assistant manager

sales associate

brand representative

store manager

assistant store manager

Hollister Co

I applied for a job at Hollister as I'd heard from friends and read online that it was an ideal job for a student. I worked as a Brand Representative on a 0 hour contract for 6 months and was paid £6.50/hr. The hours were good during the Christmas period, but after that I'd get one 4 hour shift a month/every 6 weeks if that. Even for a 0 hour contract I felt this was extremely low, compared to how often my other colleagues were scheduled in. I felt that the number of hours your received was heavily based on favouritism. The only other way to get more hours was to volunteer when they emailed through the occasional extra shift.
When I was scheduled in, I was almost always given the same task of LP (loss prevention). This involved standing at the entrance to one of the rooms at the front of the store, and being expected to simultaneously greet every customer, keep an eye on every customer, go up and check/assist every customer, maintain store standards and prevent theft whilst not really moving from the entrance to the store. This was especially difficult during sales periods or busy weekends. Sometimes they'd give me jeans or lingerie to fold/organise on top of everything else. It was quite lonely and especially challenging during the Winter. My colleagues would come and chat to me and would often comment on how I was saddled with the worst task. I never complained though because I really needed the money. But I really got the impression that the hours and tasks you were allocated were due to partiality. 
My colleagues were probably the best part of the job, they were all lovely students who were happy to help when needed and always friendly and chatty. The store manager was scarcely seen but nice, the floor managers however were not so great. I received no training from them on how to operate the till so had to learn on the spot and had to ask my colleagues to help me and they basically trained me on the store policies rather than the actual managers. They were condescending and constantly circling around to make sure you were greeting/assisting every customer. I did greet every customer and check on them but this was never observed by the managers so was constantly chided for not doing this. Most customers found this American-style of customer service overwhelming/irritating anyway - I could tell they wanted to be left alone and would come to me when they needed help. Also one manager would give me a task, then another manager would ask me to do something else and I was never sure who to follow and then I would be summoned to serve on the till or work the fitting rooms - resulting in tasks never really getting done which reflected poorly on me as it looked like I was lazy/incompetent. 
Once I volunteered for a late shift and was told I was doing an audit on all the women's jeans (Hollister is renowned for its jeans and the numerous washes and styles and fits) and I had 4 hours to reorder all the jeans in the store (including two extra boxes from the stock room) in the correct styles and size order. Towards the end a colleague informed me that I was supposed to be writing down the number of jeans in each pile and any discrepancy in numbers etc. which the floor manager hadn't told me so I was basically at loss. I couldn't finish the task in the time given; it should have been a two person job.
They had a relaxed attitude to uniform, anything that emulated the Hollister brand was permitted, the discount was good though I never bought anything. Other than that I can't think of any other benefits. 
I started in November and by April I handed in my resignation as by that point I was basically never in the store. They didn't seem bothered by my decision. 
I learned from this job that if you want to succeed at Hollister (by getting more hours as there was no real career enhancement opportunities or moving up the career ladder) you have to quickly become friendly with the managers and just have the 'right' personality. The workload for those who aren't 'favourites' is too much, and the expectations from managers is too high.

I would not recommend this job for anyone working part time or anyone living remotely far away from the store.

Management is extremely hostile despite the happy "American" vibe you are greeted with, you are there to work essentially as a robot and nothing more, you are not paid to get on with other staff and you are reminded of this.

Compassion is not in the Hollister vocabulary. If you set a foot wrong, make a mistake or are ever late to clock in not enter the store but to clock in, a second over 5 minutes disciplinary action will be taken.

Store culture is to have no store culture. If you ever have a second free after completing a mountain of work you are expected to search in desperation for more work to fill in that free time almost as if it physically hurts you to have a free second.

Managers will micro manage you in person or over a radio via CCTV 100% of your shift time.

Due to occasional unreliability with busses or taxis or unexpected schedules at uni getting to work on time can be an issue.I have personally spend over £40 in a single day for parking or transport in order not to be late because of strict management which is more than you will make in a day and wont be compensated for.

If you call ahead to let the store know you (might) be late but still get there on time you will be marked as late and given disciplinary action.

If you wear an item of clothing with any other company logo advertised no matter how small e.g. "American Eagle" shirt with 1cm wide bird badge similar to Hollister badge which is basically an identical garment besides slight variations in the badge you will be given disciplinary action. (Hollister do not provide any clothes or uniform however provide a discount for a limited number of items.

If you can handle military levels of control and strictness and efficiency then this is the job for you.

To gain more work hours or drop work hours you can swap or give shifts to other employees, this leads to major confusion on occasion which can lead to disciplinary action yet again even if you have been asked by management to handle 2 extra shifts to cover other sick employees (doing the company a favour) if there is any confusion disciplinary action will be taken.

Often unprofessionally and aggressively sworn at or insulted in the stock rooms or on the shop floor sometimes in front of customers by management.

You are offered a contact card / number for human resources, please take one and take good care of it.

Trying to work harder than the next person is not rewarded or noticed, no incentive to improve is provided, regardless of performance you are constantly poked to do more.

You MUST greet all customers when entering the store no matter if they walk away from you or are visibly uncomfortable, if management see's you fail to greet a customer you will be given disciplinary action.

If management is having a bad day sometimes groups of employees can be fired in 1 sitting. 

If you have a successful family or own a car nicer than your manager you will be indirectly reminded of how management doesn't approve of this 

e.g.
Management -  "have you crashed yet" 
Employee - "no"
Management - "you soon will i'm sure"

following day

Management - "Is that a (insert any expensive designer good here)?  / Do your family pay your uni tuition fees"
Employee - "Yes why"
Management - "How did you afford that with your salary?"
Employee - "My father bought it for me as a gift"
Management - "Ah, so you still need daddy to take care of you huh"
Employee - "I suppose you could word it like that as I am currently a student and not self sufficient yet"

You are not provided with any training from management on how to do your job other than the cash register. All training comes from word of mouth / split second help from more experienced employees.

No emotions or one way opinions are involved in this review, only an accurate representation of personal experience.

Days can be very long and non rewarding when discussing the job itself but the colleagues make the environment much easier. Although I learned a lot in terms of management skills and the general structure and process of a major retail chain store, the company never treats you with respect. Many problems are constantly told to the managers and are never dealt with however, this is not always down to the managers but more to the regional and district managers who do not want to concern themselves with the lower level staff. 

There is almost no incentive for associates to stay with the company. Only a staff discount and a mediocre holiday pay scheme but there are no pay rises for associates who have committed years to the company. Associates will easily find better pay from rival brands or other student jobs and this explains for the phenomenal staff turnover. 

Unfortunately the promotional ladder is the most disappointing factor. Assistant managers (lowest senior position) are overworked and have hugely stressful days. From what I understand the generous pay is not enough to tempt or lure these people to stay or apply especially the associates who were thinking of applying to be a manager. This shows that the in-company graduate scheme that was once pined to be in has eroded into a hot mess where many of the managers weren't ever associates and have no understanding to the root problems within the store.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The employee discount discount!

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
When the store gets busy its quite hard to manage all the customers. The door alarm goes off quite often and you need to be quick to stop them to check their bags before they leave. At the end of the shift the store can get quite messy so refolding all the cloths before closing can be stressful.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Its a very positive environment inside the store. The way they train you to greet and attend to customers is very good. I like the goals they set you to encorage your total sales.

However, I don't like the only call in store policy, what I mean by this is that you can't email or message managers to inform them of anything (pay, rota, sickness). I had an accident, became very ill, was unable to speak  and I was unable to email them and they ignored all my messages. They kept calling me instead of reading my messages so we were never able to communicate after that. I think this is a horrible way to pressure your emplees and every time you called in sick or needed a rota change they pressured you over the phone to avoid changes. This is the fist and only place I have experienced this and don't believe its taking good care of your employees feelings. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Familiarise myself with all the new products and promotions. Greet customers, attend to customer (find sizes) and keep the store tidy by folding everything that falls out of place.

Daily tasks included:
•Ensuring pre-open and close cleaning tasks are completed thoroughly, fridge temperatures are correct and both are filled out accordingly in the log book.
•Counting tills, recording end of day figures and preparing for change deliveries. 
•Leading a small team, setting day targets and laying out expectations. (Following up on these targets and expectations.
•Carrying out stock counts and ordering stock and supplies.
•Setting fantastic examples of customer service for the rest of the team, dealing with customer praise and complaints. 
•Bar training of new staff members.

What i learned:
•How to manage time efficiantly to get required tasks done throughout the day.
•How to deliver good and bad feeback to keep a team mootivated.
•Correctly deploing staff to the best of thier abilities.
•How to encourage sales on items that might not be selling.


Managment:
Both my area manager and store manager were both respectful, friendly and motivational. They encouraged me to make the most of the time i speant and Starbucks, even encouraging me to attend a lifeskills course whilst i worked.

My co-workers:
My team were enthusiastic and a plesure to work with, whilst becoming a supervisor i quickly gained a leval of resppect between me and my co-worker. Many of the older the woman that i have worked with have been a true insperation about what to expect from customer service.

Working at Hollister seems like a fun environment where you get to learn, put your skills to good use and possibly make friends while you're at it. However, it is not what it's cut out to be. A typical day as a stock associate requires handling shipment by unpacking, placing on the floor and on the stock bays in the stockroom. Other tasks include pricing, size checks, etc. All tasks are timed and the managers do not do a good job of encouraging you to do well. They more or less speak to you like they have just blessed you with the opportunity to gain some hours of work and you better make good use of it, with frequent references to longstanding staff that have done well with time. The pressure is unwarranted for an environment that really requires teamwork, leadership and communication to promote such a casual and friendly brand. The most enjoyable part would be speaking to customers that actually need help on the floor. However, as a stock associate, that rarely happens for you. You will often be at the backroom and when you eventually get on the shop floor, you seem inexperienced. The managers also do not schedule enough hours as they themselves are on a tight budget from their regional heads. So they really schedule those that are their personal favourites, which is unfair.
All in all, they need a revamp of their organisational culture and job satisfaction is really low there.

Although it is not advertised on the job description, their part time roles are zero hours. Meaning that you are not always guaranteed a shift. When I was my right to work documents and National Insurance, I was told by management that they would guarantee at least one shift per week. This initially happened every other week for a couple of weeks, and then I didn't receive a shift for three weeks. This is a shame as you don't get to know your colleagues as well as you could. 

The only good thing about this is that if a colleague wants a shift swapped or covered, you can do that with another colleague as long as you both call the store agreeing to this. So at least some flexibility there. 

Some of the supervisors are quite rude sometimes, I was told by one manager that the display I was doing wasn't good enough whilst another manager told me it was fine. Some of the supervisors scorn at you when you many little mistakes and give you dirty looks. 

The only plus sides I can give to this is that there are several things you can do in the store such as folding clothes, letting customers in the fitting rooms and putting the clothes back on the store floor and more. 
Also, you get a 50% discount, which goes down to 40% after using it on a number of transactions a month (such as 5 or 10 times, depends on the month).



Within my position at Hollister Co. I am expected to complete specific tasks within a time scale, this is a challenge in most occasions and since starting and progressing within the worldwide known company I feel I have excelled in an array of areas within my position. My job involves customer interaction, teamwork, retail marketing, floor replenishment, shipment (security tagging clothing) dressing mannequins and general visual tasks. The aforesaid set me in stead for a future in retail with time keeping, organisation, and problem solving and team management/work. I would consider myself to be a trustworthy employee as well as an excellent role model to others within the work place. I try where possible to guide newcomers and reflect my own strong work ethic to others. I have received multiple written positive performances awarded by my managers for outstanding work in the same and am proud to say I have never received a poor performance in my time at Hollister Co. I enjoy working within retail and feel that in doing so I have gained a greater insight to the way in which a company works and progress’. Throughout my time at Hollister Co I have picked up specific managerial qualities and I feel that I recognise a constructive manager and a destructive manager first hand. I have taken silent notes.

Just like every phase of your life: The energy you put in, is the energy you get out. As a brandrep, working on the floor with customers, along with the company culture, makes the experiences with every customer unique. ~I learnt myriad of stuff while being on a fully flexible zero hour contract. Although, as aforementioned, what you put in is what you get out. IF you put in the energy and complete goals (set at the start of each shift), you WILL be praised and get positive commendation for it, and in turn, get more shifts. And if you don't, this will also prevail. Th environment of the company is amazing. The people are generally always amazing. the managers are all young and so are associates, it's a very friendly working environment. IF you choose to keep yourself to yourself, you Will feel excluded as you didn't try to involve yourself. If you do try to involve yourself, there are always friendly gatherings happening and the pleasantness of the environment increases. The hardest part of the job is learning to get a hang with the amount of customers. The pay is not as beautiful as expected, but the zero hour contract is a blessing for students. Would 10/10 recommend this job to a shy student (as I was once upon a time) to become confident and more comfortable with who you are.      

As I worked as impact, my day to day jobs depended on what needed doing. Sometimes I would be tagging new clothes that had just been delivered to the store and putting them in the right places in the stock room ready to be brought down to the shop floor. I also had to clean the stock room sometimes and sometimes the shop floor. I also had to take the new stock and put it out on the shop floor making sure everything was folded correctly and neatly and everything was in the right places. I was also required to check if anything needed putting back onto the shop floor from the changing rooms. I learned how to be patient and how to work independently. As a company, they hired a lot of people every so often and I felt like i never saw the same staff members more than once or twice so I always felt alone and felt like if I needed any help I would just have to use my own initiative as there was hardly anyone around to ask questions and if i was really desperate then I would ask a manager. I think the hardest part of the job was just trying to fit in, which again I never felt like I did. My co workers were very nice just didn't see them often. What I enjoyed most was the discount on uniform, even though I barely worked there as they are very over staffed and I never got given shifts, discount was good just over all.

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Assistant manager 4 salaries reported	£28,125 per year
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