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    Barnes & Noble Reviews

    Updated April 19, 2018
    3,200 reviews

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    3.4
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    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
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    Demos Parneros
    62 Ratings

    3,200 Employee Reviews

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    Pros
    Cons

    • Pay is minimum wage and sometimes there are no hours given to employees (in 165 reviews)

    • The corporate offices are pushing for numbers but they cut all the full time people from (in 158 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. "Great time"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I worked at Barnes & Noble part-time

      Pros

      I really enjoyed working there

      Cons

      No cons. Really great time

    2. "here for a good time not a long time"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      Former Employee - Bookseller in Portland, OR
      Former Employee - Bookseller in Portland, OR
      Recommends
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Barnes & Noble part-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Very solid employee benefits package for full time employees, and definite ways of advancing and getting more hours through taking on additional roles (cafe, receiving, etc.). Also a path to management if you find the right store and groove.

      Cons

      A little too corporate and staid for 21st century bookselling. The computers and database are all ancient and the scheduling software (to my memory) isn't much better). There isn't a tremendous amount of flexibility in creating displays tailored to local stores. Letting each store have its own sense of personality could go a long way toward this. The hours also vary widely from week to week for part time employees (clopen shifts, etc), but this is pretty par for the course in retail.

      3. Join the Barnes & Noble team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. "Great Place To Work"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Bookseller in Fredericksburg, VA
      Former Employee - Bookseller in Fredericksburg, VA
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at Barnes & Noble part-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      I get to work with a great staff and be around books all day.

      Cons

      Short hours and salary aren't great to live on.

      Advice to Management

      Not much. I really liked working there. Just raise the salary to a livable wage for anyone who needs to pay rent or have kids.

    4. "Bookseller"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I worked at Barnes & Noble part-time

      Pros

      Employee Discount was good. Always get to know what's new in the book world. Always great people to work with

      Cons

      Can be exhausting, especially on longer shifts

    5. "You work with interesting and passionate people."

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Cafe Manager in Phoenix, AZ
      Current Employee - Cafe Manager in Phoenix, AZ
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at Barnes & Noble full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      The people are awesome and interesting. The schedules are flexible and the employee discount is great. You work around books and coffee all day.

      Cons

      Very understaffed at times. Upper management is frequently changing the direction of the company. Some resources are outdated and facilities maintenance seems underfunded. The training resources are poorly designed, disorganized and we aren’t allocated payroll to properly train our staff. There is very little room for advancement as management positions get eliminated.

      Advice to Management

      Invest more resources into bookseller training and development.

    6. "Manager"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I worked at Barnes & Noble full-time

      Pros

      The people you work with are exceptional.

      Cons

      Financially they are not doing well.

    7. "Former barista"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I worked at Barnes & Noble part-time

      Pros

      Great company, small store, felt like being with friends

      Cons

      A lot of busy nights

    8. "bookseller"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in New York, NY
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in New York, NY
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Barnes & Noble part-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      good environment, some good people trying their best, with some unfortunate decisions from corporate that recently eliminate full-time positions. all in all, if you know what you're getting into and communicate clearly, this can be a good environment to work in.

      Cons

      low pay. poor management communication. policies were constantly changing, often with little explanation, and if they didn't seem to work, the response was to just "make it work"

      Advice to Management

      probably don't lay off all of your full-time staff and then expect your managers and part-timers to shoulder the burden, at least not without a gameplan

    9. "Hard work isn't rewarded"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I worked at Barnes & Noble part-time

      Pros

      Great environment where people make you feel like family.

      Cons

      I worked there for almost 2 years and was denied a raise. The only time I ever received a "raise" was when the minimum wage was raised. I constantly received praise by management about my hard work along with many top sales awards yet no raise was ever even considered for me.

      Advice to Management

      Implement a better structure for yearly reviews that actually compensate employees for their hard work.

    10. "It's okay for what it is."

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Barista in Philadelphia, PA
      Former Employee - Barista in Philadelphia, PA
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Barnes & Noble part-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      The employee discounts are nice and the staff was very friendly and close-knit. I loved all of my coworkers and managers. It's a decent and fun job for students.

      Cons

      Hours can be all over the place, there are no benefits, and working in the cafe is similar to working any other food service job.

      Advice to Management

      Work on the division between baristas and booksellers and provide more cross-training.

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