Pros
I worked at Charming Charlie for about 18-20 months. At first, there were some pros to the job. Mainly, I was just excited that I was making money for once in my life. - Late night mark-downs were fun because you didn't have to work with customers. We got to listen to our iPods and eat pizza. - The atmosphere was upbeat and the employees were happy. - I got to dress cute and wear 6 accessories. - Damaged jewelry was being sent to after-school programs for underprivileged kids to do art projects. Lots of charity promotions- "Buy a scarf and we'll match one for breast cancer survivors!" - We got to decorate the back room with posters and pictures from fashion magazines. - Each employee got their turn to decorate the mannequins in the front of the store, or to arrange the displays around the store. - The employee discount was decent, and the jewelry was cheap.
Cons
-Breaks. I think it was something like 5+ hours you got a 15 minute break, and 8+ hours you got a 30 minute break. But managers got hour long breaks no matter what. - Wearing a walkie-talkie. I had managers constantly chirping in my ear, telling me how much money we had to make with updates every 15 minutes and pop quizzes sure to follow. - Standing at the front door for 6 hours at a time, greeting every single person that walked in. - Charity programs disappeared mysteriously... - Mark-downs started taking longer and longer. Eventually I was being scheduled until 4 A.M. with 8 A.M. classes on the next day. - Selling became extremely aggressive. I was being told to look into people's handbaskets and tell them what to buy. A complete invasion of customer privacy. - Too much work to ask of your employees for minimum wage. Should be paid commission. - All of my interactions with customers were scripted and forced - 2 minute average to check somebody out. "Did you find everything you were looking for today? Oh, I love this necklace you picked out! (complimenting the customers on their selection was mandatory) Have you tried our new fragrance, So Smitten? Did you see that our clearance jewelry is 'Buy One Get One Free?' Is it your first time shopping with us today?" Then we had to ask customers for their phone numbers, first name, last name, zip code, and email address. - Bag checks at the door, even if you weren't working that day. - People who worked there a fraction of the time that I did were getting pay increases, when my pay stayed the same, even after my manager told me that I was the 'best salesperson on the floor.'