Pros
-Good environment to work in. -(Mostly) friendly co-workers. -Rest breaks were given fairly. (You get a 15 min break after working 4 hours and can get up to two, 15 min breaks and a 30 min lunch break after working more than 8 hours. Which is probably necessary after standing for hours without sitting.) -There was always at least some support when you call any of the employees and even managers who will come to help you if you have any questions or need additional cashiers during busy periods. Everyone works as a team. Something that I always appreciate. -Good entry level work. Working here helped me know better about how retail works and understanding the spirit of "customer service" which is a useful skill if you ever want to work at any Marketing or Sales Job or anything that involves dealing with people.
Cons
-Minimum Wage Pay (Here in MN it's $9.00 as of March 2016) Don't expect to earn much money from working here. Even with the wage hike last summer, no matter how the Manager tells you that "you're getting a raise!", it's because by law they are required to pay you at least that amount if you're 18+ -Long periods of standing is required. (Although you do get breaks as mentioned in the pros) I didn't like having to stand in one place, especially if I have to work a full 8 hour shift, thankfully they give us the option to help other associates with folding clothes or helping customers what they need that keeps it less boring and stifling on the body. (Mostly the legs) -Can be stressful if not managed right. Often Managers will tend to underestimate the amount of employees working on certain days that can put a lot of stress and/or fatigue on the employees especially if they didn't expect a day to be busy. Better to be overstaffed than under. -Dealing with expired coupons from angry customers. (You have no idea how many people will complain about this to you even if the coupon labels the expiry date. Most people don't read carefully and so they get upset and can potentially throw a misfit at you for no reason even if it's not your fault. Just make sure you don't retaliate back and calmly explain with a smile."Oh I'm sorry this has coupon has expired." and 90% of them will gladly back off, no complaints, no drama. And for the other 10% who don't take your word for it? well, I pray to God for you that they will have mercy. -No room for true advancement. Granted this is retail so don't expect to be moving up the ladder (if there is any) after working here for a year. It's part of the reason why I left. -(For POS Associates only) Working hours are sketchy, you provide them the hours you are available to work, but it seems they never fill in the hours completely for you and often will ask you to work hours that you DIDN'T asked to do. At one point, I had a whole week off of no work even though I let my open availability work hours up to 25 hours a week. I heard rumors that they let you work more based on the amount of credit cards you open to customers or get them enrolled to the "YES TO YOU" rewards card. Which is unfair and unethical to the employee. Why should I have to work less hours because I couldn't open more credit cards? It's as if I'm working on Commission! However I see this problem to POS Associates only. Everyone else who doesn't work on the Cashier registers don't seem to have this problem.