lifeguard

ride operator

maintenance technician

dispatcher

guest service agent

American Dream

Where shall I Begin... For starters, the Security Department is top-heavy. I have never work for a company that has been through 3 Security Directors in two years and currently has 2 Deputy Security Directors. The company sells you one big DREAM. Working in dispatch is a complete nightmare. Dispatch has been through three captains. No one stays in dispatch for long. All of the first dispatchers who started when dispatch started running have all left.When you start they sell you the Dream that you will get a raise but then turn around and tell you that the mall has no money. There is no room for job advancement because they will just bring another employee from a different department who has no clue how to supervise and does not want to be there. Your schedule will change at a moment's notice without your consideration. You will have to take a two-minute walk to the nearest bathroom and be told you have to take your lunch at your station because there is no one to give you a lunch break but they will take the 30 minutes from you for your lunch break. Instead of the supervisors teaching you and helping you in your job duties they play on their phone, be late for their shift, act like they have important meetings to go to, and then question your job skills. My advice do not even apply because there are better dispatching jobs than the Dream that will value you as an employee. Jobs where your job security will not be threatened because everyone is afraid of the owners who themselves do not know the first thing about security. 

The thing about this place is, it’s a good place to work for the pay. Especially if you’re starting out in the security field but someone with extensive security  experience such as myself will be hard pressed to advance here. For whatever reason, HR doesn’t want experience or how long you’ve been in your field to be a factor that’s considered in the promotion process. Seniority is also NOT a factor in the process when it should be mandatory. You’ll find people that were still in high school when you started in your field and that got hired AFTER you getting promotions before you. I’ve heard it’s the same experience in other departments. Management and HR acts as if this is ok when in reality, certain situations can arise where a person in a supervisory role can make a wrong decision based on lack of experience creating a potential security threat. Overall experience is pretty laid back. Not a hard job at all. A few verbal disputes here and there. Management has few moments where they micro manage but for the most part they trust you to do what’s right and aren’t breathing down your back 24/7. At least in my department. My only con would be the factors they consider or don’t consider when making a decision in the promotion process. Very moral lowering for someone that’s been in the security field for a long time. 

Working at American Dream was like opening a present on your birthday and finding nothing inside - the rush of initial excitement, only to be met with a plummeting let down.  Like any other job, you'll meet some great people to work with.  American Dream has a good location to New York City and the tristate area and somewhat decent pay for Security, especially if you are just starting out.  Two main problems exist that have contributed to the company's failure and low morale for employees: 1) the lack of efficient/knowledgeable leadership and flat out hiring people in positions they're not qualified/cut out for, with an emphasis on extremely young people that are not experienced and ready for leadership roles that they've been placed in.  2) opening the company doors too early with nothing remotely close to being completed. Pros: Beautiful shopping mall, Close proximity to NYC, if you're pretty good at your job, you REALLY stand out, and will outshine your Supervisors.  You'll have the potential to promote if positions ever open to do so - which is questionable. Cons: Security was never a priority for a location that needs to be on high alert with qualified people. You'll have more experience than some of your Supervisors. Unorganized in every aspect of a normal business ranging from consistent payroll/paycheck errors to inadequate/non existent job training 

American Dream has such an incredible motto and standard to work by and I appreciate how much they work towards pushing that.
With that being said, none of the managers that I personally work for uphold that standard in the slightest. They never consider anything you have outside of this job (family, children, school). They expect so much from you to the point where you become physically and mentally burned out. They don’t let you advance up in your job unless you are one of their favorites and will shun you for speaking your mind or asking for proper treatment.
No one in upper management values any type of criticism- if you don’t come to work with a happy and peppy attitude at all times, you are told to clock out and go home. 
They have great pay and I’ve met so many wonderful people who are now my closest friends outside of work. But upper management needs so much work. The supervisors have such god complex’s that it blocks their view on what it’s like working a job during these trying times.

It’s not terrible it just gets really hot when you’re a slide attendant and have to walk up and down the stairs and it’s the same temp in there everyday.
Not to mention the pay can definitely be better especially for standing up all day. I feel like for a company with such stature they can compensate a bit more. They give everything to the lifeguards and nothing to the slide attendants so it’s kinda unfair. If they overbook slide attendants for the day you may possibly be going home. Which can be annoying and inconvenient and most importantly a waste of gas which I can’t afford in this economy. They sent 4-6 people home one day(me included) and some of those people get rides so they were also pretty annoyed. They also recently started cutting hours which is one of the many reasons why I left. I never had any problems with management or the coworkers everyone was pretty cool. It’s just the pay-work ratio, the unruly temperature, the being unfair and not as accommodating and the hours cut back.

I was part of the organization before they opened. If you're part of the office staff be sure to know how to work on your own, sr. management does not manage. However, you will get exposed to quite a bit and gain much experience regarding various areas of the business. Compensation is adequate or at least before COVID but you do have to be vocal getting your fair share. AD is still trying to identify who they are not only as a business but internal culture as well. Just keep in mind and be open to do tasks and projects with individuals with no prior experience. But again this may also be an advantage as you will get to be exposed to much. Remember that at the end of the day you are working for the benefit of the Ghermezian family and not in the best interest of AD

The management team clearly doesn't know how to deal with the situations at the waterpark. The only way you can move up . It’s through favoritism. And in the same ways decisions are being taken by favoritism. Rules are not being followed for everyone. Do not apply to this place . Also schedules are not published with 15 days in advance they schedule you a week before and you have to request days off with 21 days and advance. They do not valórate the lifeguards job by having them fixing broken attractions aka hydro through the day. They do not care for safety precautions such as caring for the wave pool holes or attractions that are not chemically ready to be used due to fecal incidents such as wave pool kung fu and hydro as well . If you are a guest i truly doesn’t recommend you visiting this park and if you are thinking about applying here they will not care about your job or you as a person they will treat you as a replaceable worker  

The schedule they gave me changed overnight. So I showed up to work thinking I had work for basically four days of the week and came to find out that instead of work for four days, they changed my schedule without a phone call or email. So now I had no work that week.

It left a very bad taste in my mouth because I had planned my entire week around the four days I was supposed to work. There are some benefits to working here. It's a mall, so it has close access to shops. They have a pension match scheme. But you only get paid $17 an hour, so you can't really use it. If you work for American Dream itself, you get discounts in one of the food courts.

One good thing was that the coworkers I had were pretty cool, but if you choose to work here, your experience with the people you work with might be different. 

But this is all outweighed by the general feeling of disorganization the management gives off. And not having a consistent schedule that I can rely on is a dealbreaker for me.

Standing in 90 degree heat, yelling at the top of my lungs about safety guidelines over loud music and running water is draining enough. But to have to work in a culture of general apathy and carelessness is even moreso. It’s clear that a lot of people are young, bored and here to collect a paycheck at the end of the day. It’s even more difficult when leads and management do not communicate well with us.  Sometimes leads and supervisors give confusing and conflicting information that makes our jobs harder. On the good side, scheduling is very flexible and I‘m almost guaranteed to find someone who can take a shift for me when needed. Beyond that, this job is not worth minimum wage pay with minimal hours, and it drains the life out of me every day I clock out.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Lifeguard 5 salaries reported	$17.40 per hour
Ride operator 7 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Maintenance technician 2 salaries reported	$20.50 per hour
Dispatcher 4 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Guest service agent 4 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour

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