That depends on the office job. For the people that I hire and manage, several interview questions are related to handling multiple, competing priorities, supporting people with various personalities who may be very demanding and impatient. Then there are constant interruptions. The main work involves editing legal documents, entering data into a complex database management system, then monitoring to ensure compliance. There are several hard deadlines each month, and they must be expert level at software such as Word, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Sharepoint, Excel and Outlook.

In retail, yes you do have customers who are rude, jerks bastards and even worse.. You meet these types everywhere. In the office, on the road, supermarket....Your manager can be one...How can you avoid them?

Depends on the job. Lawyer is an office job, so is receptionist, psychologist, claims adjudicator and file clerk. I have done retail at low and high levels, I have also done office at low and high levels. Retail is tough to sustain for a career, but an office job in the correct track can lead to a career of lifetime employment.

do retail workers tend to be healthier on average than office workers? Just curious to know if there were any research studies done on this. My father was a machinist for thirty years and I believe being on his feet all day and constantly moving around served him well in the long run in regards to his health.

I've done both and really liked both, but you are talking apples and french fries. Totally different with almost nothing in common. I really like retail, I like it a lot, but the pay sucks (and you have to work weekends and evening and have an irregular schedule, even if you're management). Office work is boring, but the pay is better, and it is usually an 8-5 Monday-Friday job with much better benefits. Only you know what is better for you and your situation.

Retail with food involved sounds dirty. You probably have extra duties cleaning a lot of stuff.

Office work is the pits. I did it for years, swore I would never do it again, and yet here I am. I hate it just as much as ever, am tired of kissing asses and spending half my very minimal salary on things to wear to work. I hate having more than one boss, there's no such thing as multi-tasking (it just means getting interrupted, leading to making mistakes for which you have to listen to a lot of insulting insults), and did I mention being interrupted while trying to do complicated work and the phone is ringing? No amount of work is ever enough, either, and no one notices anything you do unless it's wrong. There are also other duties, like filling in when the stoner custodian doesn't bother to show up, still wearing your business attire.

Nah, not necessary.

There's no absolute answer, it all depends.

Two totally different environments. If you love people, are very sociable and want to work with the general public, retail might be a better environment. If you prefer to work with a static group of people or on your own, rather than the general public, an office would generally be better. I could never work in retail--don't like working with the general public and not interested in sales, but I know others who love it.

Having a long term career plan would help you answer that question.

It is not easier, but it pays a little bit more.

I don’t know. Both are far easier than industrial or other heavy duty work, such as being a restaurant dishwasher. When I go to Walmart the employees often seem pretty “chillaxed” unless they are at a backed up register. The heavy duty jobs at Walmart can probably be pretty tough, but less so than physical labor in non-retail environments.

Retail - you have to deal with idiots from the public (who can treat you bad, but face no consequences from HR) as well as coworkers. office job(mid or back end) - only have to deal with idiots who are co workers. so retail is worse, and also usually lower pay.

Extroverts might prefer a job that puts them in contact with lots of people; introverts might feel better with a quiet office job.