Koodos to you? (Source)

Are you looking for a part-time gig that allows you to people-watch to your heart's content? Maybe you're still in high school and you need to build up your . Or maybe you truly have a passion for iPhone cases but hate the idea of working in a huge store. Working at a mall kiosk may be the job for you.

By becoming a mall kiosk worker, you're entering the world of aggressive salesmanship. You'll definitely need to have the right kind of personality to work the kiosk career—friendly, entertaining, and outgoing might be the words you'd use to describe yourself. Those types will enjoy this job the most, so introverts beware: this is not a job for the socially faint of heart.

You may be surprised to know that mall kiosks make up eight billion dollars in yearly retail service (source). But don't get too excited—salary still starts at minimum wage for most employees. The only reason you'd get higher pay is if the company was a larger, more popular one, like Ray-Ban or Apple or something—and even then, ten dollars an hour is pretty much tops. 

However, some kiosks pay by commission, which means you get a percentage of every sale you make. Some even pay a wage and a commission, so then there's some real motivation to actually try and sell something (source).

One of the downfalls of this career is, well, it isn't much of a career. Unless you're incredibly lucky or your father is the owner of the kiosk, the farthest you'll get in this kiosk business is potentially working full-time. Even then it's unlikely, since most kiosk companies like part-time employees better than full-time (source).

So if you're looking for a job that'll eventually lead to a nice assortment of professional career options, you might want to consider checking out another career profile.

 

You may even catch a concert on the job from time to time. (Source)

As a mall kiosk worker, your days will be filled with masses of mall shoppers—all the potential customers to whom you'll be striving to sell various types of products. Best case scenario is you'll have a good group of people who'll buy your stuff and you'll make a decent amount of money without having to throw free samples at every passing shopper. However, more often than not, that won't be the case.

Mall shoppers apparently find kiosk workers extremely pushy and annoying. Why is that? Because apparently being pushy and annoying is how they sell their wares. How else would mall kiosks make so much money?

The long and short of it is, at one point or another, you're going to have to put on the face of a seriously committed salesperson.

The job isn't a complicated one. Maybe a bit exhausting—convincing people that your hand lotion is better than Bath & Body Works' hand lotion can really drain you—but not complicated. Your mission is to sell to as many people as possible in the few hours your shift allows. 

This mission includes, but is not limited to, sitting at the kiosk reading a book or looking at your phone for hours at a time, watching many types of people interact throughout the day, initiating conversation with said various types of people, giving free samples or tryouts of products, etc. Yelling out sales pitches and being royally ignored is a common practice as well.

Sounds kind of socially exhausting, right? That's why this job is definitely not for shy or socially awkward people. You have to be ready to put your awkwardness aside and throw everything you have out on the line for your kiosk.

Another big downside in being a mall kiosk worker is there isn't much room to grow in your career. Most employees don't work long enough to be promoted to, say, manager, due to the low-paying nature of the job. The life of a mall kiosk worker is a short-lived and fast-paced one.

Still interested in becoming a mall kiosk employee? Then hang on to your knitting needles and let's delve deeper into this potentially frightening but definitely exciting career.

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