Pros
Dick's Sporting Goods (DSG) is a great place to work at only if you have a reasonable ability to handle stress. If this is true of you, then DSG is a great job.
Cons
DSG really only cares about numbers, numbers, numbers. It seems as if every month, corporate thinks up a new program they want they're stores to push. When I first got hired, they had just started this program for warranties for shoes. They have pushed that for almost a year now, even when most customers just laugh at it when it is pitched. Then it was AOS orders. Which is basically ordering items online for customers when the store doesn't have the item in need. Then just recently they started getting all the sales associates to push their Scorecards. I have no idea why they are such a big deal. And then we come to the credit cards, We have to push those too. And then for individual departments, there are things to push. Since I work in footwear, I need to try and sell as many socks as possible to customers. And the number of socks to transactions is compiled throughout the day, and if the number isn't high enough, the footwear associates get flack. All these numbers and statistics are on display for all the numbers to see. From district averages, to store averages, to associate averages. Since I work in footwear, we are generally the grunts of the store. We have a large chunk of the store to deal with, all while stocking socks, sandals, and filling holes in the wall, all while helping herds of people. We are expected to do way more than possible. The footwear lead has one of the hardest most stressful job in the entire store. As a department we have the highest turnover. I've worked there for a year, and I worked with over 15 different people, with the longest tenured being 5 months. A big problem with footwear is that since it is that since it gets busy at various times in the day, sometimes associates need to come over and help out. It's great to have help, but not when the wine and complain about it the whole time, and act as if it's your fault that they are there. Another low job is the door greater, He or she has to stand there all day long and greet people and point them in the direction of they're needs. One guy got so sick of standing there all day that he requested a transfer to footwear, thinking that it would be great to be moving around all day instead of just standing in one spot. He ended up moving back up front after about 2 months in footwear. The only people who are promoted or treated fairly are the people that alway act happy and cracking jokes, but not necessarily the hardest working. DSG also has a survey that is detailed at the bottom of every receipt. It is supposed to be filled out by the CUSTOMER, and not by employees. In order to get better reviews, store managers went against corporate's direct order and had associates fill out the survey after their purchases. This is very dishonest. One more rant; when managers aren't sitting behind there desks, they're walking around the store directing associates to come help customers, even when we are busy. They rarely help out, especially in footwear, where you need to know a ton a things to actually be productive. So they just never come near footwear in order to avoid being drawn into it.