Sephora USA Reviews

Pros

I LOVE my job! It has made a huge impact on my life and I couldn't be happier working there. Time off is given when needed (and without questions like you're a horrible person for even asking!) There is constant communication re: where you want to go within the company and my particular management team is amazing about pushing us forward and towards our goals! I couldn't imagine working anywhere else now! love love love!

Cons

Standing on my feet has taken its toll but it's totally worth it :)

Pros

A lot of career growth
Great training

Cons

Sometimes management's feedback can be intruisive

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to promote from within

Pros

I absolutely loved working at Sephora! I truly found my passion in life. I loved working with every client and I learned so much about myself while employed at Sephora. This company is very professional, and the communication was excellent. I felt like Sephora allowed employees to be very creative. I can't say enough good things about this company. The education you get at Sephora is amazing!! The gratis is a plus too!

Cons

The only con I can think of for Sephora is that it is a little difficult to move up in the company from what I saw. Other than that, I thought it was a great TEAM enivronment.

Pros

+ Gratis (even though I didn't work there long enough to see the fruits of that labor)

+ Employees: Maybe it was just the location I was working in. But the employees were wonderful. They treated me very kindly, didn't hesitate to speak to me nor help me in my time of need.

+ Seeing new faces everyday. I get an adrenaline rush keeping busy and getting to speak to new people on a daily basis. Sephora is a great place for that!

+ The ear pieces they have you wear can be somewhat beneficial not having to go back and forth to an area/fellow-employee just to ask a question.

+ Being able to wear almost as many piercings and tattoo's as you want without needing to cover them. It allows you to look how you choose without feeling awkward about it. Pink, blue, purple hair, facial piercings, tatted up arms . . . it's all allowed and welcomed!

Cons

***Keep in mind that the majority of this is probably more personal than it is anything else (which you'll be able to tell throughout the rest of this review I'm sure). I didn't see this as a problem looking at the other reviews.

- I'm not able to get in contact with the company. If I want to call in and let them know that I'll work on my off days or any time they need me, I'm not able to. I've left messages before, and no response.

- I take it I'm not hired anymore, but according to the handbook, they can terminate you without providing you with a reason, as well as without letting you even know whether you were fired or not. They have yet to let me know whether I've been terminated or not.

- They don't fix the issues you come to them about. It came a point in time where they stopped putting my name on the sent schedules. Then they stopped sending me schedules altogether.

- Everyone treated me well EXCEPT store director and specialist. Not to say they treated me badly in person, however their actions showed me differently.

- They honestly treated me as though I was at the bottom of the totem pole. I'm all for working my way up, and I enjoyed it while it lasted. However, the uniform I was given was crappy as if they knew they didn't want me working there for long, so they might as well have given me whatever they wanted. The amount of days I got to work there were RIDICULOUS. I hardly had ANY days to work. The pay is good to only be cashiering, however I would have made more money working minimum wage for 4 hours, 7 days a week.

Advice to Senior Management

There are people like me who have their hopes up high knowing they have received an opportunity of working here. Everyone around me knew that working at Sephora was my dream job, and had nothing to do with the money. I wanted the opportunity to grow with the company and gain knowledge and experience.

However you have some people that want to work there just because. Apparently you're hiring the wrong people at times. I can't say all of them are like this, but I can definitely tell you that you don't take the time out to figure exactly who is worth the hire.

Another thing. It's best to inform your employees on what their positions are at the company. Not knowing whether I was fired or not is very low and tacky.

Pros

Nice atmosphere, friendly fellow employees, great products,nice customers in-general,gratis,discount 20%,never board- always something to do.

Cons

When a manager takes a disliking to you your life will be hell. Micro-management,too much expected of employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Be respectful of employees having to have other employment - you are only offering part-time work. Stop playing favorites.

Pros

Lots of cosmetics & skincare to play with
Good music
Fun & happy co-workers
Gratis - however you don't get to pick it out so it's usually random items that you don't use

Cons

Too many managers - leads, DIC, specialists, etc. & everyone thinks they're in charge
Micro-managed beyond belief
Communication sucks and you never know who you're supposed to answer to
Can't leave your "zone" without asking permission
Inexperienced leads/specialists who don't know how to manage people
Be prepared to make samples, samples, samples
Polyester uniforms
Gratis is doled out by how much management likes you
Everything you buy &/or bring into the store has to be etched with your employee number so don't expect to take it home any time soon
All positions are part-time except for management so forget about receiving a decent paycheck
Only a few make-up artists are allowed to sit clients down at the Beauty Studio
The hand-bag & clothing check before leaving the store makes you feel like a criminal

Advice to Senior Management

Be more of a presence in the store. It's hard to respect your leadership when they do nothing but boss employees around, don't lift a finger and spends all day in the office. Never ask an employee to do something you would not do yourself. Utilize the talent you have, i.e., if you have an experienced make-up artist, don't make them start at the bottom and color match clients all day. Allow employees to cross into other zones to cater to the client. Have fun - it's make-up & skincare, not brain surgery.

Pros

great learning environment, friendly workers

Cons

upper management not held accountable

Advice to Senior Management

listen to your teams

Pros

Sephora could be a great place to work for if the company was managed properly, both on a corporate and store level. The potential for receiving gratis (free products) is great, opportunities for training could be great. Starting pay was okay, especially if entering at cashier level. You are paid bonuses if your store meets sales and service goals. The team I worked with (aside from management) was awesome, and felt like a second family-- but I suppose that depends on the store you work in.

Cons

I've worked retail for many years, and I've also worked for other companies in the beauty industry. I have to say, Sephora is the most poorly-managed business I have ever worked for. I realize that every store is different, but here are some of my observations and personal experiences:

-When I first started, the training Sephora had was really helpful. Employees would get one-on-one time with brand representatives and could learn about new products and application techniques. Now, all we get are two videos on Sephora.com once a week, if there's even time to watch them. I haven't been trained at all in close to two months, when before I was getting trained a few times a week.

-There is absolutely no follow-through on new policies and procedures. Our store will start a new way of doing something, and then the next week it will be completely disregarded and never spoken of again. There is little communication between management and employees, especially part-time employees, so it's hard to understand what's going on, and it's easy to feel "lost".

-Hours are a crapshoot. I was hired as a part-time employee, and there have been months where I've consistently worked 50+ hours a week. I have never been offered a full-time position or health benefits.

-Sanitization and cleanliness standards are not enforced.

-Gratis (free product) is received on what appears to be solely favoritism.

-8 and 9 hour shifts get one one-hour break. If you work 5 hours or less, you will not get a break.

-At my store, you used to have to know a member of management or an employee to be hired. Now, the only real requirements are an open schedule and an 'attractive' face. New employees are thrown into doing makeup with no experience or training, and the rest of the store gets reprimanded when that employee gets a bad review from a client. Meanwhile, employees that have been with the store for a while and are waiting to get promoted have to stay at cashier level.

-Opportunity for growth is a very long and not very promising process. My store will not "promote from within" unless you are willing to transfer to another store, unfortunately the closest stores are over an hour away.

-If you work as a makeup artist or skincare consultant, the pay is much lower compared to other retailers.

-Feedback on performance is nonexistent. If you are no longer useful or productive enough to the company, you will not be fired. Rather, you will simply not be scheduled and will receive 0 hours. The employees that this happens to just end up finding a new job and quitting.

-Sephora revolves around the 'client survey', an online form that customers fill out giving feedback on their visit to the store. As far as I've been told, the survey is judged by corporate the same way for every store in the company, regardless of how busy that particular store is on a given day, or how many employees are scheduled. This is a very unfair way to judge a store's performance.

And finally, in my opinion the biggest "con"-
Sephora is micro-managed beyond belief. Everyone is watched like a hawk. You are not allowed to talk to each other while on the floor if there are clients in the store. At one time we had a policy in my store that if we saw a fellow employee talking or not "tasking" (cleaning, etc.) during downtime, we had to tell management so they could be written up. You have to ask permission to use the restroom or wash your hands, and there have been times where I was not 'allowed' to go. The general atmosphere is very tense and uncomfortable.

I hope this review will be helpful to those wondering what it's like to work at Sephora. It is definitely not what I expected. When I first started, I wanted makeup artistry to be my career, and I thought that I was taking a step in the right direction to grow within the industry. Working for Sephora has been enough to make me change my career path completely. I am no longer interested in the beauty industry at all.

Advice to Senior Management

Take time to get to know and listen to your employees, no matter how far down on the "totem pole" they may be. You are losing talented workers.

Pros

Staff are like a second family, talented makeup artists, gratis, having a job you love, great co-workers, training opportunities, selling great proucts..

Cons

Pay scale should have a wider range, provide more opportunities for off site trainings and makeup demos...

Advice to Senior Management

Offer more off site training and schedule group staff meetings at least twice a month for the opportunity for more open communication.

Pros

you get a discount on makeup

Cons

you have to kiss ass

Advice to Senior Management

fire everyone and hire new people