department manager

sales assistant

customer service representative

warehouse worker

workshop service technician

Decathlon

Great stop gap for someone at or has just left college or University.
You will however be worked off your feet and then expected to do more! 
The wage is a little above minimum now.
30% staff discount (on Decathlon brands only) is not to be sniffed at.
There's also a bit of a social scene if you want it (be prepared to talk about work and little else in the pub!).
The lunch break is 1 hour but this serves the company rather than employee in order to keep you on the job longer.
So, there are two kinds of employee at Decathlon. 
The kind who just want to turn up, work hard, do their job and take home a wage.
I, along with the rest of my lovely colleagues in my department were in the above category.
Then there are "Decathaletes!"
They absolutely live and breathe Decathlon. It is very much the focus of not just their careers, but their entire lives!
They are nice enough people, but they are perplexed by anyone who does not see Decathlon as they do.
To progress at Decathlon, you must become the latter!
regarding management.
there are a lot of Clueless "fresh out of Uni" (this is not merely a slur but a fact. The cycling department manager was a nice fella, but he was not even a cyclist!) managers who I'm sure mean well but have no idea how to deal with or motivate a team or an individual without constantly referring to the company handbook or quoting targets.
Rotas are all over the place too and you will not be able to plan your life one week to the next.
So, if you want a dazzling career in sports retail or just some extra cash on your down time from college or Uni Decathlon might just work for you.

I found during my time that poor management is a reoccurring problem for customers and staff. 
Complaints aren't handled well and a lot of "passing the buck" to lower members of staff or less knowledgeable customers happend a lot while I was there. Management have some very unorthodox and challenging ideas about the definition of professionalism and how to communicate with staff. There is a strong culture of nepotism among management which means any genuine issues or concerns raised, whether they are about stock or staff, are either pinned onto the person raising the question, or management will take extraordinary steps to protect other managers. As a result do not expect an impartial process during meetings, promotion or formal complaints. The rota always seems totally fluid so your shift can change the day before, and that management's days off are mysteriously always on a Saturday and Sunday. If you are highly skilled or experienced in your field don't expect pay that reflects that fairly either, just above minimum wage is the standard. They won't pay for adequate security and expect staff to try to stop shoplifters, so on top of everything else you will inevitably be faced with dangerous confrontations, although I refused to participate after this happened more than once. Some of the staff were lovely people though and I would be happy to work with them again anytime just not there.

There was always something different every day and the mix of a business mind and creativity that you must present is what stood out to me in this job. Everyone was friendly and relaxed and we worked as a team towards every target. 

A typical day involved putting out deliveries, stock management, facing, layout changes, serving customers at tills and on shop floor. Depending on what sport you are working in your day can be very different (e.g. working on cycles involves building and servicing bikes)

The store was relatively quiet most of the time so sometimes you do find yourself bored and aimlessly wandering around with nothing to do. Also without a clear vision or direction for your department the job can become very repetitive very quickly, especially when you don't see any store progress anymore for what you are doing every day. Pay is kind of low for 18 year olds at base, but it is by no means an unfair salary. However it was possible for me to present evidence that I had done well and that could result in a rise.

The hours are VERY reasonable and were very flexible allowing for a good work/life balance. The managers would try their best to get you the days off you need and as an active person with other commitments and education for most of my time there, this was greatly appreciated.

Overall 4/5 - a surprisingly good job for creative people which also teaches you the importance of a business-oriented mind. If you're also a sports lover you are bound to enjoy the job

Pay is £6.50 per hour until the age of 21 as all pay is AGE BASED FOR THE SAME JOB ROLE AND TASKS. Often tasks are delegated to the youngest members as managers tend to work off the shopfloor. Sport advisors can be earning £9+ if over 21 but people in the same role who are younger are on £6.50 which considering the location by the coast with very high living costs is not substantial unless you wish to live with parents until 30yrs old. Full time is 39 hrs per week, 5 days a week, always required to work full weekends. Shifts begin early as 8:30 and finish as late as 20:30 unless overnight moves in the layout which can continue into the early hours of the next day. Holiday and days off are often denied unless you personally arrange cover from peers to swap shifts and this must be done four weeks in advance. There is not opportunity for career progression and if you are 30+ and are offered position of duty manager who opens and closes the store, is in charge of cashing up,security, first aid, fire warden etc the pay rise between that and a normal sales advisor is merely 50p per hour for the extra responsibility and decreased flexibility in rotas. Staff turnover is very very high hence training is rushed and often left up to peers whilst you work and identify issues. Being short staffed can leave one member of staff running a department for months whilst the manager is on holiday and no recruitment is occurring during the busiest periods. (The ideal for each department is four full time staff if not more).

My favorite thing in the company is how quickly it is possible to advance and climb. The management has been very supportive and they teach really well with training days, providing the right certificates to advance in the company. 
It gets very fast-paced and you do have to put in effort as with any job you wish to stick to. 
In London, at least the recent salary increase in the company I think should've been the baseline in the first place, not what it was before the increase. But at least the people in the offices have listened and understood with the high cost of living and increasing everyone's salary to help. 
It really is a great company to develop a career in, you really can go where you want and achieve a job position you desire (as long as you prove that you are worthy of course). 
compared to other companies I've been to and heard about, Decathlon does really seem to have much better management in general. 
In my store at they also really respect the work-life balance. Of course, you can reply to the texts if you want to but no one tells you off if you wait until your shift. Until you go up in management, then responsibilities rise naturally and your team requires you more of course (and yourself you wouldn't want the team to mess things up whilst you're away by accident). 

I left here last year, so things could be different now. I was there 2019-2022. But management was so terrible when I was there. Staff turnover was so high, but like a lot of retail companies, as staff leave, they don't always replace them, so they keep slimming down the team, but don't actually pay people any more for the extra work they do. 

I made some amazing friends that I'm still friends with now. I enjoyed the actual job, helping people with a sport I'm into and enjoy, and having great conversation with regulars.

Covid was an absolute shambles. Letting more people in the store than they should have. And yes, technically they didn't, but when all those customers are going to the same 6 aisles, it became a massive health hazard. 

Some good management, one of my best ever managers was here, but I've also had the worst managers I've ever had here. Straight up insecure bullies. Won't listen to more experienced people because we're beneath them. Having a go at people, then doing the exact thing they've told people off for. The worst communication I've experienced in a workplace. Hiding in offices, no respect for shop floor staff or how hard they work. My last manager was horrendous, truly. 

I have never experienced stress in my life like my time at decathlon Stockport, and this is directly down to the workload, lack of support, and poor management. 

Working in Decathlon's Surrey Quays office is a nice experience, the company culture is great as everyone is friendly and we have social time on the first Friday of every month, we also have sports tournaments and team days for bonding. You also get one hour of sport during work time every week which is a massive plus (There's also a free onsite gym for employees)

The work itself is straight forward but it can be busy, some will find balancing this workload stressful but I liked it. The work environment is very chill and you can listen to music on your headphones whilst you work, the managers don't micromanage and trust you with your work which is a big plus to me.

The main problem I have with the job is the work can be monotonous at times and once you are comfortable with it there isn't much variety to keep things interesting so it can get boring but overall it is a good job, especially for the pay and it lacks the stress that many other jobs in the industry does.

If you are a keen sportsman or sportswomen with an interest in products and customer service then Decathlon is the job for you. 
It is a brilliant way to work your way up the ladder and progress. 

Typical day at work: I would help with delivery every morning and throughout the day maintain my department (Fitness) alongside helping customers with their queries. 
What you learned: I gained a lot of knowledge on a variety of different sports equipment and clothing. This has helped me alot in my new job teaching sports and performing arts within a primary school. 
Management: The overall management was great, especially my department manager who was very understanding when it came to personal problems.
Workplace culture: Decathlon was a nice place to work once settled in if youre very interested in sports and fitness and want to progress within the company. 
Hardest part of the job: Settling into such a big company with alot of staff can be hard but given the opportunity it gets easier.
Most enjoyable part of the job: Being complimented by a customer for helping them with their problems. Going that extra mile to help a customer is always rewarding!

There was a culture of gossiping and sniping between some members of staff and management does little to resolve this. In many cases I saw managers directly involved in gossip, in the staff room, or worse by tills or on the shop floor in front of customers.

To add to this, with a very international workforce, which ordinarily would be a huge positive, a lot of staff members who spoke the same languages would converse in these languages, reinforcing the culture of gossip, leading to feelings of exclusion from multiple members of staff. They would also converse in languages other than English on the shop floor in front of customers, which was complained about several times, management did nothing. 

Senior managers were always off on weekends, without fail, and there were times where young couples and family members were hired. 

I received very little training, I was left to figure most things out on my own and if something was not done correctly, I was treated with ridicule not support. Finally the internal intranet system is a mess.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Department manager 5 salaries reported	£24,300 per year
Sales assistant 3 salaries reported	£12.21 per hour
Customer service representative 1 salary reported	£16,095 per year
Warehouse worker 32 salaries reported	£22,997 per year
Workshop service technician 8 salaries reported	£12.98 per hour

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