Pros
The company has excellent full time employee benefits however there aren't any benefits for part-time employees. The store opens at 11:00 a.m. Monday thru Friday so if you are a "sleep in" person the earliest you would have to be at work for the Monday - Friday morning shifts is 10:00 a.m. On weekends...the store closes at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday and is open noon until 6:00 p.m. on Sundays. For the most part, you are helping someone make a very important decision in their life and that can be spiritually rewarding for you.
Cons
It is a commission based job and there is a great deal of pressure to achieve hourly production numbers. As a full time consultant, you do not get commission unless you sell a specified amount of dollars over a 2 week period (the pay period consist of 2 weeks). If you do not sell the specified amount then your pay is $7.50/hr. based on the number of hours you worked during that 2 week period. If you continue to not make commission for 3 pay periods, you get a formal "write up" because you are not meeting the standards, after 3 write ups, you can be dismissed from your job. You only get 1/2 hr. for lunch and sometimes you may not get a lunch due to bridal appointments running back to back and whether or not there are enough consultants to service the appointments. You are suppose to get a 15 minute break but that seldom ever happens either. Unfortuantely, the turnover rate for employees at the store where I work is 85% which means every year before our busy season (January - March) management has to practically hire a whole new consultant staff. That staff has to be trained prior to the busy season which takes a least 2 weeks...time consuming for the management staff that does the training and very costly for the company. The consultants are the sales staff, "stocking" staff, maids (have to clean the public bathrooms!), garbage removal service, and" recover" the store after a long day of hauling wedding gowns back and forth and trying to sale wedding gowns while constantly smiling and trying to be happy for the brides you are helping. I have personally worked an additional 2 hrs. after the store closed on a Saturday cleaning, straigtening gowns in bridal and special occassion, and making certain all my paperwork is completed before I leave...a 7 1/2 hr. shift can turn into a 9 1/2 hr. shift or more before you realize it. Plus all that time that you are cleaning and recovering the store actually counts against you as far as your production numbers . I have known consultants to clock out and continue to clean because they can not afford to stay on the clock.
