sales associate

seasonal associate

retail assistant manager

store manager

supervisor

Bath & Body Works

I am a seasonal associate hired in Oct. 2018.  I have been shopping at BBW for years and know the products fairly well.  The manager made the interview very comfortable. We shared the same passion for the products BBW creates and a passion for customer service.  I was hired on the spot and started at $11.00 per hour, which is a standard hourly rate for seasonal employees.  The one thing that the manager did tell me during one of my visits to the store, before I applied, was that they were having a hard time keeping employees and that people just didn't show up for their shifts or they quit.  The corporate office raised the hourly rate to $11.00 per hour, in an attempt to keep trained employees interested in working. After having worked at BBW for a couple of months, I now understand why the turnover, regardless of pay.  It can be a very physically challenging job.  BBW moves more inventory than I ever imagined.  That inventory is moved by the employees, seasonal as well as permanent.  There are no "men" on staff specifically assigned to move the endless boxes of inventory.  And, since BBW employees are mainly women (not by design by any means), women are doing the heavy lifting, pushing, pulling, reaching, climbing, etc. Large shipments are dropped off and it is up to the employees to find a home for them, which is quite challenging, as many of the boxes are stored high on shelves and piled box on top of box.  If you have any disabilities or are an older employee, be sure to discuss any issues during your interview, so that you are not assigned potentially harmful duties. Also, the crowd on sale days can be overwhelming.  If you do not like being in crowds and wall-to-wall people, this job might not be for you.  Those days are a lot of fun for me, but others might find it to be too much pressure. We sold over 5,000 candles in one day, Dec 1, and I spent a good amount of time simply being trapped between people and not being able to move. We were at maximum customer capacity most of the day.  We had to have an employee stationed at the door, holding customers outside until customers inside exited the store. 

We are a very diverse store, in a high-end mall.   I thoroughly enjoy the majority of the people I work with.  There are some young employees that have not learned the importance of high work ethics and to respect their co-workers. (Hint:  On your first day or work, "candle day" or any other day, don't stand in the middle of the store in your red apron texting on your personal cell phone.  Keep your phone in the back where it belongs.  You don't see any of your mangers texting while they are on the floor working, you shouldn't be either.  And if an employee asks you for help, be a team player and help them. 

The management team is an elite force, upbeat and, even under the "tis the season" pressure, has the fortitude to be extremely patient with employees and guests.  A typical day at work depends on "where you are assigned for your shift."  Some days I'm assigned as a cashier for my entire shift, on super busy days where we have special events or that "one day out of the year" sale, I'm usually assigned to the sales floor, which I enjoy the most.  I find, more often than not, customers wanting suggestions for gifts or asking me "What is my 'favorite scent'?"  I love seeing the expression on their faces when I share my favorite products with them and they are experiencing it for the first time. I feel especially uplifted when they purchase what I've shared with them, because I know they will enjoy the products as much as I do!  

One challenging aspect of the job is getting to know where all of the products are located in the store....especially because things are moved around often. Seasonal employees mainly work weekends and by the time we've been gone a few days, a lot can change. The other challenge is all of the different scents in the wall flower bulbs and candles.... a lot of the names of fragrances are similar....for instance, there can be several different fragrances with the word "woods" in their title, so it can get confusing.  You think you know where "winter woods" is located and you drag your customer across the store only to find out that it is "cranberry woods."  So, it does get confusing.  BBW will change fragrance names and add new fragrances from year to year and season to season - it's exciting and challenging all at the same time!  Overall, yes I highly recommend working at BBW if you are lucky enough to have a store team like mine.

Bath and Body Works is a good place to work as an associate, but not as a management member. As an associate, hours vary constantly and it can often be frustrating to only have a week of call-in shifts and no actual shifts on the schedule. There is ALWAYS something to do, be it straightening, stocking, or the like. Management, do NOT expect to actually get a 30 minute break if you work an 8+ hour shift. Chances are that you'll be too busy moving around to Floorsets occur once, sometimes twice a month. Changes to the store happen near-nightly---marketing must be pulled and changed almost every night. Sales change constantly, so if an associate does not work for three or four days, chances are that they will not be aware of the current sales. It is VITAL that associates and managers alike maintain awareness of what is occurring in the store. Likewise, a closing shift will almost always end after the scheduled time, so do not expect to get out at 10 if you're scheduled to close. It'll usually come closer to 10:30, sometimes up to midnight or later if working during the holiday shift. Managers and associates alike can expect a scheduled 8 hour shift during holiday season but can end up working 12 hours, if not longer.

Management is another issue. Stores are broken down into managers, co-managers, sales leads, and then associates. Managers, co-managers, and sales leads are all required to open and close the store. This includes counting the opening and closing tills and ensuring the cleanliness and  stability of the store. Store management members are assigned "segments" according to the daily plan. Segments are two hour sections of the day where the store is expected to make a certain amount of money and "convert" a particular number of customers. This can often prove tedious, as groups can walk into the store and not all of the group members are willing to buy products from the store. This in turn counts against the store and ultimately the manager on duty. Management is also expected to sell a certain number of product from different categories in the store: Signature Collection, Home Fragrance, and Soaps and Sanitizers. If they do not sell the required number of dollars' worth, it is further counted against the store and the manager on duty. 

Bath and Body also has a particular breed of customers that comes in. Roughly 90% of the store's merchandise consists of seasonal merchandise, so the customer base is often disgruntled with having to find another new favorite product. While it IS fun to see the new products, it can be upsetting to know that a fragrance has disappeared forever (unless it's tweaked slightly and renamed and repackaged for the next season). The customers will complain about everything from fragrance selection, pricing, and the types of products available. The default answer is to refer to the customer to customer service, but customer service tends to prove as more of a hassle for the employees than a benefit. The return policy for Bath and Body can be very frustrating for BBW workers as well. Customers can return used product at any time if they decide that they no longer like it. This includes a bottle of lotion from three years ago that only has a third left in it. 

The only real benefit that Bath and Body has is that it allows its employees to transfer fairly easily. Employees can transfer to Victoria's Secret, White Barn Candles, and Henri Bendel. It's nice if you are a college student and want to keep your job in between vacations and school or are moving frequently. 

Bottom line-- Bath and Body is mostly a dead-end job. They say that they're willing to promote from within the company, but this is mostly untrue. Stick with this job if you need something, but keep in mind that it is very much a retail position. Irregular hours, disgruntled customers, seemingly meaningless tasks are all a part of it, and sometimes the 30% discount doesn't make up for it. The team that you work with can make the difference, though.

What is the best part of working at the company?
When my old boss hired me for the new store, she was incredibly kind and welcoming from the very beginning. She made me feel comfortable and valued right away, which made starting somewhere new so much easier. The original group of people there was amazing too — everyone was hardworking, supportive, and genuinely nice to be around. It created such a positive environment where people worked well together and helped each other out. Looking back, it was one of those workplaces that felt special because of the people in it.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stressful part about the company has been the change in management. The current boss often fires people with little to no warning, which creates a very tense and uncertain environment for everyone working there. Another difficult part is how the radios are used — employees are frequently yelled at or corrected through them, even over small things. Management also heavily instructs workers on how to have completely normal conversations with customers, which can feel very forced and uncomfortable. Many times, employees are expected to continue greeting or approaching customers even when those customers clearly want to be left alone, which can create awkward situations for both workers and shoppers.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
With the old management, the work environment was genuinely great. Employees felt comfortable asking questions or for help when needed, and management was understanding about people having school, other jobs, or outside responsibilities. They were supportive and treated employees with patience and respect, which made the workplace feel positive and motivating.

Since the change in management, the atmosphere has become much more stressful and discouraging. Employees are often made to feel unintelligent or like a burden for asking questions. This was especially difficult for me because my role was more seasonal, so when I returned after some time away, several procedures and expectations had changed. Instead of being helped or guided through those changes, the new management was dismissive and at times degrading when I asked for clarification. Rather than encouraging employees to learn and improve, the environment often made people feel uncomfortable speaking up at all.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day depended on your position, but most employees were often moved around between roles like greeter and cashier throughout a shift. Overall, the job itself was relatively easy, but some of the expectations placed on employees made it stressful at times. One of the biggest issues was being expected to repeatedly approach customers, even when they made it very obvious they did not want to interact. Employees would still be instructed to continue greeting or engaging with them, which sometimes understandably led to frustrated reactions from customers.

Other daily tasks included fixing displays, making sure the store stayed organized and presentable, and unpacking and putting out new shipments. Cashiers were also often expected to leave the register to greet customers because the store was either understaffed or, at times, overstaffed to the point where customers felt overwhelmed by the number of employees approaching them at once. The constant pressure to approach customers in a very forced way created an uncomfortable environment for both employees and shoppers.

If you're working in management, you're going to have plenty of hours but you're not going to have any work life balance unless you're the store manager making the schedule.
My experience was in a dying mall location, so we weren't nearly as stuffy and overbearing as other stores, but could be at times.
I despise the selling culture, treating customers as dollar signs and being forced to breathe down their necks and pester them until they buy something or leave. This is not a great place to work if you have anxiety.
I also hated the "coaching" methods. We were expected to ask our associates (who only work about 3-10 hours a week usually) what they could personally do to increase sales and ask what they did that may have not lead to increased sales. This is really awful to insinuate that our associates directly influence sales. Yes, they have an effect but no one can force a customer to buy something.
I hated that we were required to do a bag check every time we left the store. It infuriates me that Bath and Body Works believes that 90% of theft is internal. That is absolutely false. During my time of working there, I've seen multiple customers load bags up and just walk out of the store with $400+ of product and we weren't allowed to do anything. This makes employees feel powerless and frustrated and like fools.
And yet the company believes it's far better to distrust your employees. 
In Bath and Body Works' eyes, associates are no more than slaves to their will. Floorsets can drop randomly during the day and it's up to that SLT member to tell the closing associates that they have to stay hours later than they thought and have no choice otherwise.
The company is really wasteful. Employees are required to break candles that are returned and not able to be resold. We're also required to squirt out the shower gel, body cream, and body lotion into the trash upon return if it is not able to be resold. This is horrible for the environment and it sucks knowing that all that lotion and shower gel is going to be making its way into rivers, streams, you name it. The company is so against anyone possibly getting product for free by dumpster diving that it chooses to poison the environment. Customers and employees constantly request that we donate returned product to charities but the company believes its own "charity" suffices. The giving tree is what they call it and instead of donating product that can't be sold, the company asks all associates to bring in unwanted bath and body works products from their own personal collections to donate. So it gets the benefits of a charitable tax write off, by doing nothing charitable..and the employees get nothing.
The only good things about working here are the amazing people who you work with and the discount, kind of. Bath and Body Works products are overpriced and really not good for you at all. My personal experience may differ wildly from other stores but from what I've gathered from the locations where I live, most stores give off a manic peppy attitude but are usually entirely fake behind your back.

I enjoyed my nearly 5 years at Bath & Body Works. I had great managers, the pay was quite decent and well at that time, they were pretty flexible working with you if you needed select time off. Sometimes they wasn't always as giving when it came to weekends or holiday time as those were our most busy times when they needed staff available, which I understand, but sometimes I encountered troubles for a work-life balance in those select times, but very minimum. I had great people I worked with throughout. Hours were pretty flexible and the employee discounts were pretty nice. Learned a great bit about the company and fragrances. The only downfall, which can occure in all retail jobs, was the hours - sometimes hours would be great! But, other times, hours had to be cut or if traffic was slow and too many were scheduled to work, they would cut shifts. Although every so often doesnt really affect you, it became problematic for me when they had to begin cutting hours too much - and they did indeed try to be as fair as possible! They wasn't just cutting select people, they were trying to even it out so everyone had hours and also some cuts. When my hours had to unfortunately get cut significantly while I was a Top Seller, it became problematic for me to the point I was struggling to pay my bills. I did speak with my manager about my troubles and she was open to accommodations and would better adjust the schedule for us when she could but again, things were kept fair and although she wanted to help me some more, it would have been taking even more hours from others that she couldnt replace for them so she balanced it out best she could as everyone has important needs. Ultimately, that is the sole reason why I left my position at Bath and Body Works was because the less hours was affecting my finances and I had to prioritize that by finding another job that provided more secure hours. The pay at BBW was good and if I continued with normal work hours, I would have been fine, it was only the decline in hours that affecting me and my decision to depart. Overall, my employment there was great, you catch on pretty quickly to how things are done, learning new things, its fun working there, getting to see some of your repeat customers is nice and knowing how to better help customers each day, and there is the opportunity to grow in the company. Thankfully, I enjoyed working with all of my co-workers and managers at Bath & Body Works, they just had great energy, great team players and/or leaders, always cool, fun, professional and uplifting and I even remain friends with some till this day.

Was looking for a seasonal job for some extra money. I thought Bath and Body Works would be great because I love the store and their products. I also thought I could probably make some friends too given that most of the girls that work there are either about the same age as me or go to school at one of the colleges in our city. 

Scheduling is super flexible, they work around your school schedule or other jobs, but as a seasonal you don't get many hours. It was only 1-2 shifts a week at 3-4 hours which really sucked. The only other times you'll really get hours are candle day, black friday, and other key days or sales. Sometimes one of the girls needed a shift covered so that was a way to get other hours, but you have to be super quick to grab it because everyone wants more hours. I don't think any of us seasonals realized that the hours would be very low, but it makes sense.. its a small sized store. If you apply seasonally, I would recommend asking about the hours unless your okay with a 4 hour shift here and there. They also have these things called "call ins" where they can make you stay until however long after your scheduled shift They warned us not ask about if we would ended up needing to stay for these call ins because it was a way to get on their "bad side", which was pretty annoying when you don't have a car and depend on rides, or when a sitter is depending on you to come back at a certain time. One time it came to the end of my shift (or so I thought) and I had my ride outside waiting for me and then they tell me that I'm staying over 2 hours for my call in. A good way to know if your going to have to end up staying over is if it is super busy. 

There wasn't really much training at all. This store is a lot newer so this was their first season with hiring seasonal associates. So it was essentially a learning process for them also. Its really not a hard job to begin with so its not that big of a deal either. They are big on having you leave your register and going to the floor to help customers when there isn't a line. This is super understandable, but... there would be so many of us sometimes that the same customers we're getting approached by everyone so much. Not a big deal but I could see the annoyance from people. Another thing I notice is the managers can sometimes get super stressed out and take out their attitude on a customers. That really sucked, especially when you're cashing them out and now their giving you looks cause of someone else's actions. 

For the most part, the girls are nice. Some of them were super rude, probably because I'm "just a seasonal". I tried to engage in conversations with the girls but I just didn't fit in I guess. 


Overall, its not a bad place to work. Do your jobs and go home. The managers are for the most part really nice. The pay is really decent and a super easy way to make extra money here and there but don't expect many hours.

This job is relatively easy with three possible duties to be assigned throughout the day: front of shop (basically a door counter), sales floor, and cashier. Tasks are simple to learn for first time job-seekers or folks getting back into the job market. You are on your feet for your whole shift, which can be exhausting. It's a pretty nice place to work during Covid, since there are already sinks and nice soaps throughout the store and you get free hand sanitizer to keep on your apron. 

In addition to the free hand sanitizer, you also can get other free merchandise as new scents get released. I've gotten two free shower gels in just two months. Employees also get 30% off at Bath and Body Works, Victoria's Secret, and other L Brands businesses. Unfortunately, the discount only applies to full-price items and cannot be stacked onto sale or clearance priced items. Since the sale prices are usually better that 30%, it's only worth it if you really need something right away.

Due to an error from management, none of the employees that started working at the time the store re-opening in July received proper training. Because of a computer error, I still have not been able to complete mine over a month and a half after being employed. 

Shifts are short: only 3 hours at a time for most positions. This means you do not get a break or a lunch. I've been scheduled at most 12 hours per week, but most often only 9. Even though the pay started over minimum wage at $14.50 per hour, the minimal hours assigned make it incredibly difficult to earn a living, forcing me to keep looking for other employment.

It's convenient to get to work with a transportation center and large parking lot available. The bus is convenient location-wise, but due to conflicts with scheduling, is not ideal.

Everyone I work with is really nice. We have several openly LGBTQ employees who are welcomed by everyone with open arms. Management can be pushy about increasing sales and getting customers' emails and phone numbers, which is uncomfortable for me. 

If you aren't a die-hard Bath and Body Works fan, you may have some trouble with this job. Customers will expect you to have used every product and will ask you about specific details, like if a candle smells different when it burns or not. Most of the employees here are hardcore fans with favorite seasonal scents and encyclopedic knowledge of past scents. For someone who had only been to a Bath and Body Works once prior to employment, it can be alienating.

This company has a shiny exterior look and seems like it would offer plenty of upward mobility and flexibility for your schedule, but that would be false. My manager had a blatant problem with allowing myself or other associates time off without retaliating by scheduling them less hours. I wasn't scheduled less because managers are required to work 40 hours a week. I was frequently reprimanded for not meeting my sales goals, but a lot of the time I spent there I was off the floor and making up for a lack of work that my superior was doing. I was frequently harassed by this same manager, called names, put down, and accused of not doing my job. When I contacted HR regarding this issue I was required to have a meeting with them where I was pulled off the sales floor in the middle of the day and told that if I wanted to have more time off, I should have considered that before I chose this career path. The rules for time off regarding ASM and SM are that, "in the absence of the SM, the ASM must be present." This made it difficult for me to have a positive work-life balance as the SM continuously took whatever time he needed off and then refused to accept my requests for PTO. When I managed to get a day or two off here and there one year, he made mention of the fact that I wasn't a good employee for three years after the time off took place. HR did nothing, my DM did nothing, and my SM thought I was "over-reacting," I had multiple associates complain to me about the SM's behavior and was prompted to contact HR for those circumstances as well, they once again failed to act. The Top Sellers are stuck in their positions for years because they won't promote them from that position since they're making the sales of a top level manager without the pay rate, and they regular associates are barely given hours after you take out the set hours for full-time team members. I was asked by my DM not to discuss my rate of pay with a fellow SLT member after she received a demotion and and a pay cut based on overall sales numbers for our store location, and I told her after they had placed branding and floorset leadership onto her position and then cut her pay that she was not being treated fairly. I don't know if this reflects the way other store locations treat their associates or if our DM just had an inability to act when he saw something going wrong, but this was my experience and I can't recommend what I went through to anyone.

I would say Bath & Body Works is just like any other mall job. I applied because I enjoyed the products and thought it would be easy to sell products I believed in. For anyone who has had a retail job, this is not different. Busy days with short lunches with mediocre pay.

At Bath & Body Works I was trained for a number of different things such as stock work, register and floor sales, although most employees had their go-to area. I spent most of my time on the register. The management was great, employees are great but it doesn't exactly make for a great working environment.

Like any other job, there were sales to be made. You would go on the floor and assist customers and help them in the right direction. Bath & Body Works was VERY pushy when it came to sales. Employees had walkies on and after greeting a customer, you would be asked over the walkie what her favorite fragrance was. After learning her favorite fragrance, you would be enouraged to re-interact with her, making sure she found everything alright as well as recommending things she didn't necessarily need. I found most customers to think this as being a little pushy. Even now as a shopper, I feel a slight anxious coming in the store knowing I'm most likely not going to be left alone to shop.

Even working at the register, we would have small products know as "add-ons". These were for convincing customers to buy items to add to their sales right before the transaction. Customers would also find this annoying because of how much interaction they had already had with the floor salespeople, leaving you to deal with their moods. Bath & Body Works also had many sales which required coupons. Most customers would come in without the coupon and still insisted on recieving the sale which would result in managment having to come over and override the final price to honor the sale.

I will say that although the holiday season is a stressful time for anyone in retail, Bath & Body Works has seasonal fragrances that make the store feel festive and makes working fun at times. Once a season there would also be floor-sets which all the employees were required to come afterhours and move around the merchandise. Most of the time, floor-sets were fun and great for bonding with employees.

Overall I would say that Bath & Body Works is not a horrible job, but not a great one either. Management can be pushy when it comes to sales, aggrivating the customers. What makes this job enjoyable is always being surrounded by fragrances and products that you actually use.

I’ve been there for a year now and not much has changed since my first day on the job. Too much ongoing favoritism and not a lot of help or support from management. They act like they care but on the inside, they really don’t. They just stand at the front of the store most of the time chit-chatting amongst themselves reading off numbers over the headset while I’m in the middle of a transaction with the customer's items. It took me months just to figure out how to do certain things around the store that they could’ve taught me way back when I first started. There’s also too much micromanagement going on with those who are not considered a favorite even though you know what you are capable of doing most of the time. Managers there don’t really take you seriously enough unless you are a favorite. Management has made me feel very small-minded from the start even on days I’ve been asked to come in and cover for someone who called out.

Also, the hours and pay are not that great there either. They tend to hire too many people and then will cut your hours without saying a word. I work a full-time job during the week and only work there on weekends for some extra income. If you only work there on weekends it will get harder from time to time to get those extra hours you need for some extra income. Most the other sales associates there are in college (and younger than I am) and will try to take away your hours from you even though you worked very hard to maintain those hours for a while now. I’ve worked there every weekend for a while now and ever since the new hires came along, there haven’t been many hours for me left. Even when they’ve cut my hours back on a day I’m normally scheduled to come in and someone calls out at the very last minute, I would be the one most likely to get called in and regain my spot that was once taken away from me but was rightfully brought back to me. 

I just think that overall BBW isn’t an ideal place to work unless you really don’t need hours that bad and you don’t mind being constantly pushed around by management every 5 minutes. There isn’t a lot of room for growth anyhow and aren’t enough hours to go around for everyone else. Save your heartache at home folks. Don’t ever work for a place that you love to shop at! It can get ugly really quickly. 


Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Sales associate 96 salaries reported	$12.34 per hour
Seasonal associate 32 salaries reported	$10.91 per hour
Retail assistant manager 28 salaries reported	$13.07 per hour
Store manager 1 salary reported	$20.25 per hour
Supervisor 10 salaries reported	$15.20 per hour

Working at Bath & Body Works: Company Overview and Reviews

Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works Ratings

Popular jobs at Bath & Body Works

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected