Barnes & Noble Reviews

Pros

Employees can borrow hardcover books & get 30% discount on everything but Nook. Twice a year they have employee appreciation week where you get 40% discount. You are surrounded by readers & books all day. Everyone at our store is degreed, some are PhD's! If you are a reader, it's like working in a candy store and you can easily spend your measly paycheck per shift. Basically, I end up working for books. Management is very friendly at our store and it's a team environment. Great place to work if you don't need the money.

Cons

All booksellers start at $7.75, which is less than McDonald's. I've been told raises are only .25-.50 cents per year! If you don't move into mgmt, they cap you at $12/hr regardless of tenure. Business is down across the board and it's hard to get hours. We work with a skeleton crew because sales are so low. No benefits unless you work 40hr/wk, which is only mgmt. B&N focuses on selling the Nook, which will eventually make mortar & brick stores irrelevant. The idea of a world without book stores makes me very sad.

Advice to Senior Management

It's really pitiful that everyone starts at $7.75/hr at B&N! For the love of God, pay your employees at least as much as McDonald's!

Pros

Great benefits, great co-workers, they work with your schedule

Cons

I have tried to move up in the company, but it still hasn't happened. I was bascially hinted at that I got the job, but then they decided not to chose me.
You definitely don't get paid enough for what you do.

Advice to Senior Management

Some managers tend to think it's beneath them to do actual work. More than anything, they like to delegate rather than do. This needs to change.

Pros

Really great mid-level people, good work-life balance policies.

Cons

There is no career advancement (at least on the digital side of the business), management always prefers to hire from the outside rather than promote from within. Titles are completely random - since there is no career-pathing, the people that are your "peers" could have decades more or less experience than you. There is a lot of micro-managing going on -- do not expect to have any sort of authority. ALL decisions (no matter how small) are made by about 5 executives. Every decision - no joke.

Advice to Senior Management

Trust the people you hire to do their jobs - they are really smart and could help move the business to the next level.

Pros

Due to the nature of the business, B&N attracts a diverse group of applicants. Makes for a fun and interesting day. And because there are new books published every day, the product is always changing.

For the most part, B&N has had an employee-centric culture. But that has changed since Lynch became CEO, there seems to be less emphasis on that.

Overall I had a good experience with B&N but as with all companies, your district manager can make or break you. I had a great DM, then two years ago was assigned to a new one. He was not good at developing people and if you had issues he had no interest in helping you.

Cons

t's retail! Managers work 45 hours per week, assistant managers are hourly so the store manager does any OT. It's physical work, Books weigh more than you think and you are always lifting or carrying an armload of books.

Pay below SM is less than standard. It is hard to attract the best candidates for Assistant Manager and Merchandise Manager.

The company is changing dramatically and quickly. The eReader phenomena has definitely affected store sales and the company is struggling to find complementary products to replace those lost sales. There are so many unknowns with this new business, it would be better if senior management is more communicative with its managers. The merchandising side and the operations side of the Home Office do not so a good job of coordinating their information and projects leaving the stores to figure out what to do. Not only that payroll has been cut dramatically and it feels like you never have enough people on the floor to help customers let alone get tasks done. The smaller volume stores have been affected the most by this. There is no standard scheduling program. Each store does it their own way and often by hand. As far as technology used in the stores, the company is far behind other retailers.

Pros

Access to books and literature, good benefits package and a competitive discount on merchandise. Good working hours for part-time employees.

Cons

It has become WAY too corporate. The feeling that you are working for a community business has diminished almost completely. Middle management is not great at communicating these changes.

Advice to Senior Management

Treat your long term employees with more respect. A pewter pin at 5 and 10 years is a sweet gesture I suppose, but think about incorporating some sort of bonus system as a reward.

Pros

The hours are flexible, the pay is ok, you meet a lot of interesting people, and the discounts/benefits are great.

Cons

To be honest there is little room for growth if you are working in sales at Barnes & Noble. Also hours/shifts given out depends on the profit the store makes.

Pros

You really get a great sense of community and meet a lot of really awesome people. Over-all a very fun place to work out for a first or second job!

Cons

really terrible pay! start at minimum wage and you get increments of 25 cents a year as a raise unless you are exceptional and they give you 50 cents!

Advice to Senior Management

A little bit more employee appreciation would go a long way i feel like. Employee's work their butt off for very little pay and would feel better about going to work every day even with a little encouragement

Pros

If you're able to qualify the medical benefits are very good. Employee discounts are also very handy. Being surrounded by tons of books is great.

Cons

Within the last couple of years a bookseller position has become more of a cold selling position. Selling cards and nooks versus selling actual books has become our focus.

Advice to Senior Management

A bag of candy at the holidays does not make up for the daily grind. Miscommunications between HR and my store manager have led to various problems with different employees.

Pros

it's a paycheck that's what we all need

Cons

it's retail so don't expect much more

Advice to Senior Management

Work harder to keep your employees happy and add to the customer experience

Pros

Company values work put into your time, not time into your work. Creative abilities and ability to work independently is valued and recoginized.

Cons

Thwy think new is better and rarely promote from within at higher than Director levels.