Pros
I signed up with HRB as a receptionist because no other position would accept me— probably because I lacked office experience. They like to hire upward rather than outward which is partly how I was able to get the Associate Team Lead promotion in a month of working there. So I guess the pro here is it is relatively easy to get a job, but that can also be a con as I will soon mention. Once you are situated in a single office for awhile it has a nice and comfortable culture, but that culture does not always transfer to other offices.
Cons
I don't know if this goes for all offices or if this was just a hard year, but the drop rate is also very high. Wages are so low as a receptionist and with all the company-locked training that is required and tasks that are expected of an 'ideal receptionist' they deserve much more. Questionable racism in office environment (kind of office-specific but take it for what you will); previous ATL allegedly pushed black receptionist (who got paid less than other receptionists despite living closer) and rather than choosing a true story out of 3 she told, ended up resigning, leaving the office without a manager until I stepped up for more experience. I only heard about this from the about why she quit after the fact, as I wasn't there to see it go down. She probably isn't coming back and the District General Manager came in and sorted things out as it was escalating, but the dollar difference in wage and fact it even happened in the first place when ATLs are supposed to be calling that behaviour out is something to scratch my head about. The receptionist also quit a few weeks after. In my area there aren't many people of color working at H&R at all and I wonder if there's reason behind this. Corporate is not in touch with the client/office front at all and pushes company ideals so hard that even long-time tax preparers are considering quitting. They keep pushing virtual service but their softwares in-office only seem to work perfectly about 65% of the time which makes it hard to get things done efficiently without something crashing. Tech support often takes too long if it is an issue that can't be solved remotely and there are very outdated and cheap hardware that everyone works off of, so we often wind up having to work around and deal with malfunctioning computers and poor phones. Corporate seems to be trying to capitalize on tax preparation so much as a product rather than a service to the point where I almost feel ashamed working for them. I have (as well as some other tax pros) suggested clients who can't seem to find the money to look for or pursue cheaper avenues (including HR Block online) because the company itself is spreading itself out in ways that are being more demanding of both office-level workers and clients that we can't control. Corporate does not frequently communicate anything but numbers to offices. I'm really convinced that our DGM has never worked in an office despite my statement that the company likes to hire upwards rather than outwards. There was a lot of questions and uncertainties that never resolved. It made this a job that I ended up 'taking home' because I dreaded the lack of resolution each passing day. I can't judge this DGM position too much because I don't know what they're trained to do, but if they are supposed to be the balance between higher-ups and offices then there was definitely a corporate lean. Offices can become cliquey. No breaks due to our staffing shortage from the above issues. These 2 are mild peeves compared to major gripes as they happen pretty much everywhere with such circumstances. I really do not recommend working here unless you are desperate for experience.