It was a great job for a marketing major straight out of college - Retail Sales Representative Mars Employee Review

5.0
6 May 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The best thing was working with some of the most recognized brands in the world! It was beneficial to work alongside some of the best marketers in the business. The company provided comprehensive training and stayed ahead of the curve in the industry and in their use of technology. I was fairly treated, fairly compensated and the benefits were better than most retail sales positions. All in all I learned alot about sales, marketing, branding and business that I still use.

Cons

The company is large and privately held so it was difficult getting on with them without an inside referral. Company developments and breaking news was not communicated as quickly to front-line employees. There was some gridlock in career advancement.

Explore other reviews about Mars

3.0
2 Jan 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Company car (fuel card, insurance, etc) - Good benefits - Great brand exposure/understanding of CPG sales at the retail level - Annual sales meeting is fun, but exhausting - Simple job

Cons

- Micromanaged by leadership (EVERYTHING is tracked) - Extremely repetitive work (not much freedom in creating your schedule, same tasks over and over, etc.) - Dealing with retail management. If you don't have respectful store managers, good luck. A lot of your KPI's are out of your control and your experience relies on your store. - As DOZENS of other people have said, this is a merchandising job - not sales. You are responsible for placing product on the sales floor after consulting with the store (basically asking management who only views you as free manual labor). There is no commission/incentive for producing positive results. - SEASONS: this is the reason why you have this job if you're working with the Walmart channel. You have unrealistic expectations set from leadership to pack out hundreds of heavy cases of candy each holiday season after begging store management for space to place it. Most of the stores' back rooms are a complete mess and a lot of your product is inaccessible. Long days are expected with no additional pay. - Work/life balance: It is frowned upon to work the bare minimum of 40 hours/week. Your stores get backed up while you're on PTO. Overall: an okay role This isn't a bad job by any means, you just need to know what the role entails before taking this job. You need to relocate for any future opportunities within the company.

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Mars Response
5mo
Thank you for taking the time to write your review. We’re sorry to hear your experience with us has not been positive. We aim to support our Associates in every way throughout their time with us and are committed to their wellbeing and development. Please reach out to the independent, confidential team at ombudsman@effem.com, and we look forward to discussing this further.
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