Pros
For the most part, at the goodwill i work at, there is good communication between management and the associates. Most of the managers are very relaxed and fun to work with. It is a very interesting place to work in many ways so its rarely boring. The pay is pretty good considering most similar jobs and there is opportunity for pay raises every year. They are very flexible with scheduling and give you a good amount of hours. Relaxed dress code. I believe there is a lot of freedom and trust. They like to train people in multiple areas of the store so its nice to have different things to do instead of just cashiering all day or putting out racks/carts. 20% off discount. It may seem like i have more cons than pros but really the cons are just things I would have wanted to know before I started working there. Overall I really do enjoy working there. The people I work with are great and most of the customers are kind people. I have definitely learned a lot of valuable skills from working there and it can be a lot of fun.
Cons
Sometimes the mangers think they know best in situations in which they don't and will enforce things that are impossible to carry through. If the customer complains enough they almost always get their way no matter how crappy they treated everyone in the store, which is true in most retail stores. While most customers are nice there are a lot of creeps and people who complain about pricing constantly. It tends to be pretty dusty so if you have bad allergies its probably not your best choice or if you're a germ-a-phob; I wash my hands constantly. There is a big push for getting goodwill cards and comment cards. There is a point system so every time you miss a day you get a point even if you get a doctors note or anything or if you go home early. As the points add up you get written up and the eventually fired. The way its set up makes no sense its frustrating. When you miss 4 days within a year you get written up but when you miss 5 or 6 there are no consequences until the 7th point.The points are rolling so it takes a year for it to be erased. We tend to do a lot of quizzes and worksheets throughout the year which kind of makes me feel like I'm back in school but they are pretty easy. It can be very challenging at times and you need patience and good customer service skills. Definitely not a job for everyone.
