Pros
- 50% off of quality lingerie - Free uniforms, usually good choices (but not always weather appropriate) - A good place to meet new people and bond with colleagues
Cons
- No work life balance, if you have any other side jobs or hobbies (especially creative ones) you can forget about them - Poor organisation, rota changes are often thrown at you last minute - Assistant manager in particular is a massive hypocrite especially when it comes to uniform and punctuality - Micromanagement, gaslighting - Whenever you speak up about your rights you get instantly silenced, despite the manager telling you she takes everyone’s needs into consideration (aka the definition of gaslighting) - No time off during any major holidays, i.e. summer or Christmas, aside from Christmas Day or Easter Sunday, so forget seeing any of your family on these holidays especially if you are international - Manager in particular is a micromanaging tyrant who never made me or anyone feel welcome from the start, only time she would ever approach me was to criticise me - Assistant manager is the world's biggest hypocrite who regularly breaks the exact uniform rules that she will report you to HR for supposedly breaking, or she will regularly tell you off for simply making conversation with your colleagues during work hours (while she herself will consistently engage in gossip with the other Italian workers, completely alienating those who don't speak the language) - Rules are often not made clear if they even exist unless they are apparently broken - Overall more attention is given towards superficial things like what black shoes you wear with your uniform and how one bra is folded in the drawer instead of workers needs and the fact that staff is severely underpaid - Salary for a sales assistant is a mere annual £19-20k, which in London in 2023 is not nearly enough to survive on so be prepared to dip into savings or overdraft - Payday on the unreliable dates of the 1-5th day of the month, you’re left in anticipation over when the money for your next meal is gonna come - Passive aggressive atmosphere created by women who are the definition of “peaked in high school”, as they clearly have not left that mentality behind. As the youngest member of the store (22 years old) I was facing regular harassment and jelaousy from women way into their 30s (talk about a good example) - The work conditions often border on human rights violations. You’re often sent to do long, physical tasks like organising the stockroom or stock replenishment for hours. If you get stuck doing stockroom, be prepared to spend 3 hours of your life in a dark room sorting out hundreds of items into different pickers without any human contact (thanks to the one person at a time rule), with no breaks to sit down or to even assist customers for a change at least not until you get caught and sent back - All this work done and they don’t even show gratitude, only criticism - You’re essentially a slave who has to work every second of every day for them with nothing in it for you - Bonuses are low for the amount of work done - They have the audacity to blame sales assistants for the low figures this year rather then the fact that it’s 2023 and a living crisis and not everyone can afford to spend £47 on a bra - And then they wonder why people quit after at least 3 months, or why they are so understaffed and why trials don’t take the job - You are essentially spied on for your every move, including how long you spend in the toilet or how often you check your phone (even if it’s an emergency). And yet, the assistant manager has one on her behind the till all the time. - No room to grow, if you plan on staying you're essentially going to be doing the same thing for next next few years unless you get eventually get promoted as a keyholder