A fun place to work and interact with countless guests and the amazing benefit of free movies.
Pros
Free movies. Even though everyone knows this is a great perk, it's still underrated. Being able to see free movies saves so much money now-a-days. You can also get a few friends in with you so you'll always have company. When you're working you can get discounts on concession items as well as free popcorn. If you enjoy a job that keeps you moving for long periods of time, or you like to interact with a lot of people, this place is perfect. Specifically Tyson's Corner, you will deal with hundreds of people. Generally, there are a good amount of fun people to work with and you make a lot of friends with your coworkers. Everyone has a different experience working at the theater. I may have a longer Cons sections, but don't get me wrong. I love this job and I don't plan on leaving the movie theater business too soon.
Cons
You will be worked to the bone. Scheduling is not too flexible. They hire you based on a relatively open availability, but then expect you to commit to that. Don't expect to change your hours. They won't let you and will change their attitude if you absolutely have to change them. Breaks are sometimes unheard of and the shifts are very long. It seems as if the people who have worked at the theater longest are favored above those who haven't. With the relatively weak screening process, a large amount of people who work at a movie theater have horrible work ethic, attitude and just a bad approach to the job with very little seriousness. You have to be self-motivated to stand out but it's annoying how people manage to either be bad at their job or not care about it when it's so easy. Also, you end up dealing with a lot of dumb and rude guests. Many people don't use their eyes, ears, or a small amount of their brains therefore they ask dumb questions. As well, guests feel entitled to absolutely everything, so when they don't get EXACTLY what they want, they complain. About anything. And they expect to get reimbursed for everything. But you never go home without any stories to tell. Don't expect to have a huge social life. You're expected to work weekends, nights, and most, if not all, holidays. I haven't had a Friday or Saturday off in over 6 months. Tyson's Corner basically forces you to work during holidays as well as weekends. Luckily I don't have a social life, but I value money highly and at least this is an income.
