credit analyst

marketing analyst

data scientist

manager

maintenance mechanic

Bluestem Brands

I was a home agent, so the best part about my job was that I didn't have to drive anywhere. I could just get up and start my computer(when it worked), and begin my day. My job was pretty easy, answer the phone and help customers place orders, track their shipments, or let them know what was going on with their credit accounts.
Management for the most part was satisfactory. The home agent managers were always supposed to be my first point of contact for any problems or questions I had throughout the day, but they were not always available, which meant that I had to contact a manager in the call center. Needless to say, the managers did not communicate to each other as needed and messages for the home agent supervisors were not always relayed.
The job in itself was an easy one. With the correct training, anyone could do it. The problem I had with the company was equipment maintenance. My computer would frequently freeze on me, and if the IT department could not fix it remotely, they did not send a tech to look at your equipment, they just figured it wasn't their problem any further. After 3 weeks of having this problem, and only being able to be on my computer a few hours a day, I called in my own tech to look at the computer. It was found that the internet cable port on the back of the computer was loose, and that's why my computer would work on and off throughout the day.
Unfortunately, after having this problem fixed by a tech I had to pay, and not the company maintaining their own equipment, I was let go for not being on the phone or computer as much as I needed. to be. I was also told that more communication was required by me. This is where communication problems between the home agent supervisors and the call center supervisors became apparent.

I was an employee at Bluestem's Irvine Distribution Center. I worked hard, listened to my trainer and supervisor, pushed myself to exceed my expected performance daily, and took every opportunity to become a better and more proficient employee of the company. One day, I had a disagreement with another employee, and it escalated to the point where I had to inform my supervising staff that I needed to leave to avoid an altercation in the work place. Granted, I chose to leave before the end of my shift, but it was because my coworker continued to pursue me throughout the facility incessantly. So I chose to just do the right thing to diffuse the situation, even going as far as requesting the escort of security personnel to help ensure there was not any altercation before I could exit the building. In my haste, I left my employee badge inside the facility, and because of this, they terminated my employment. There was no warning, either verbal or written, no situation review, no dialogue, and no discussion to be had; just immediate termination of employment. On top of all of that, even though now the employee that I had a disagreement with and I are back on amicable terms, I was the one who proactively tried to avoid an altercation in the workplace; yet they are still working there and received absolutely no disciplinary action whatsoever for their actions and behaviors. This, to me, seems inexcusable from a managerial viewpoint.

In marketing at Bluestem Brands, the work environment is very hectic and everything is a rush.  There is essentially no proactive planning of projects or tactics, which was frustrating.  Someone gets a idea and they want to execute it tomorrow.  There is also no coordination across different teams to get a project up and running.  The person who "owns" the idea has to meet with creative, operations, merch, etc. all separately to get their idea off the ground and to manage their project through completion.  This is hard on the execution teams as well, having very little visibility to what the other teams are doing to support the same initiative.  Bluestem could really benefit from more Project Managers and more coordination across the teams.  Lastly, the directors do the majority of the execution activities.  The teams are order-takers and not really encouraged to come up with ideas and drive strategies forward on their own.  This approach to work means that directors can't actually provide strategic leadership because they are so in the weeds, and employees below the director level get bored because they have very little empowerment.

From 8:00 am to 2:30 pm, I would make calls to credit applicants for the company and subsequently approved or declined them. If they were declined for insufficient credit, I would offer them a special trial package to give them a start. I had access to a plethora of personal information about the applicants (their social security number, place of residence, credit history, etc), so confidentiality was an absolute must. 
I learned to interact with customers in a professional manner and provide them with the best possible customer service. 
My management was great, they had no issues with me requesting days off when necessary and were very friendly. 
I didn't interact with many of my coworkers, but the ones that I did were very personable as well. 
The hardest part of the job was the occasional monotony and interacting with belligerent customers (although this wasn't a big issue to me). 
My management, coworkers, and a good majority of the applicants that I interacted with over the phone were palatable which was much appreciated. Also, the compensation was satisfactory to me.

I recently worked for Bluestem through a temp agency an at first I was excited an enthusiastic, after awhile I noticed everybody was not willing to work together as Customer first was the motto I was told many times to ONLY worry about AHT even when it was clear Bluestem was at fault majority of the times for errors on customers accounts.My performance was excellent however I became sick an had unexpected family issues ,I kept my supervisors in the know HOWEVER they were not willing to accommodate a schedule change or let me work from home, I became mentally drained an informed management be of such they did not care..It bothers me a company cares more about sales then their customer relations an employee relations. Mental health an physical health is very important an any Corp (Temp agency an Bluestem Brands) should be considered an concerned of their employees well being not just the DOLLAR.

What is the best part of working at the company?
  GREAT PLACE TO WORK AND MANAGEMENT CARES ABOUT EVERYONES WELLBEING, WE ALL ARE TREATED LIKE FAMILY MEMBERS

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
COMPLICATED DUE TO OUT-OF-DATE COMPUTERS, SCANNERS, SHIPPING LABEL MACHINES, LACK OF
TAPE GUNS AT EVERY WORKSTATIONS TO TAPE BOXES TO BE SHIPPED, MOST OF THE TIME NO PACKING BOXES, OR PACKAGING BAGS TO PROPERLY SHIP OUT ORDERS OR COMPUTER PAPER TO PRINT RECEIPT AT EVERYWORKSTATION TO DO THE JOB MORE ACCURATELY.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
CONVENTIONAL  AND ALSO CAN BE TOXIC ENVIRONMENT AT TIMES WE MAY   SOMETIMES WORK THROUGHOUT BREAKS TO MEET PRODUCTION RATE GOALS THAT ARE SET AND ITS A POSITIVE CULTURE ENVIROMENT.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
PACKING, CUSTOMER 0RDERS SELECTING THE RIGHT PACKAGING MATERIAL CONTRIBUTING TO THE PRODUCT PROTECTION AND CUSTOMERS SATISFACTION.AND HELP REACHING ACHIEVING COMPANY GOALSTHAT ARE SET.

A typical day at work in Bluestem's Credit Department consisted of getting to work a few minutes early so we can prep our computers for the calls we take for the day. Clocking in was very convenient as it was right on our own computers.

The coworkers and managers were really nice and easy to work with.

I'd say the hardest part of the job is handling customers who have been misdirected a couple of times and have, again, landed in the wrong department (Credit). Sometimes those customers would vent some not-so-nice things when you tell them you don't have the resources at your end to help them and need to transfer them to the right department. It's also a bummer that Bluestem is so difficult to get hired into.

I really liked the hours - 7:30am to 3:30pm with the option of not taking a lunch to go home half an hour early.

Bluestem did provide quite a few free lunches - one of them was a free, paid, 40 minute lunch. I thought that was pretty nice.

In the past three years, they have had a turnover of more than 200 people.You can get fired for crossing the parking lot with a lit cig or dropping an f-bomb in the smoke shack. If you accidentally clock in early, they will pay you for it anyway, then accuse you of stealing from the company and mark your record with "willful misconduct." They only give you dull scissors to use, but will write you up for bringing in your own scissors. They are very quick to accuse people of cheating because to attain their expected production numbers, people cheat; you can also get written up, then fired for not meeting these production numbers if you're honest. They will deduct the incorrect local taxes for you, then try to gas-light you into believing they are doing it correctly (even if you're an actual tax-preparer and know better). They've been lying to their employees for at least the past two years at each monthly "Town Hall" about how great the production numbers and profitability; now they're telling Chapter 11 bankruptcy court otherwise?

If you're even contemplating getting a job here, run, don't walk in the other direction. 

This is the most poorly organized company you could cosider to work at for any career. Working here does not progress your career, it actually hinders it. The tools you are given are outdated, prohibitive in being productive, and your ideas mean nothing to management.  

The company does not care about its employees it's all about bottom line dollars. There are no training for employees, career development is non existent. 

The work life balance is the worst I've ever encountered at any company. You are overworked, no support and no time to get anything done. Everyone is stretched to the max. 50 hour work week is typical and that's a good week. Not surprising you would work more than that just to stay afloat. 

Bluestem is not a company you would find any career growth or gratitude in any life experience. It's horrendous to put it nicely.

Been here for awhile now and it’s just not what they claim it to be. In the south building your incentive is based off performance and if you do well you receive a raise per the hour you perform at that score. So by the end of the week if you average a 150 you would see that added into your pay based on the hours you were “on standard” however they constantly add new changes to the system that neglect your score. Also they allow an individual to receive a score that’s completely impossible to achieve unless you cheat the system.  The reason? He’s “autistic” tRhe current night shift manager allowed a person to jump over several people for a crane operator position because they’re friends outside of work. She ais also allowed to neglect safety procedures as well.  Don’t expect to go far in this place

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Credit analyst 4 salaries reported	$74,688 per year
Marketing analyst 4 salaries reported	$51,875 per year
Data scientist 4 salaries reported	$102,000 per year
Manager 3 salaries reported	$123,333 per year
Maintenance mechanic 3 salaries reported	$17.17 per hour

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