwards.

Environmental Record

HMV is well aware of the role a major business can play in safeguarding the environment and has a dedicated environment committee for precisely that reason. The company is passionate about the issues and has obtained discounts on bikes for staff, for example. It recycles and uses recyclable materials wherever possible, and focuses on every efficiency in its stores.

Further ideas on carrying the company forward in this area are welcomed from staff.

HMV UK Ltd
Film House
142 Wardour Street
London
W1F 8LN
www.hmv.co.k
www.hmvgraduates.com