You couldn't pay me enough to deal with this job.
Pros
Most co-workers (not management) were friendly enough, although few of them stay longer than a couple of months for obvious reasons.
Cons
-In spite of the 30 percent off employee discount, employees end up paying more for the products than a customer using coupons. (Employees have to be rang through by a manager, and are not allowed to use coupons. The employee discount was not to be applied to any deals or promotions that the store was having, and these deals usually save far more than 30%) -Especially during the busy holiday season, employees are split up into "zones" covering about 10% of the area of the store, and are forbidden to leave their "zone" during the time which they are assigned to it, no exceptions. -The company is entirely sales-focused, and the job is extremely demanding. In fact, you may have noticed that Bath & Body Works employees are all equipped with a headset. This device is not typically used to make things easier, but rather, they are used to enable the managers to constantly harass and give petty direction, give never-ending updates on sales goals. -Never received 15 minute breaks for 5 hour shifts (the most typical shift lengths for part-timers, so that they aren't legally required to give a half hour break) -The management is so stressed about the strict, huge sales goals, and the constant product shipment and visual store changes ("floor sets") that they push the employees to no end. ("Do this, why are you doing that, go back to this. What are you doing? This still needs to be done. Is it done yet? Get going, then do this. Why are you here? You need to be here..").. etc. -I have never heard of any other company doing this, but the employees get scheduled for "on call" shifts - a scheduled shift which the employee must call the store 2 hours in advance of the beginning of the scheduled shift to see if they are needed. There is absolutely no way of telling in advance, so you would have to book your entire day around the 50% or so chance that the store would need you. I remember having an "on call shift" the evening before a final university exam starting at 8 am the next morning. I called the store in advance trying to reason with them and ask if I could stay home to study. The manager simply told me that they would absolutely need me ( to re arrange the lotions on a table) and that it was my responsibility to come in and work, because of this on call shift. The managers simply do not care about the well being of their employees, and even given the existence of these ridiculous "on call" shifts, it is quite easy to tell that this company is not flexible or understanding whatsoever when it comes to the schedule. -Don't even bother writing down your availability. I had asked for 15-20 hours a week as a part time worker and a student. During the holiday season i was scheduled for 35+ hours per week without any full-time benefits whatsoever. -I have seen written and documented statistics about how the company expects 30-50% of seasonal workers to leave within the first month, and the average time spent working for the company is about 2 or 3 months - and there is a lot of reason behind these statistics, so please do yourself a favour and do not let yourself be abused by this company, and become one of these "statistics"