marketing manager

hair stylist

retail sales associate

director

product designer

Mattel, Inc.

Girl creative management does not value more senior (older creative employees, with a wealth of experience and proven, consistent talent). If you are not moving up, they will eventually want you to move on and out. If you do not, often they make the work environment very unbearable and undesirable so you will leave on your own accord possibly by slowly making you go mad. 
Examples, such as by reducing your work space office over time, removing benefits and work perks, and having you reporting to managers that once reported to you. Smiling and stroking your ego all the way.

 Also forget about leaving for maternity leave. Often women would come back to a work structure in which they lost seniority for no other apparent reason except they were gone having a baby, and someone else seized on their job. It would feel like starting over for many, and many strides backwards for women in terms of developing their creative careers when having a baby, or starting a family. 

However, flip side, if you are a young talented emotionally mature person (no kids) just out of school with an underdog story and come from a diverse background, Mattel is great for you.
You must be savvy at creative social media and willing to promote the company. Don't get me wrong, It is a great place for you to gain experience, meet great hardworking people and peers, but beware of senior management!! do work to then move up with them (work to get promoted), or on (different department), or out (leave company), before they view you as obsolete or stagnant in any aspect of your life there. Which, can take about 2-5 years depending on several factors, and the individual. 

I say being emotionally smart is also very important so you can learn fast and navigate the mine fields of appeasing sociopathic, self obsessed and very moody creative Directors and VP's..with tons of blatant biases, and love to play people against each other, and watch them squirm. They are consumed with themselves, and fashion week trips... patting themselves on their backs about how brilliant they are, and how you are not in their little smug high and mighty club. (Seriously other employees I spoke with wanted nothing to do with it, and though it was weird.)  For me that was the most annoying thing to have to deal with. Smiling, and them taking credit for your work, and back stabbing you in the process to keep you career idle unless you are willing to play up to them like you want to be in their gross club dynamic, having to listen to all of their little inside jokes!  Seriously I felt like I was witnessing a middle school or high school environment. I had to get out of there. If you are ready for that game, or that sort of thing does not bother you then I say go for it, and apply!

American Girl is an excellent place to work for a seasonal job.  You get paid to take their training courses.  The salary is very fair considering its location.  You can relax in casual dress.  Every supervisor I've had has been extremely nice and very knowledgeable.  You are definitely treated as a member of the year-round team.  My coworkers have been among the nicest people with whom I've ever worked. You even receive a free box of toys during the holiday season, as well as a holiday lunch.  

The hardest part of the job is dealing with angry customers.  Once in awhile you have to deal with some nasty people.  Another tough part of the job would be the hours of work.  You never know from week to week what your schedule will be.  I wish American Girl would offer set schedules from which to choose at the beginning of the season so that you can plan your life a bit better.  There is also some weekend work involved, particularly if you work in the Retail Support Services department (plan to work every other weekend if you work in RSS).  However, I heard that the American Girl call centers may be going to every other weekend work.

If you want to work full-time at American Girl, you may not have an opportunity to do so quickly.  You will want to plan to stay on seasonally for a year or more before applying for a rare year-round opportunity.  Also, depending upon the department, you may have to put in your time in an evening shift, prior to moving to days if you go year-round at  American Girl.  This may take 2-3 years.  Also, even if you are a year-round employee, you still will not know what your schedule will be from week to week.

I highly recommend American Girl for a seasonal position, but depending upon your needs, I would think about it before pursuing a full-time career there.

The name of this company before Mattel bought it was "The Pleasant Company" and it still fits. Where I worked, most of the time, was in gift wrapping, it was clean and quiet enough to listen to piped in music that changed on a daily basis, I was well trained and the work areas were well stocked. When gift wrapping was slow I was used as a picker-packer and that was fun too!

We had free muffins once a week in a lunch room that had booths and least 4 separate counter top areas with a sink and a microwave and several refrigerators. Coffee was discounted and the machines were often set up to give free coffee.

I was the only guy in the gift wrapping department and a little slower than most of the women. I tried very hard to get my speed up there, while maintaining their very high quality expectations, of course, but they never complained to me that I wasn't getting enough done and even called me back the following year to ask if I wanted to come back. I can thank American Girl for knowing how to perfectly wrap a present so you can't see any tape and all the folds line up and I can tie a perfect bow! So what! I'm good with my hands, LOL.

Only one odd thing, you had to sign out and return the box cutters on a daily basis. One day I forgot and the supervisor called me up and asked me to return it immediately, so of course I did, left a note on her desk apologizing because I could not find her. No big deal, I thought, they are writing the checks and that's just how it is. A couple of days later she thanked me for doing that because of all the paper work she would have had to file because I did that. I guess there had been some issues, some where, some how. I didn't ask. I was just happy to be working for such a cool company.

Working a seasonal position at the San Bernardino Mattel Toy Store is somewhat pleasant. There are no benefits and no sick pay, but the customers are always great and the atmosphere of the store is very relaxed.
The work is very easy ... once you figure out what it is you're doing.
The store is very unorganized, there is no direction, and there aren't even planograms for the racks or products.
Learning your job there is very much "sink or swim". Management gives you the information you need and throws you out there to fend for yourself.
They seem to be very understanding individuals when an issue in your personal life arises, however, if you do something they don't agree with they will purposely make your time there miserable instead of pulling you to the side and talking about it. The communication skills are very poor.
Once they feel you've deserved your punishment, they will then call you on your day off and fire you over the phone.
Management also chooses favorites and gives them special treatment, even if they are lazy workers.
If you have great customer service values and believe in treating customers and coworkers fair, this is not the place for you.
If you believe in being dishonest with customers and coworkers, and if you have no problem stepping over others to get what you want, then I encourage you to apply.

Company continues to work on a turnaround and while there are some positive signs (e.g. new CEO, new CBO from prominent organizations) there is still much to be done internally to make Mattel a great company.  

Company holiday and vacation policies are among the very best available.  Compensation is good, not great, but that tends to be the case among "fun" industries. Bonuses and raises have been either  meager or non-existent due to the company's continuing struggle to meet financial goals.

Work/life balance is entirely dependent on your team.  Mattel is a matrix-style organization with many small, highly-specialized teams that each have their own subcultures.  

Company leadership is not a strong suit.  Mattel is a very, very top-heavy culture so expect that your voice won't be heard until you're at least a Sr. Manager or a Director level.  Leadership relies on a trickle-down communication style which, frankly, doesn't work.  Due to this style, important information like strategy, business priorities, etc. aren't communicated to lower levels, which makes doing your day-to-day work difficult.  

For better or for worse, Mattel promotions work like clockwork, occurring approx. every two years.  It's quite easy to come in, work for a few years to get your title, and then move on.

I worked at the AG cafe, needless to say if you get an interview there, run. Don't do the interview (it takes 2-3 weeks to get the paper work after you get on boarded either way). In the history of the cafe being open (2 years in the new location in CC) it's had over 10+ managers and leads. TEN. If you need the job my biggest advice is to not try and socialize with ANYONE because like previous reviews have stated, people love to backstab, gossip, and just create drama for drama's sake for their entertainment to pass the day. Even with simple tasks you'll be given, just talking with fellow employees is a chore, you're working around kids and you talk about the most inappropriate topics. The management? What management? They are either in 50 meetings which leaves people to take advantage and try to run the cafe however they want, and when they are there they have a huge favoritism issue and can't get rid of people who literally come into work the attitude of "I'm better than this place, if you work with me, do things for me since you get the "honor" of working with me". Also the game of thrones style management with picking fights with others isn't a great way to start your shift everyday. 

In merchandising everyday could be different! It is the excitement of knowing the work is not boring. What you do for one is completely different from the other. First and most important is to be organized. Have all data and reports ready prior to actual store visit. Since we have information that needs to be pass along to both management and employees . Must sign in and greet store personnel and direct myself to the person incharge and discuss my work plan for the day. I also need to ask if there is no special tasks that they would like done as long as it relates to Mattel. Check Planograms have all my equipment on hand and my tools. Especially when its a visit in which displays need to be set or if I have displays which need maintenance. Once all my top Priorties are done if time allows I check if addition inventory is able to fill home locations or Make any addition displays. Once I finish I do My schedule survey for my corresponding account and submit. I discuss with dept. supervisor what I did and sign out. When I get home I sit and log on and submit all my reports for the stores I worked and syn and do My e-time. Finally I review My email and check My work schedule for the following day or call.

On the phone all day - sitting or standing, your choice.  Some irate customers but most are wonderful.  Sometimes breaks your heart to hear stories of hardship and inability to buy for less fortunate children.  Training for the job is great.  Scheduling is quite flexible and it is usually possible to find coverage for needed days off.  Some variety when asked to fill in writing e-mails, handling returns, editing mailing lists, etc but usually only the "regular" employees get to do those more interesting tasks.  Can be terrifically frustrating when rare "permanent" positions open due to tremendous response, much competition, and frustration on the part of "seasonal" employees who put in many years' of part-time, lower paid work, only to be passed over by seemingly young, untrained, inexperienced new employees.  Is a place where anything you say will come around to "bite" you.  Nothing can by trusted to be kept confidential.  Everything is heard, from what you say on the phone to what you share with co-workers on bathroom breaks.  Benefit is discount on American Girl dolls and Fisher Price toys.

As a seasonal employee in the call center, you must be willing to give up the ability to request time off, be okay  with a strict point system for sick days (we only get the liberty to be sick during 2 scheduled shifts in a 2.5 month period), like to get yelled at by people who let themselves get angry over toys, know when you're going to work a week in advance tops which makes it near impossible to schedule any kinds of appointments, accept compensation that is below industry standards, and not have your availability or working hour preferences taken into account when you're scheduled. Seriously I don't even know why they asked. If I could do it over again, I would have looked elsewhere for employment. And often I feel like I'm scamming old ladies into buying more than they need with the mandatory "soft sells" we have to make with no commission. Usually there's no time between calls whatsoever to even take a sip of water but best believe if they've over scheduled that you can be sent home with no warning and no compensation.

The day started at 8, unless you were a long-distance commuter.  Then, the working hours were flexible.  Free coffee, tea, hot cocoa, etc. was available, as well as Starbucks for purchase in the cafeteria.  A great varied lunch service was provided in the cafeteria with emphasis on healthy eating.  I started as an administrative assistant but over time learned and grew to the point where I was able to assist in the purchase of a new, more functional database for the corporate real estate department!  Management takes a real interest in the development of talent within the corporation.  I always worked well with my co-workers and team work is a serious part of the culture there.  The hardest part of the job was keeping up!  We were so busy and multi-tasking all the time, but the challenges met were worthwhile.  The most enjoyable part of the job was that it is a toy maker!  It was fun to work there and occasionally glimpse new toys in prototype, and the company picnics were a blast!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Marketing manager 13 salaries reported	$132,826 per year
Hair stylist 15 salaries reported	$18.58 per hour
Retail sales associate 7 salaries reported	$17.94 per hour
Director 3 salaries reported	$215,667 per year
Product designer 3 salaries reported	$99,000 per year

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