retail sales associate

sales associate

loss prevention director

merchandising associate

backroom associate

TJ Maxx

Management at any TJX Companies store is going to be very fast paced, very hands on, and extremely dependent on the rest of your management team and your immediate district contacts. You will be told to toe the corporate line of 100% hands off Manager on Duty program, and, especially if you're a merchandise manager, you will offer lip service to the program while trying to get your stuff done and run the store. A complete willingness to buy into the credit card program, or a willingness to fake an authentic buy in, is critical. You have 3 priorities as a manager at a TJX Company building: Keep your backroom empty, keep the credit cards flowing, and keep sales up, and sales often feels like a distant 3rd. 

The company is extremely aggressive with the credit card program, and you will be expected to make salesmen of 16-18 year old kids who do not even know what a credit card is or how it works. The entire culture of the company often feels like it revolves around nothing but the credit card and how you can get more credit card signups. The pressure is real, and constant, on managers and associates. If you succeed, you're expected to mentor other stores and then exceed. If you're not succeeding, you will be on conference calls and extra email lists every single day with mandatory check ins. And worst is if you go from succeeding to not succeeding, because you will be answering the question "What are you doing differently today?" anywhere from 5 to 7 times a week, and you'd better have an answer. I am 100% serious with this next statement: If you cannot handle the pressure of credit card sales, do not work for this company in any capacity. It is THE metric the company cares about - and you, nor any other associate or manager in the building, do not get commission, bonuses, or any kickbacks for the credit card, except for one thing: If you make your monthly goal, you receive 1 dollar per app loaded onto a prepaid credit card to spend on your team. If you beat your goal more, you get more money. This is binary: If your goal is 100 apps and you get 99, you get zero dollars. If you get 101 you get 101 dollars.

The company continues to labor under the delusion that a small backroom means there's nowhere to fit goods, and if there's nowhere to fit goods in the backroom, they will flow to the salesfloor. However, corporate strategy for the last 10 years has been to gradually downside the overall floor plan of a store, from salesfloor to backroom, while posting record year-over-year sales and revenue. This means stores are receiving ever more volume, every day, in smaller stores, with smaller stockrooms. It's basic math and it doesn't add up. Watching the backroom processing Best Methods change over the last 15 years has been incredibly eye opening, because at some point they will reach a  breaking point - and in many stores they already are, with shrink wrapped pallets actually on their salesfloor because there is no room to process in back.

When I started with the company, deliveries were 3 days a week, 4 days at Christmas, and a pallet was 24 cartons, averaging 4 pallets from my store (but this massively varies based on sales volume). Now deliveries are 5 days a week, 7 at Christmas, and a pallet is 36 to 38 cartons, averaging 8 to 10 pallets, and your backroom is smaller, but your payroll looks about the same. Productivity expectations and numbers have gone largely unchanged since I began with the company, but the expectations of every individual in the store have skyrocketed, because you need to do more with less, or even just more with the same, if you're lucky. Again, basic math.  They are trying to squeeze blood from a stone, and at some point the stone is going to shatter.

At holiday times you go from 5 deliveries a week to 7 deliveries a week, and a single bad day or a single person calling off can and will torpedo your entire day or even week, because if you fall behind at all, you have another delivery coming every single day from there on out. You will be expected to do overnights and stock your store as close to 24 hours a day 7 days a week as possible, and management will be expected to rotate and flex every single one of those overnights - there is no "morning manager" and "night manager". 

You will not have a life outside of work from mid October until almost March. Year round you will regularly close at 9:30 PM, get out of your store at 10-1015: PM, and then be expected to be back at you store at 7 AM, on any given day of any given month. You must have complete open availability at all times to be management at TJX. Vacations must be turned in and approved for the entire year, in January, along with personal days, and must be Sunday-Saturday. There is essentially no flex in this unless your District Manager approves, and black out dates are from November until anywhere from February until the end of March, depending on how quarter 1 management seminars and snapbacks roll out. In 15 years I only took an actual vacation 3 times due to just being unable to make plans that far in advance, or having to pick random weeks then not being able to do anything but lay around during them.

It's a shame I have to say all of the above operationally about the company because I was lucky enough to be in a store with a wonderful customer base, an excellent team that I was and am genuinely proud of training and developing, and a management co-team that I was happy to work alongside, that genuinely worked together and believed in succeeding together, and a set of district managers that sincerely believed in good leadership methods and qualities and exhibited them over calls and in person visits, from dealing with customers, to part time associates, to store management. Internal promotion opportunities are extremely good from part time all the way up, if you're relocatable, and show the drive - but if you're not relocatable you will need to be in the right place at the right time and be extremely lucky to get anywhere past Key Carrier Coordinator.

However, operationally, the company is trending towards a critical mass. It is doing extremely well as a customer facing company, with sales and profits, however, its ongoing drive to cut costs and squeeze payroll and productivity in opposite directions means within the next few years if they're not already there), stores are going to be in a very serious quandary: Their sales, and thus their receipt freight volume is going to continue to grow, but they will very simply be unable to receive the amount of freight their distribution is attempting to give to them to keep up with sales projections.

It is for this reason I cannot recommend working for the TJX Companies unless you can do so outside the store level, unless you have the patience and stress handling abilities of a saint, or are willing to deal with the extremely high pressure credit card sales, and the extremely high operational pressure of a just-in-time freight focused business of quarter 3 and quarter 4. And remember: If you did well, your numbers (credit cards, sales, freight) only get bigger next year. Look around at your store and remember that. Good luck.

Being specifically in the backroom most of a day is spent unloading pallets of merchandise, and sorting them into rolling carts, mail carts, and totes according to where at in the store they are stocked with a team of others. Whatever time is left in a work day after is spent in a few different ways depending on what is needed for that particular day. That would be either taking clothes from that days truck, putting them hangers, and putting the proper sensor so they can be put on the sales floor, or it could be removing all the packing from purses, attaching the shoulder strap if needed, and putting the sensors on them. It could be unpacking sets of luggage and adding the sensor and price tag. Taking furniture out of boxes, assembling, and coding it. Adding the proper shoes size sticker and sensor to shoes, or lastly adding sensor stickers to makeup, skincare products, and tech items.
 Before working at this job, I had never been in a position that required me leading a team of people, nor did I have any idea of how to do so. Once I was given that opportunity I really wasn't thrilled in now being trusted to do so since I've always preferred working without others due to not having to keep a pace that was slower than what I could work at when alone or have to be responsible for keeping other grown adults focused on the task at hand. Over time, with the guidance of not just my managers, but my fellow coordinators, I have gained those skills needed to be a leader and lead effectively and fairly. Within a few years of taking this position, I have also shown not just my management team, but the district manger that I am capable of providing my skills and abilities to other stores who are struggling with things in the backrooms so much so that I am one of the first employees they approach with the request to travel to those stores and help. 
 
 The culture of TJ Maxx is not the same for every store. Each store curates its own unique atmosphere, and I can say that from seeing it first hand. During my time with the company I have been asked to travel to several struggling stores in the same district as our store to help get them caught up with freight that's getting out of control and have seen this first hand. As far as our store goes, we have had other store managers who transferred during a remodel, our district manager, our regional managers, and other members of cooperate who've visited all agree that the you can tell that its not just different, but its a genuine sense that we are like a family and we look out for each other in the aspect of making sure nobody feels excluded or unappreciated.
The most enjoyable part of this job is really just being able to reflect on how I was when I started with the company and to then see how much I've grown not just as an employee, but as a person to thanks to the team of managers who treat me like a close family member instead of just another worker. I've never worked anywhere else where if something outside of work was on the forefront of my mind, I could actually approach my boss, have a real conversation with them about it, and them offer actual advise to help or do whatever they could do to help. 

 I wanted to save the hardest part for the last because its one that just now starting to develop, and it is entirely due to factors in upper management that we, at the store level, can do anything about. Those being the pay, the massive cut of hours and payroll, the increased levels of merchandise, and new guidelines for backroom processing. I'll start with the payroll and hours issues.
 It is not uncommon that following the holiday's and leading into the first two months of the new year that the company cuts each stores payroll which means less hours for people to work, but this is the first time since I have been with the company where it has been this much for everyone. Most part time workers have been cut down to 1-3 shifts a week which are only 5.5 hours. As a backroom team I will usually have myself and 3 other people to help breakdown a truck each day. For the last 3 weeks however, it has been myself and one other part time person to do that same amount of work. And it's not just the backroom. Most days since the first of the year has been one person dedicated to being on the register until at least noon, and if we are lucky, two people to stock. The next to issues of freight levels and processing guidelines are also big issues.  Our backroom is considerably smaller than most, with the max amount of pallets we can comfortable fit is 14. When I started we on average would receive 6-8 pallets of merchandise 5 days out of the week, and a team of 4-5 people would be tasked with having it process and ready to be stocked each day. For the last year now on average we receive 10-12 pallets 6 or 7 days a week, and I normally have 2-3 other people tasked with the truck. Yet we are constantly under pressure from managers to do double to amount of work with half the amount of people. We are no time to actually process anything in a single shift which causes everything starting piling up and get out of control, but upper management doesn't care, and just expect it to get done. Ontop of ignoring our request to have a reduction and cap of pallets or to have more people scheduled for the backroom, they instead decide that a new policy is for us to open each and every induvial item which in turn slows us down even more. 
Finally the pay. Look, to be completely honest, the pay here is awful. As a full time coordinator that has been with the company for almost 7 years now, I make 52 cents above $15 and work nearly 40hrs every week. That isn't possible to be able to live and survive without a second source of income per household. Not just that, but its insulting how little cooperate cares about those who have dedicated years to this company yet they would rather have another pizza party instead of paying them a livable wage 

It's difficult to write an accurate review of this company. I have worked at two different TJ Maxx's, and had two vastly different experiences. 

I will do this review in two parts so I can highlight the differences. 

My first store hired me when I was 16 and it was my first job. It's also the TJ Maxx I currently work in. It's a much smaller market than the second store I worked in. A typical day at work for this store depended on where you were on the schedule. At the smaller store, associates were somewhat specialized, but most people would usually work in a couple different areas each week. I mostly work at the registers, but every now and then I will be scheduled to assist the sales floor or to unload trucks in the backroom. It's a bit of an unpopular opinion, but I actually enjoy the mix up because it keeps things from getting stale. At this store, there's a lot of autonomy, especially if you've worked there for awhile.

Management at this store was okay. I say okay not because all the managers were average, but because they were either extremely amazing or extremely terrible. Smaller market stores are used for training new managers, which means that many of them are unproven. This store typically runs a three manager setup: a store manager and two assistants. I have been through three store managers and eight assistants in my time here. Two of the store managers have not been favorable, but the one that was here for the longest amount of time was great. Most of the assistant managers, especially the ones straight out of college, have been fantastic. I wouldn't look into the management aspect of this company too much unless you're trying to become a manager yourself (in which case it's luck of the draw whether you'll get a good team or not).

The culture of this store was overall friendly, but frustrating at times. Because of the smaller market, there's a lot more downtime to actually talk to and meet your coworkers. This helps create more friendships and a sense of closeness at work, but it also leads to more petty drama. Most people tend to stay out of it, but the closeness of the situations can provide uncomfortableness at work that shouldn't be expected to happen in a professional environment. Also, the area and size of store you're in will affect the types of people you work with. At this store, most of the people I work with are either in highschool/college, or they are aged about 50+. There usually aren't too many middle-aged people working in the store. I was never bothered by this, but at the same time I've always been surrounded by people my age.

The hardest part of this job is the inconsistency of hours, by far. It is my only true complaint. It can be hard to get the amount of hours you need each week, which means that you have to spend a lot of time going out of your way asking your coworkers if you can cover their hours. I've been at my store long enough now that people just come to me whenever they don't want them, but when you first start working it can be a very uncomfortable thing to do. *****This store is very flexible with availability however and made it easy to work two jobs if needed*****

The most enjoyable part of the job is meeting your fellow coworkers. The company does a great job of hiring good people. 

Onto the bigger store.

I transferred to the bigger store because it was closer to my university. I had a couple years under my belt, but I was woefully under-prepared for this challenge. A typical day is the same thing every day. Although it's possible to work in different places, you will essentially be assigned to the same position each schedule. There was very little autonomy, regardless of experience.

Management, as stated before, is luck of the draw. Size of the store doesn't really impact it. My store manager here was my least favorite of all time, but the assistants (there are three assistants at this store as opposed to two) were fantastic. You won't develop as much of a relationship with bigger market managers.

It's hard to promote a good culture at a bigger store. You won't get as close with your coworkers, there's just too much going on. We were way too busy all the time for us to even begin to know each other more than a first name. Even on lunch breaks, people were too drained and just wanted to relax and not talk to anyone for 45 minutes. It's also hard to get to know people when turnover is so bad. Most of the people who work here were college students or middle-aged. 

The hardest part of working here was, once again, the inconsistency of hours. It was the opposite this time though, because they were not very flexible with my school schedule. I was getting about 35 hours a week when I had asked for 12- 18. It's impossible to find people to take shifts for you because you don't really get to know anyone. You never want to close here either, because you don't actually get to leave until a solid 2 hours after closing. If you're a student with 8 am classes, and you work at a TJ Maxx that closes at 10:30, you're probably not getting home until about 1 am. 

The most enjoyable part of this job at the bigger stores are the customers. They're the only people you'll really talk to all day since it's your job to. As frustrating as some of them are, they're also surprisingly refreshing.

OVERALL:
I would stay away from the busier stores unless you are used to that kind of environment. Otherwise, it can be a great place to work for your first job, side job, or retirement job.

I did not feel properly compensated for my work. They force you to push their credit card but many customers are very uninterested in the card as the card is in fact very scam-like (allegedly, in my opinion). 
Other associates are typically very pleasant and are great to work with, however management can at times be difficult to work with. As stated, they force us to "engage about the card" at registers, on the sales floor, and even in the dressing room. I do not feel like I am paid enough to care about their dirty card on top of all of my other duties. Our store typically only has one associate working each department so if you're working in womens', you're running the entire department by yourself. So imagine running all of womens' on a busy Saturday, making minimum wage and now you're called up to the register to sell a credit card you will reap zero benefits of. There is no incentive for us to push the card unless a bag of expired candy and your name on the whiteboard in the associates' lounge is considered an incentive. 
I typically end up doing most of the work on the sales floor on a typical night. I would have no problem with this but, I, of course, am getting paid only $13 an hour meanwhile, I am doing practically all of the returns for every dept while also being called up to ring and on top of that, cleaning/putting things back where they belong. 
It is nearly impossible to get a raise, I have been with the company for a year and I have received a fair amount of praise from the company, but I still only make minimum wage. However, if you want to know how much of a raise you will be getting, you will be getting $0.33 as a "raise". Wow, what a bonus. I have only heard of one person getting a raise in all of the time I have worked there, and the person who was getting the raise is a CEC, she is a front end coordinator. You apparently get a $1 raise after working with the company for a year, but I am yet to see that $1 increase in my paycheck. I believe that there is paid sick time, but I am yet to see any. I have only called out a few times in all of my time working there but none of my days were paid sick time. I do not believe there is any paid vacation time either because never my requested time off days were ever compensated. There were also a few occasions in which I was called in to work to cover someone who had called out but I was never paid for those days. 
I recently took a month off because I had the opportunity to study in France for a month. Since I have returned, I have been unable to punch out for my break. I have been back for two months and I still cannot punch in and out for a break despite me bringing it up to several managers/coordinators. Free money I guess. 
The company has also supported Autism Speaks which is a "charity" organization dedicated to villainizing autism. Autism Speaks promotes several disgusting "tactics" to "cure" autism such as restraints and shock therapy. If you're curious to see how terrible Autism Speaks is, watch their video "I am Autism", on YouTube, in which they claim that if you have an autistic child, it will ruin your marriage and your life, while not examining the trauma and bullying autistic children go through. The autistic community does not associate with this "charity".  You could argue that maybe TJX Companies was not aware of the harm Autism Speaks has caused, but if a major corporation is going to work with another organization they should at least do a Google Search on the organization. To my knowledge the last time TJX Companies worked with Autism Speaks was 2021, which by then several autistics had denounced Autism Speaks. 
I stayed at the company for a year because other associates were very friendly and I enjoyed working with them, but I do not recommend working for this company. It is a good place to start for working in retail but you will be severely undercompensated (especially around Christmas). 
Good thing they show us anti-union propaganda during our orientations because heaven forbid we are properly compensated for our labor.  


I got hired here nearly 5 years ago. At the time I enjoyed it greatly—part-time, flexible hours, exactly what a high schooler needed. Worked my way up to full-time CEC while I was in college. Flexible with school schedule. Managers were usually pretty good (our store was a designated “training” store when needed, so occasionally the ASMs we would have would just be there to get additional experience until becoming a store manager. Didn’t really have many problems until I moved to the floor as a merch coordinator. That’s when I began to notice how backwards everything was. 

HOURS: Corporate gave us no hours, but obviously the full time crew got the mandatory 33 hours so we would average out at full time. Instead of having the time to do the work and projects that merch coordinators needed, we were stuck filling in for all the other positions that payroll couldn’t cover. After Christmas ESPECIALLY. The company cuts EVERYONE’S hours after christmas and yearly inventory, part time associates getting as little as 4 to 8 hours a week. 

FLOOR/MERCHANDISE: After moving to a Key Carrier role, I began to see just how little corporate cared about its workers. Obviously, every company will have standards about the way things are done; however, TJX is very particular about their specifications, and their flows and fixtures, but often wouldn’t supply enough fixtures, or adjust their rules depending on the store capability (our store was rather small compared to other stores making the same amount of money and receiving the same levels (or even less) of freight). The pressure was always on to make sure everything was perfect and according to their impossible standards. We would get visits every couple of months or so where the district managers would point out everything wrong and say we needed to find a solution (knowing very well that this WAS our solution to our lack of floor space, fixtures, payroll, workers and our excessive levels of freight). 

ISSUES/DISPUTES: Another HUGE issue with management and corporate is the lack of action they take with issues. Our store had a couple of different assistant managers who would slack off on the job and/or BULLY the associates (and coordinators). Despite the many, many complaints filed with HR and our district manager, action was rarely taken. In one instance, one ASM was only fired after being discovered for breaking a serious, serious rule. Never for the poor treatment of associates or abuse of power. Another ASM was transferred to a different store where a different manager could “keep an eye” on them rather than firing or demoting the individual. 

Another issue that was common (as it can be with a younger work force) was a lot of rumor spreading and bad-mouthing. Associates would come to me (their Key Carrier) or the store management team about their concerns and would be told to file a complaint with the district manager. There was rarely, if AT ALL, any action taken to alleviate the situation or reprimand the ones at fault. 

TL;DR: Overall, there are many issues that I personally dealt with and many that I was privy to during my time at TJ. If you’re looking for a part time job, this is a good place to go. If you’re looking for a full time job and you can leave your job at the door and not worry about it during your personal time, it may also be a good fit. However, if you’re someone like me, who brings work concerns home with you (tasks to do, planning ahead, conversations and what not), this place is rather immature and insufficient in the way that they handle things. 

Having worked at T.J. Maxx for over a year, I learned a lot about retail and having a part time job in general.
I do think working here is a good start for students for example who are taking classes but want some income at the same time.
Depending on management, schedule is very flexible and is dependent on how long you’ve been there/your relationship with your managers.

The store I worked at was very fast pace and is a well known TJ Maxx in New York. There was a strong sense of community within the employees and engagement. However, when I would go to other TJ Maxx locations, I didn’t really sense that: felt very dark and dreary. I do think that it all depends on the store that you are working at (which branch you’re at.)

There will always be difficult customers at any part time job like this/in retail, so you get used to it, but there came a point during my time here that you really start to appreciate the interactions with many customers: you learn a lot about certain ones, some have even made me cry from their stories 🥺 but overall you just learn a lot in retail if you find that you thrive on good engaging conversations with customers.

My big complaint though is management itself. It truly is a hit or miss. I had several managers at the College Point store who were extremely accommodating but there will be one or two that are extremely toxic and make your life horrible. Micromanaging at its worst.
I truly do appreciate the managers who are truly good people and do their best for their employees (I can speak very highly of them), but for the bad apples in management, who do not know how to differentiate their high school 16 year old drama from their current role as a manager, things need to be done that have not, despite constant complaints to HR. 

Pay is also an issue. In NY, minimum is 15, and they will barely increase your amount every 6 months or so. It’s an anti-union workplace and I do feel that with the amount of multitasking (an obscene amount) and micromanaging that is being done, pay is not relative to your work. 

It entirely depends on you. You can find it exhausting and emotionally draining after some time despite my really loving and kind interactions with my coworkers, due to truly toxic management who literally create high school drama and lies in the workplace, or you can be satisfied here. There are many pros and cons so I feel 3 stars is the only way to sum it up. 

Just please understand before working here that being emotionally and physically drained is a somewhat common trait some employees have here, but others feel perfectly fine. 

Just keep in mind that if you find yourself feeling emotionally or physically drained at TJ Maxx, which could very well happen, put in your two weeks before it starts to take a toll on you.

I’m working elsewhere and did not realize how bad I felt and how it was negatively and impacting me until my recent job. There is such an extreme weight off and way better treatment and a way better environment. You don’t realize it until you get out of these toxic situations. So please, understand your boundaries and hold importance for you self-respect when working here.
That being said, I do look back fondly on many amazing and heartwarming memories working at TJ Maxx and am grateful to have worked there. Just know that it has a tendency to drain many employees and keep that in mind when working here. Everyone’s experience is different but from what I have been told this is quite common, not just myself.

Best of luck to whoever is reading this and whatever job you’ll end up going for, you’ll do great and learn a lot! 

This is what you need to know to be hired and what it's like to work there.
VERY IMPORTANT: Before I mention the steps of getting hired there and what it is like to work there you must ask yourself if you are comfortable asking every customer and I mean EVERY customer if they want a TJ Maxx credit card. This is the heart and soul of this company. It is the core base of everything working there that will get you having better hours more hours, kudos from the management and you will be considered King ( or Queen) if you get at least three credit cards a day. Now getting these credit cards doesn't mean that these people actually are approved it just means that you attempted and they applied. Also please note a lot of TJ Maxx customers have been going there many, many years so it does get old when every time they come to the register you have to ask them. If you're a good salesperson and you don't feel insecure about doing this then continue reading.

1. Start applying in Oct because they are looking for Employees to fit the holiday schedule you will have a 90% chance of getting hired. If all goes well you will be hired in November. ( please note there's a good chance that you will not be continuing after the holidays which is about February the only people that will possibly stay are the people that can survive the requirements of the holiday season. BUT most won't stay because they are overworked and overstressed. 
2. If you decide to stay and you've managed Thanksgiving and Christmas season there's also store inventory day that is REQUIRED from you (except for the people that can't stand or bend ) that's like a 10-hour shift or longer (STANDING< BENDING< REACHING AND CRAWLING) Mind you the managers don't do this. They  Check your work with a machine but they don't do all the hard crawling and reaching.  Then there's the other holiday seasons like Mother's Day, Valentine's Day. It's very seasonal and when it is busy it is busy you're running all over the place.
3. If you want any kind of decent schedule meaning making money. Your schedule needs to be totally OPEN. Please note that other people that have been working there for years they take priority Meaning day shift and 1 day off a weekend off as a Sunday. Yes believe it or not there are people that consistently have Sundays off but you're not going to be one of them if you're a newbie you must do your yearly time in, like you've managed to stay there years 
4.If you are not comfortable with an unpredictable schedule, and an unpredictable work environment then this job is not going to be for you. You are at the mercy of this job. You will never know what you're going to walk into or what your schedule is going to look like.
5. Now What I'm going to say to you is something that is very important.  if you have trouble standing walking squatting sitting reaching this job is not going to be for you and you will be standing at the register from 4 to 7 sometimes 8 hours a day. If you're scheduled for the fitting room there's a good chance you'll be STANDING there for 5 to 8 hours with 1 lunch break.. You can't leave. Can you do that? You would think that's it's a younger position. But believe it or not, I've heard many young kids complaining about their feet and lower back hurting. There are no chairs or stools there to sit to take a break from standing. 
6. You will hear a lot of complaints and negative energy. ( Mostly from the employees) if this doesn't bother you Then apply
6. The one and only benefit is that they have pretty cool merchandise and you do get 10% off.
 I wish you the best of luck journeys searching for a job.

I've been: Cash Office Associate, Women's Merchandise Coordinator, Customer Experience Coordinator, as well as a Customer Service Associate. 
The Jobs are all very faced paced, but it is nothing you wouldn't mind if you like to keep yourself busy (day goes by much faster). There is much room for advancement as long as: (1) Management likes you, (2) Your schedule is pretty flexible....(I got lucky and was able to do pretty much a 9-5 with working every other weekend one day 9-5 as well as a FT associate with benefits), (3) You aren't tardy/too many call-outs, (4) You APPLY yourself. (5)You show initiative to try other departments of the store.

-Management plays a BIG part in being able to get promoted, getting more hours, schedule being flexible,  and overall enjoying your workplace. As long as you have a great relationship there it is a VERY enjoyable place to work for. 

-There is much to learn, as it is great experience for life (holding in your anger LOL, time management, being more productive, how to bargain shop...). These skills DO teach you how to be a more efficient worker if you are able to stay there longer than a year (meaning you're practically vetted into the service industry), as it also teaches you how to deal with criticism (from the lovely customers~), how to merchandise (store visits preparations), multitasking (running around in your department(s) making sure merch is put away, straightening up, helping customers out on the floor, answering the phone when a customer phones in for help...), as well as how to socialize. Being out on the floor or by the cashier forces you to come out of your shell and put on your "customer" face at times, or even just trying to engage with people in general to better service them. Trust me on that. really helped an introvert like me being able to talk to strangers and strike up a conversation with them.

-Management is great, as long as the LIKE you. If they do, they usually are more than willing to better accommodate you in regards to schedule and getting more hours or taking time off. If they don't for whatever reason (you don't work) then its more of a 'you' type of problem. You help management, they help you.

-the culture is GREAT. Everyone knows what its like, how hard it is sometimes dealing with customers, or the stress from trying to get all the merch. out, and you really all come together and get to know each other on a very deep and personal level. This will be your work family.

-Hardest part of the job is dealing with the customers. You really can't talk back too much to them cause they'll call the 1-800 number and get a $50 gift card out of it and then the next time they pop into the store you are trying your best to avoid them.  Management will *very rarely* back you up in a customer goes in on you. And the littlest thing can set off a customer (denied returns, 'following' them around, not knowing where an item is, etc...). 

-Most annoying part is the selling of the store rewards credit card, especially if you aren't a pushy person.

-Most enjoyable part of the job is knowing that the people here understand you (the associates) and will come to care for you and your life and whats happening. Also the reliability (IF you are working in a high volume store = more payroll$$$)

This was my first ever job and I did it while in college. The best and worst parts of the job by far are the following:
PROS
Good people to work with
*I'd say 90% of the people I worked with were laid-back and had a sense of humor, which made the day more enjoyable. Without them, I think I would not have stayed as long as I have. 
*My managers were extremely flexible with my school schedule, allowing me to work as few or as many hours at specific times that I wanted. This wasn't always possible, but usually was not possible only in rare situations. I could work 12 hours one week and 40 the next. 
*Managers were very uplifting and encouraging. You can sense that they have "trained" themselves to pretend to be happy in order to benefit the company and motivate employees. It generally works, but can  come across as ingenuine when done too often. The environment after a while becomes this fake nice. Nonetheless, it was better they were energized and bubbly as opposed to sad or angry. 
*The breaks and work/life balance is very good. They seem to understand usually that breaks and lunches are important. The managers also understood if my co-workers were having a bad day and needed the day off or if something happened. 
CONS:
The way things are done seems inefficient and inconvenient for both customers and employees at times.
-The worst part of the job for me was the way we handle checking out customers. I would encounter at least 3 rude/angry customers per day in one 4 hour shift (which is wild), especially when something went wrong with the return, the price tag, the computer itself...for example I have accidentally selected pay with cash as opposed to card. This is irreversible in the system and so you have to return all of the items and re-purchase them. I've learned more people than you'd think are impatient.
-I would say the pay is OK to good if working as a sales associate, in jewelry or other places in the store, but working as a cashier is beyond exhausting at 4 hours per week (yes, only 4 hours). There is an expectation to be very bubbly and extroverted with every customer. It is like working at the Chick-fil-a of retail stores (Tjx associates are over-the -top nice). It is a busy, fast-paced environment, and even on a Tuesday afternoon there would be a line of customers. While it's good people like to shop at TJmaxx so much, it is hard to continuously check people out and match their energy every time. You have to sell the rewards credit card along with making a seemingly genuine connection with each customer. 
-The price tags can be easily changed and there are a lot of people who steal and lie. Sometimes the tags fall off and we have to call for someone to go find the same item on the sales floor to match the item. This means the customer has to wait for us to find it, which takes at least 1 minute up to 10 minutes. I have had quite a few customers get angry about waiting even this short amount of time. Put simply I believe the company should find a more efficient method. 


Typically TjMaxx shifts are pretty good, as a younger kid working here I feel like sometimes we get taken advantage of by not knowing all the guidelines to hours being worked, availability and accommodations. I am a diabetic who needs accommodations and I feel like I have always gotten the correct help i’ve needed along the way. They’ve always been understanding and caring about my health. But my issue comes to when I was told I couldn’t take one day off my availability ( because of overwhelming school work ) by my manager, he told me I would have to put 1 day back on ( I already have 5 days on my availability ). I understand that staffing can be an issue but with the exception of telling us flexible hours was a huge deal with this job I was disappointed at the fact my manager would not let me adjust my hours a little. Another thing is they are not very accommodating in where you are happiest (position wise). At my TjMaxx, I work with mostly sales associates/ sales floor associates, as most TjMaxxs are. I know most people at my job complain about they’re position and how they would like to be moved somewhere else and when confronting managers about it they just say “well the computer makes the schedules”, yet we all know they switch people around from fitting room to returns associate to any other on the floor position. Many people who are up front (at the register) complain they want to be on the sales floor and other associates complain they would like to be up front. Now I understand that as a worker you are not going to always love your job and what you do but I feel like to keep your workers happy you can easily switch around someone who wants to be up front vs on the sales floor with someone who doesn’t. It’s more frustrating than anything. And my last con to this job would be the credit cards. If you’ve ever been to a TjMaxx you know that you are getting bombarded with 10% off when you apply for the TJX rewards card!!! As an associate I feel like the managers put too much pressure on us about them, especially when people already say no they wouldn’t like a credit card and the managers say we have to ask again. It’s frustrating because if someone doesn’t want a credit card they don’t want one, and they’re so pushy about them. I don’t mind asking at all but one no is enough. Anyways the pros to this job are that mostly everyone here is very very kind and understanding over eachother. I don’t think i’ve ever felt judged by another worker. The job is also extremely easy and a great starter job. Pay is decent as well. Overall it’s a very great starting place. Just not somewhere I can see myself along the road.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail sales associate 21 salaries reported	$13.21 per hour
Sales associate 1 salary reported	$15.15 per hour
Loss prevention director 17 salaries reported	$20.67 per hour
Merchandising associate 8 salaries reported	$13.94 per hour
Backroom associate 8 salaries reported	$14.42 per hour

Working at TJ Maxx: Company Overview and Reviews

TJ Maxx

TJ Maxx Ratings

Popular jobs at TJ Maxx

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected