photographer

makeup artist

retail sales associate

sales associate

associate

CADY

What to expect starting out:
Honestly, if you're a new photographer or a photographer looking to get into portrait photography, Cady is a top-notch place to start. You'll get a real taste of high-speed, high-stress work - which is an experience you’ll want if you're serious about this kind of photography as a career. However, I recommend thinking of it as just a stepping stone. Think of it as a way to beef up your resume and network with other photographers before you move on to better and higher paying photography jobs. You will hear a lot of fluff and exciting promises from corporate, and though some of it is actually good most of what they say should be taken with a grain of salt. If you join during a slow period, brace yourself – things will speed up really quick. Management does their best to prepare you, but you’ll have to be willing/able to learn quickly and ready to step out of your comfort zone. They'll only put you in situations they think you can handle, but you have to be able to adapt to situations and not shut down under the pressure that comes from those situations. 
The Downside:
Most of the unsavory parts of the job come from dealing with customers, not your colleagues. You're gonna face unrealistic expectations from school contacts and especially pushy parents living vicariously through their kids. And due to the pay scale, there's a pretty high turnover rate for photographers, so expect to see people come and go. However, this will teach you how to deal with inflamed egos from your peers who think they’re owed more than the worth they bring, and coworkers who are mean or just lazy. 
The Pay and Hours:
I’m not going to pretend like the pay you’ll get at Cady as a photographer is necessarily fair, especially if you’re actually working hard.  The hours can be all over the place if you keep your schedule open, and some weeks, you might clock in over 40 hours as a part-time employee, but you'll get paid time and a half for any overtime. The same goes for if you get promoted to full-time.  You might work over 60 hours a week but you'll still receive overtime pay. I normally made more from my overtime hours working some weeks than I did from my first 40 hours of the week. Occasionally, you might be asked to drive hours for an event at a school out of town early in the morning, but if you drive your own car, Cady will pay you back for the miles you drove, normally on your next paycheck if you’re proactive with your expense reports. You are able to adjust your availability to whatever you want if you don’t want to or are unable to go on long events. 
The Managment:
I can't say a whole lot about the corporate management at Cady while I worked there, but the local managers were some of the best people I've worked with. Both the photography and customer service teams had managers who truly cared about their work and their employees. They were lenient and understanding with personal issues or if you made a mistake. However, this does not mean that they turned a blind eye to employees who thought they could take advantage of that leniency. Promotions were given to people who demonstrated strong work ethic, had leadership skills, and didn’t complain even though the job was tough at times. This means that newer employees who worked hard, took initiative and acted kindly towards others would sometimes be promoted over employees who had been working at the studio longer but did not display the same qualities. 
The Upside:
All in all, the job was a mix of adrenaline rushes and stress, but the experiences you gain working there are very valuable especially if you’re trying to go into a photography field like fashion where I can guarantee you’ll have to deal with even worse drama and harsher critics. It will over prepare you for most jobs in the photography field normally making them seem easy. The workplace might seem a bit cliquey at first, but with so many different people, you're bound to fit in somewhere and make friends. Management is friendly and very willing to help you progress in your career if you're open to their advice.
You will make friends, gain valuable contacts, and progress in your career. Your experience is only going to be as good as you allow it to be, so if you come in with that mindset and keep it while you work there your overall experience will be positive. 

This job was a lot of fun and the employees are great. It's the kind of place where people hang around even when their shift is finished.

Unfortunately, favoritism runs rampant at this workplace and there are days where you'll work your butt off while others are doing nothing in the back room. But unless you're liked by management, the second you take a break, you get reprimanded. Sometimes you have to go out and find the people you were supposed to be working with when it gets busy. 

You won't just be working in the studio, you'll go to schools for picture day and various photo events. This requires you to drive your own personal vehicle, and if you're one of few who actually has a car that works, you'll end up driving multiple people almost every event. Mileage is paid, gas is not. Favoritism is also found in these events, since all roles on a school event are not equal. Sometimes you'll be working constantly depending on what set you're on, and someone else may only get 4 or 5 students. 

The scheduling and hours are inconsistent. This is a seasonal job, so it might not be the place you want to work if you have bills to pay. Some weeks you'll have 40 hours, some weeks you'll have 20. In the peak season, we were getting overtime hours for a while. That being said, trying to give away a shift and request off is a hassle. Hopefully they'll hire more people next season because often times, management would said things like "This is a blackout week, we need all hands on deck." For the most part, you work what is scheduled because chances are, most people are already working that day. You're paid less if you have a limited availability.

Some days you'll have shifts at 4am, 5am, 6am. You have to meet at the studio, load up the equipment, and drive to a school. And you may not get off until 7 or 8pm. Some days you'll work 9am - 9pm on the studio floor.

Parents can be exhausting, school administrators can be exhausting, taking photos of 400 students a day can be exhausting. There is a medium amount of physical labor that goes into school events. You do lots of talking, and sometimes you go to schools with students who don't know how to behave. Sometimes schools forget to schedule in a lunch break for us, or they ask us to move rooms after we've already set up equipment.

The training process can be very intimidating so I wouldn't recommend this job for anyone who's shy or can't take criticism. Even after training is complete, there are some employees who WILL talk trash about you if you make a mistake. Even some of the managers will. But the job really isn't difficult once you get the hang of things. They tell you also, to keep it moving and to avoid taking too long on one student. Don't show them the photos, just select the best ones according to CADY standards. You will learn posing and have to pose most students yourself.

If you have an elite client, you will be their personal photographer for the day, and you may have to drive to multiple locations depending on what they want. If your elite is rude or lazy, you just have to tough it out for a few hours. Although, company policies are very shady, and sometimes people don't realize what they actually signed up for and they're forced to go through the entire elite package, despite not wanting to.

All of this being said, this was a fun place to work. It's great for beginner photographers, or anyone wanting some experience for their resume. It's even nice for experienced photographers wanting to work with high quality equipment and meet fellow photographers. The pay is okay, but the company is doing very well so I'm expecting it will get better as time increases.

The best part of the job is bringing out student's confident sides and seeing their faces light up at their photos. You work with people of all different cultures, so you get to experience so much diversity. It's such a heartwarming experience, there are moments where you make parents cry. At the end of the day, it's a customer service job ultimately. This is a big milestone for these students, and it's a once in a lifetime photoshoot. For a lot of them, this is the first time they've ever gotten professional photos done. And for some of them, this will be the last. Just some thing so keep in mind.

After years of working for this company all of my work has been underappreciated, tarnished by new, lazier workers, promotions given to people far less qualified (because I was also the one of the employees who trained them so everything they know I have known for much longer and practiced these skills to a greater degree), and everything has just fallen downhill since I started. 

Everything here runs on "vibes" rather than actual skill, capability, and reliability. There are times where I have been the only employee to show up for the job and had to contact all of the other employees to question their whereabouts because they haven't even woken up yet. If you're not absolutely adored at the workplace it doesn't matter how skilled you are, you will never move up. You will literally be stuck in your position forever and corporate will never notice you because you will never have a way to contact them. Corporate is also entirely unaware of your capabilities, skill, or anything else you do in the company unless you are recognized by management, but the only way to be recognized by management is to "vibe" with them. The opportunities to move up are completely locked away from you if you aren't absolutely adored in the workplace. You will never be given opportunities to move forward or even so much as show your capabilities because you will never be scheduled to do any of those things. 

There are times where you will be up at 1am and work until 6am the next day just to have to come back in at 10am for another three shifts until 2am. The company is always understaffed. The new employees are severely undertrained because there's no time to train them, so having to deal with making sure everything goes well with a team that knows next to nothing about what to do is aggravating and easily avoidable. 

Your hard work will be entirely ignored here. All the things you've done for the company will never be noticed, your dedication will not be admired, and anyone who is simply liked more than you will always have a massive headstart in comparison even if they lack the most basic skills for the company or any company such as reliability. 

An employee was written up once for being late due to traffic entirely to make an example out of them when other employees have shown up MUCH later because they've overslept or just not shown up at all with no warning. That is the kind of "appreciation" you will receive working for this company. 

Getting days off with this company is extremely difficult especially if you have children. The "slow season" basically means you will have maybe 4 hours a week as a "full-time" employee. If you're not "full-time" you'll likely get no hours for months. In the middle of the season you will be worked to the bone at 80 hours a week and no days off even as "part-time" with no breaks throughout a 20+ hour shift and having to drive 3 or more hours, which is EXTREMELY dangerous. When you're told "things will get better" don't believe them. They won't. They never will.

Workers compensation is non-existent and you will be arguing with HR about it forever just to receive nothing if injured or in a major car accident because you have to drive to a location. 

 Their "part-time plus" option is essentially a way to scam you out of insurance options through the company and get you to work well over 40 hours a week when it says "32 to 40 hours." Part time employees will be working at least 60 hours a week with no insurance. 

Would not recommend this job to anyone who values themselves because it will make you feel worthless and all your hard work you've put in will mean absolutely nothing over people that are much more popular. 

It's a relatively small company with less than or about 1,000 employees, high turn over, and fast growth, so there are many opportunities for quick advancement. Depending on your manager, advancement may be based more on your work and results or more on how much you mirror the manager, are friends with them, or behaviors that can look like brown nosing. It is a family owned company, so expect nepotism and favoritism. That said, it's possible to be rewarded and given opportunities for your work here if you record and discuss your contributions regularly to your manager and others. 

Some managers here may take credit for your work, ignore your contributions, and give you a hard time, while others may praise and champion you fairly. Some may micromanage and some give a lot freedoms. It all depends on your area, seniority, department, luck. 

There are many employee appreciation events and group events. Free coffee and snacks. Pay for hourly workers is low and hours decrease during slow season. Most of the staff quits or is laid off if still working there by winter or spring. Some of them may return during busy season but most do not. The best time to be hired is May or June, when group trainings take place. This is when everyone else is new as well and the most time and effort is given to group trainings. If you join November or later, expect hours to start being cut, fewer opportunities for commission if you're a presenter, and you may not have work in a few months. 

Photographers tend to burn out physically from shooting many sessions and events and not feeling the passion for it or caring if they do a good job but just wanting to get their day done. Presenters and SERs can get burned out emotionally and mentally on lots of administrative work on top of their regular duties, customers being angry about price and transparency, customers being angry about product quality transparency because the experience and images advertised are often not what they get from high turn over inexperienced photographers, much more need for training and quality control, customer service that does not answer the phone for them, and a crowded studio with lines. However, a strong personal perspective about how to go into each day to learn, improve, and enjoy it, knowing it may be a lot of work during busy season, or tough goals, can be the pressure you need daily to improve your talents and grow your character quickly. If you come for just a paycheck in a fun environment, you might stay a season. If you come with an intent to grow your skills, regardless of whether you have mentorship, good management, or bad management, you may stay long term and truly gain long term because there is a lot here to gain skills and experiences from, whether you stick with the company for years or not. 

Benefits are for full timers only, so you need to be at least a lead photographer, assistant manager, shift manager, ect. Three healthcare options. Optional dental. Free life insurance. PTO is 10 days for under 3 years or 15 days for 3+ years. 8 paid holidays. Morning and evening schedule options possible. Bonuses possible. It's pretty easy to work toward a full time position if that is your goal, but it may take several months or a year depending on which route you're going for a position to become available. 

You are likely to make a lifelong friend here.

I was scouted out by CADY after working for another company for my entire working career. I fell in love with the company, the culture, the people, the vision, and everything that is involved with my day to day. I was brought on to a new studio opening. While the opening was rocky, to see where progress has come today is beautiful. I love my day to day, my staff, my counterparts, my challenges, successes, and the students I get to celebrate. If you have a strong background in retail sales and love being creative-- you will enjoy this job so much. It is focused, centralized, and you aren't carrying the hats of several positions. You have leadership who will support you in your challenges, questions, and give direct guidance. You as an employee feel that guidance. If you have a creative background this job is perfect. Your impact as a leader will show directly in your results. You manage that experience and expectation within your staff and your operations team under one house. CADY has a lot of opportunities for growth as it is growing from a small business to a larger scale. They are receptive to the growth and the feedback. Opportunities are having a centralized onboarding process that is cohesive and direct. Which currently the company is correcting. Overall, I have enjoyed my change in my career and I love my job. The hardest part of the job would be if you are someone who doesn't enjoy asking for help or seeking guidance from others because it causes you to feel insecure--you will struggle. No one puts you down or makes you feel like your efforts are not enough. I have vocalized for assistance during my first month and the amount of help I received was very efficient and effective. My favorite part of my job is seeing the kids enter the studio who are not feeling confident, seeing them connect with the photographers, the team jumping in to hype the students up, seeing the students shine, and then seeing the joy on their faces. I love my staff, the team, and the work we do. I am very proud. Since the role is just senior portraits, you will have to have transparent conversations with staff about their employment. The off season is controversial for some team members due to work stopping due to the senior year ending. They do provide resources and assistance during that time period. Most team members are told of this during their interview. Outside of that, best thing I have ever done for myself. 

I've been with the company for around two years now. I can say with certainty that every day is a little different. With as many clients and schools as we serve, and as many vendors and subcontractors we work with, there are always new problems to solve and requests to figure out a way to accomplish. It keeps things fresh.

The company is expanding rapidly and hiring aggressively in new territories. As we expand, scaling up the workflows can create some speed bumps and stressful days. There are a ton of moving parts, and at times the changes aren't implemented as smoothly as everyone intends; but with a company of over 900 people during the busy months, change takes time, and industry disruption takes effort.

I've learned a lot moving up from a part-time seasonal entry level position - admittedly starting out as a novice in Photoshop - to being promoted to full-time, then to the team lead and getting some real world management and corporate experience. The company invests in people who take the time to ask questions, offer solutions, and work hard to make the schools and parents happy.

I think the biggest thing I can speak to is the culture; in the corporate headquarters (which are stunning, for the record) there really is no interdepartmental finger-pointing. Collaboration and support are there for all who seek it. It takes a village etc. Without the people in the other teams being as kind, welcoming, and helpful as they can be, this job would be a lot harder to give 110% to.

The hardest thing about the job is the seasonality of the business - there are heavy parts of the year we hire up lots of folks for, but during the dry seasons we have to say "see you soon" to some great folks. Sometimes that means we don't get to bring them back.

All in all, if you're up for a challenge, know your way around the Adobe suite and have a customer focused philosophy, this job affords you a good opportunity to work in a growing industry for one of the most forward thinking companies in the field.

After giving long hours and countless amount of quality images, here is a list of offenses that several employees have felt being members of the "Cady Team": 
- nepotism- there were at least 3 people hired by Cady who lacked professional experienced but were paid $4/hr more than photographers who had been there for years
- racial accusations- e.g. attitude problems that are somehow unique to photographers of color
- lack of professionalism by management- they will tell you to be professional during photoshoots but lack the skills of any competent manager. You will find more professionalism working in the fast food industry. Management expects professionalism but does not embody nor show evidence that they understand what those words mean. 
- The whirlpool of lies- I can not tell you how many times Cady has lied to employees. But the lies range from reasons for why you are placed on probation to tales about why your promotion hasn't been processed. 
- SEVERELY underpaid- Cady gives 0% commission for senior pictures when the packages can cost parents close to $1000. The starting salary is roughly $9/hr. You will be told (lied to) that you will get a raise countless times and they will either not give you a raise or let you go before the raise kicks in
- "seasonal contracts"- you will be hired as a seasonal employee meaning that many labor laws and protections will not apply to you. They don't offer any other contracts to avoid litigation. In other words, they treat employees poorly and any mistake is met with a threat of being "let go for the season." Seasonal also means that there are no benefits nor hourly guarantees per week. 

If you want to learn the fundamentals of photography in a judgement-free zone but do not care about your mental health or being torn down by a company ran by incompetent fools who have sweet talked their way into a leadership role, Cady is the place for you!

I currently work at Cady and I love it here. All my coworkers respect and appreciate me. If I mess up, I’m quick to fix it because nobody is afraid to say something to me for the better of the students. Cady and I really care about the students and they’re experience. Working here you have to remember the students coming in most likely have never gotten they’re photo professionally taken and its our job to make they’re “senior photography” experience a good one. I sole heartedly believe in this company and they’re goal of being the premier senior photography company. 
Most of the time, the students and families have an amazing experience that they’ll remember but the biggest complaint we get is the prices of the packages. Being a professional photographer outside the studio, this isn’t the case; professional photography is expensive. 
Now for why i give 4 stars and not 5, most of the photographers are looked at as seasonal, your not going to be there for more than a year but if you’re a knowledgeable photographer you will be there as long as you like. The pay is $12 which is great for a new photographer but for the photographers who been there for longer than a year and live on they're own its just not enough to live on. Most of my check goes to bills and I barely scrape by. The median age of the photographers is 24 and many have kids or live on they're own. Overall, i love this company and my job as a business owner myself everything they do makes sense, often i even look at what they're doing for guidance. If you’re  an aspiring photographer or already a photographer and want to do photography all the time this is THE place to be, at CADY.

At first I loved it because my coworkers and I got along really well, but after being there for almost 2 years (and most of my original coworkers leaving) I got sick of the unreal expectations from upper management.

You were expected to work way too much overtime. Litterally every week. I remember one week I worked 65 hours. 

There were so many days we didn't even get our full lunch break, only 15 min. They did pay for lunch as compansation, but after a while it wasn't worth it.

So many times you were told to tell customers something one day then something different the next.

Other departments didn't communicate well, so you found out things like " there's a 50% off sale," "there's a parade blocking your studio parking," and "my school has a special package" from your customers. Yep, don't you feel stupid.

Systems kept acting up, and the Tech dept. was so behind it took weeks/sometimes months to get problems fixed/corrected. 

Also, there's no set training and there is a lot of information you need to know that you pretty much have to pick up on....and training is usually only 1 week of sitting with another agent. (Which is an unreal expectation, with the amount of info you need to know about the multiple systems Cady studios uses and multiple product lines they offer)

I will say this, they did improve on some of these issues throughout the time that I was there, but no where near where you would expect a professional corporate office to be.

*** Keep in mind this review is for the Corporate office not studio, not sure if it's any better there.

*** I am so much happier with my life than I was back then.

My favorite reason for working here is the passionate culture and teamwork. There is close communication between departments. If you have a question/concern or need help with something, you can get a clear answer very quickly rather than, say, sending off an email to someone you don't know and hoping you'll get a response. Communication is a huge part of the culture here too. Leadership is transparent about changes they are working on, what to expect in the coming months, and what they are aware of. Coworkers truly do feel like teammates; you feel like no one gets left behind here and they'll have your back.

Your workload will vary depending on the time of year. In both departments I've worked in, Aug-Nov is *insanely* busy - expect grueling back-to-back all day every day - but the plus side is the overtime pay which there is a lot of opportunity for in the busy season. The slow season eases up the workload, but you don't have the same opportunity to work overtime. If you want the exact same workload for the entire calendar year, don't expect that here.

This company also does a good job of making employees feel appreciated, with various incentives for rewards like gift cards, free meals, giveaways/raffles, etc., plus the office parties for the holidays. There have been a lot of changes in the time I've been here and they have all made the place better to work at. This is not a job where I dread coming into work, even when it's busy, because I look forward to seeing everyone and doing my part.

If you are a good learner and listener, a team player, and you like an exciting, upbeat environment where you will never feel invisible or alone, this is the place for you.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Photographer 82 salaries reported	$16.79 per hour
Makeup artist 24 salaries reported	$19.08 per hour
Retail sales associate 56 salaries reported	$15.11 per hour
Sales associate 52 salaries reported	$16.09 per hour
Associate 28 salaries reported	$19.89 per hour

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