Vantaggi
Great coworkers in the department
Customers are kind and easy to work with
Loved representing my cosmetics line, great additional benefits
Lot of potential for growth within the department, most other coworkers are happy to teach you about their products, introduce their customers to you, etc.
Opportunity to make long lasting connections with coworkers and customer alike
Svantaggi
Couldn't keep a department manager around so usually oversight went to the floor manager, who was a nightmare
Expected to move mountains for the department, but management is immune to that same level of accountability
Company has very defined values and rules that management may twist to screw you over even when you haven't actually done anything wrong
Lack of communication of important information ie event dates, gwp offerings, new brands coming in with no related education
Pay not competitive, even including commission
Pretty old school brands, difficult to connect with new or young customers due to lack of offering
Usually understaffed
Mandatory overtime around holidays
Hard to get time off, even unpaid or half days
Point of sale systems pretty out of date, as well as communication technologies (can only phone customers, no access to email or text message as many stores have)
Management may lie to you to save face regarding their lack of communication or support and make you feel like an idiot for trusting them