sales associate

assistant manager

factory worker

seasonal associate

associate manager

J.Crew

A day at work could either be extremely busy or very slow depending on the weather that day, or the season in general. 

I started as a seasonal worker, so I learned very quickly where certain products were placed in our store in order to get them to the customer as best as I could in a timely manner. I learned a lot about myself and how I operate in stressful situations, and how to better go about handling any similar situations in the future. 
Working with many different types of people can be challenging, but I was able to adjust without rushing into bonding with my colleagues. I took my time to get to know each of them, no matter how long we were able to work together. 
Perspective is a huge factor when designing looks for mannequins. Though you may want to create a look solely based off of your personal preferences, it may not translate to the consumer. Paying attention to small details can make a huge difference. 

Management each had their own personality that mirrored in their work ethic. Some I got a long with and enjoyed being around and working with, others not as much. 

We had many different ages, races/ ethnicities working at our specific location. I got to know a lot of good people and became friendly with a good portion of my colleagues. There were a few coworkers that I didn’t get as close to. We all shared the break room and congregated whenever there was a story to tell, or a congratulatory celebration to be held. A lot of laughs and snacks were shared.

I think the hardest part about the job was dealing with belligerent customers from time to time. I always tried my best to keep my composure and not be rude back to the customer. In those times a manager would allow me to take my break in order to calm
myself and refresh before stepping back onto the sales floor. 

The most enjoyable times I had while working were when we had staff competitions and raffles. Sometimes we would get rewards based on our sales and how many customer compliments we received within a week.  My name was written on a ticket and entered into the raffle with each compliment i received either from a customer, or a manager.  At the end of the week all of the  name tickets would be tallied up and whoever had the most tickets would receive a low or high value reward. I won a  high value reward from the raffle and I was very pleased and impressed with myself. I really got to showcase my competitive side outside of my chill, stoic, serious about work side.  
Outside of the competitions, I really enjoyed being able to bond with my colleagues and help my customers find exactly what they were searching for. Also, I really enjoyed learning how to enhance my creative eye and attention to detail when designing outfits for mannequins and assembling new displays. 

As a client specialist you answer incoming calls about placing orders, troubleshoot problems that occurred during delivery or at the warehouse and answer questions about the products. I learned to manage my time efficiently, how to persuade customers to buy things and sign up for  credit cards over the phone. I learned to basically give people whatever they want so they keep shopping with us. I guess you can say I learned how to become "empowered" which is a word management loves to use. I moved to quality assurance for 2 years where I REALLY learned more about the company, metrics and what's important to management. That got old and monotonous and there was management issues, big time in the department when I was there. I went to the wedding department after that, which I enjoyed greatly. The calls were different, we had more to do between calls, like answer emails. It's just that they have that team constantly in overflow. You didn't always feel like a wedding specialist because you were taking all kinds of other calls. The biggest disappointment for me is that this company makes it very difficult to move up. They consistently promote others who, I feel, will go with the status quo and not question management. This company seems to like to short cut and it could be because they aren't doing well or they are overly frugal. They constantly have everyone in overflow instead of hiring more people and they don't pay bilingual speakers an incentive for taking those calls.I really wanted to stay, but the pay was too low and the lack of opportunities made me leave.

I worked in one of the call centers for J. Crew and I really wouldn't recommend this job to anyone.  A typical day consists of 30-40 calls from people screaming and cursing at you because their order took longer than a week to arrive; or for some other trivial issue.  After about a week of very poor training you will be thrown out on the floor to fend for yourself with no help whatsoever.  Customers are often extremely entitled and rude, and spend an entire call incoherently screaming into your ear while insulting your intelligence.  It doesn't help that due to the minimal training you have no idea how to handle most of the situations people are calling in about. You will be told you are allowed to hang up on these callers, but will be written up if you do so.  
Management does not care about employees and will write you up for pretty much everything.  Some examples: being one minute late when returning from break, using the restroom during a 10 hour shift when you are only given one 30 min lunch break for the entire day, disconnecting a call when a customer verbally abuses you, asking a customer to stop making lewd comments to you over the phone, using one of your sick days, etc etc.  During downtime you are not allowed to do anything except look at the J.Crew website so you can recommend clothes to customers.  This means that if you have no calls for 3 hours, you will spend them either staring into space or reading the website.  The only good thing about this job is that since everyone quits after a few months they are desperate to keep people so you have a lot of job security.
The pay seems good at first, but it really is not worth it at all when you take into account that you will spend every day wishing you never accepted this position.

There are no opportunities in Fashion Design outside of New York City (and potentially California). As a New York native and BFA in Fashion Design with New York fashion design experience, I can personally attest to the lack of opportunities for growth and advancement with this company that touts itself as a fashion brand.  Granted I am definitely overqualified and I accepted a position in the company's call center (only due to geographic location), I personally spent 9 months watching un-degreed personnel advance and receive promotions while after a total of 5 positions I applied for, I have been denied advancement. Management and trainers are biased. If you are from a small town, or if you are a recent high school graduate, or if you are part of a specific demographic (which I choose not to address-you can determine what this is for yourself), you will excel. There seems to be a gang mentality whereby if you are not a part of the "crew" (I will allow you to define this "crew" for yourself), you will not receive much other than the most detestable phone calls from the most deplorable people-if you choose to work for a call center.  After accepting employment, I was offered 19.5 hours of work. Then, the company will proceed to offer extra hours and minimal overtime hours to ensure that the staff works 6-7 days a week.  After requesting full time status, the company offered 32 hours of work.  Being a native of the fashion capitol of the world, and currently studying to earn a Master's degree in a STEM career, thankfully I am able to put the company in it's proper perspective, I am increasingly aware of what I have gotten myself into in that I have chosen to be a part of it.

I wld tell ppl to run fast and don't work here. Some of the coworkers are good to work with. It's very stressful and they expect too much work while underpaid. Most of the supervisors have no previous experience and have no clue what they are doing so when you ask them a question they say they don't know and tell you to find someone else that may know. They let some people get away with not complying with dress code and not doing good their work while others are held accountable for everything. If you call out bc of an illness and you have a Dr. Note you still get an occurrence just like if you didn't have one. They only do paid time off and no sick time, we only get 12 days pto each year so if you get sick it takes away from it. I was sick with a severe sinus infection, bronchitis and start of pneumonia, my Dr took me out of work for 5 days and put on there that I was contagious, but I still received the occurrence for being taken out for 5 days plus 5 days of pto were used. If I didn't have a note I cld u der stand getting the occurrence but not if I had a Dr note taking me out of work bc I'm contagious. Moral is bad and everyone comes to work sick bc we get in trouble for being sick and it takes our pto. You have very little opportunity to advance unless you kiss butt or are one of the favorites of leads or supervisors. I am looking for a better job w better benefits. The health benefits are very pricy so after benefits could e out your paycheck is so small, as a single parent I can barely take care of me and my daughter.

The managers and employees are great. The schedules are flexible and it's easy to request time off. The majority of the customers destroy the store without consideration for anyone. There are difficult customers who ask to use extra coupons or ask for extra discounts. There were rotting floorboards when I worked there and it took months for corporate to get anything done about it. The managers submitted work orders and then a welder was sent out to replace the floor. The floor rotted again and we were working in mold conditions. Then a haz-mat crew was sent in to tarp the entire cash wrap area and rip out the floor. The store was then screened for mold after everything was removed. What about the employees' and customers' exposure? Then the store felt like working in a freezer and we all wore our coats indoors because the thermostat was located in the tarped area, throwing off the actual temperature of the store. Then some higher up, corporate people came for a visit. They acknowledged the situation, but not much was done to make it right. They had the thermostat moved, but didn't offer any apologies or anything to make the working conditions right. Also, I was an employee during the shooting. They paid us for the first week that we were scheduled, then nothing. I then went a week without pay, so I requested to work at another location. Corporate failed to take care of us more than once.

Responsibilities
My day-to-day responsibility was to be the women's problem solver. My role was really meant to be focused on selling (gaining new personal clients, contacting existing ones, selling to walk-in customers) when in reality I was answering the phone, cleaning up after fellow associates, pinning alterations for clients that were not mine and folding even though we had support associates. I was unable to prosper and management couldn't care less. They only looked at numbers and the messy fitting rooms. I am one person in the second highest volume J.Crew in Manhattan and could not do it all on my own.

Accomplishments
Although my personal selling numbers were phenomenal, most of my work was done at home and for free. I was not allowed to clock-in for personal shopping appointments on my days off when a client needed me, and I wasn't allowed to use shift time to reach out to clients. All that work was to be done on my own time. I was expected to meet minimum requirements, but was often unable to due to 'regulations' I feel did not exist. With eight different managers, they were never on the same page and there was little communication. As a die hard J.Crewaholic, it was very difficult being let go from the company after so much hard work. 

Skills Used
I was forced to jump right into selling, there was no training and no grace period. Luckily I am a natural people person and love the J.Crew brand, so it was easy to sell and I had to sell a lot!

What is the best part of working at the company?
Clocking out to come home is the best part of working at J.Crew.  This is a company that can't tell the truth.   Supervision sets employees up to fail while setting themselves up for advancement and promotion.   Employees work extremely hard for Supervision to receive and be eligible for huge bonuses.  Meanwhile, employees get paid for their work but anything extra is always taxed hard.  Past two year 
raises have been in the 18 cent per hour range.  Supervision plays hidden agenda games and employees are coerced into bad mouthing others so that discipline and/or termination takes place on the target employee.   Supervision holds grudges against former employees and give detrimental and poor references to former employees looking for jobs.  Human Resources does nothing to help employees while making employees feel that they are valued under false pretenses. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Having a supervisor that continues to "pull the wool" over higher supervision while lying to employees, basically a two-faced individual. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Too much diversity has allowed company to get out of hand and not hold bad employees accountable for their actions. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It is absolutely pure torture would not recommend it for a family based individual who is just trying to make an honest living and be proud of what you are doing.

I worked at J. Crew just over a year (I left after finishing my degrees). Within that time period I officially held two positions: call center specialist and customer feedback specialist. 

I received extensive customer service experience from the call center specialist position. The customer feedback position required less time on the phones, but a large use in Excel. 

The work environment was extraordinary. Even though the jobs could get monotonous or stressful at times, management did a wonderful job of keeping morale high. For example, due to a large part of the business coming from the online store, cyber-Monday is a huge workday for everyone. Management gave out free pizzas all day long and other treats. There were also gift cards given out from drawings and other fun things to keep employees happy. 

The hardest part of the jobs would have to have been dealing with irate customers. I think most customer service representatives would agree that some people just do not want to be happy. Fortunately, not every customer is unhappy and most problems could be fixed. 

I really enjoyed my bosses and coworkers. The job was in my college town and many of my friends also worked there in various departments. There was always someone to talk to during breaks and my bosses really cared about me as a person. It was nice to know someone cared rather than being just another number. 

The company redeveloped their "sales assciate" position into a "stylist" position in order to encourage a deeper customer-salesperson relationship. We are there to sell clothes, but we are trained and encouraged to use our passion for and knowledge of the J.Crew brand to tailor each customer's shopping experience to what they need. Our main goal is to send a client home with a piece/outfit that is high quality, but at a reasonable price. Additionally, our clients will love the pieces they bring home for years to come. 
The management team at my location has a great dynamic and that flows into the dynamic with non-management team members as well. The positive relationships we all have as co-workers allows us all to more easily take advantage of the open-door poilicy. If there is any type of confusion or issue, we all feel comfortable connecting with our managers and team members to find a resolution. 
Customers can sometimes be the hardest part of the job, but they can also be the most enjoyable part of the job. When a stylist and a customer are able to develop a connection while shopping, the experience can be effortless and extremely fun. Unfortunately, there can be some dissonance between a customer and stylist at times and that can lower the quality of the shopping experience. However, this creates an opportunity to team up with another stylist or manager in order to give the customer an ideal shopping experience.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Sales associate 106 salaries reported	$15.72 per hour
Assistant manager 50 salaries reported	$21.18 per hour
Factory worker 15 salaries reported	$18.47 per hour
Seasonal associate 30 salaries reported	$14.93 per hour
Associate manager 15 salaries reported	$22.72 per hour

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