For the summer of 2024, I had the opportunity to work as a co-op student on the Retail Helpline at Home Hardware. In this report, I will reflect on my time at this company and give an overview of some of the work I accomplished during this term.
For the summer of 2024, I had the opportunity to work as a co-op student on the Retail Helpline at Home Hardware. In this report, I will reflect on my time at this company and give an overview of some of the work I accomplished during this term.
Home Hardware is a Canadian home improvement retailer specializing in building supplies, hardware, tools,
and outdoor equipment. It operates a network of independently owned and operated stores across Canada,
serving both homeowners and professionals. The company is headquartered in St. Jacobs, Ontario, and was founded in 1964.
In terms of Computer Science, Home Hardware has a large Infrastructure and Security Team, they develop multiple
of their in-house point-of-sale (POS) applications along with other tools and applications used by their retail
stores. They also have a large inventory management system to manage how each store is supplied with its merchandise
and products.
At Home Hardware, I was part of the Retail Helpline team, serving as the first point of contact for IT support
requests from any of Home Hardware's 1,100 retail stores. My responsibilities included:
I was eager to learn how different applications function within a real-world retail environment. I had the opportunity
to explore the inner workings of various applications supported by the Helpline, including SQL-based POS systems and
Android-based inventory management software. This hands-on experience allowed me to gain valuable insight into the
framework of production-level applications.
A goal of mine while at Home Hardware was to learn how to dissect and approach a problem-solving scenario to resolve
service tickets efficiently. Throughout the summer I had the chance to face over 850 service tickets and work through
the process of resolving each case. I learned the value of getting the context of the problem and ensuring I understood
what the customer required. I learned how to apply critical thinking and make use of internal documentation to take steps
in solving the problem and I learned how to reach out for help when a problem could be better serviced by another one of
Home Hardware's internal teams.
In this role, I gained a large amount of experience communicating with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. I
learned how to be clear and concise in my communication and the importance of keeping everyone looped in on all parts of
the problem-solving process. I learned how to work with difficult personalities and how to de-escalate scenarios where a
store owner or manager might be upset.
Overall I am extremely grateful for my time at Home Hardware. I was a part of a great team, who were all willing to step in and help with any questions I had. I had the chance to be a part of a very professional environment and learn different technical and non-technical skills required to work effectively in the workplace. I enjoyed learning about the different types of software used at Home Hardware and will take this valuable knowledge into future opportunities. Looking back on the term, it was a fulfilling and rewarding experience.
I would like to thank everyone on the Retail Helpline team for making my time at Home Hardware a great learning experience. Each team member was willing to help answer my questions and helped me through the beginning stages of this role. I would like to thank Tracey who did a great job teaching me in the onboarding process and continued to assist when I needed help throughout the term. I would also like to thank my manager Melanie who facilitated weekly team stand-ups and team training sessions, organized events, and provided valuable feedback to me in this role.