Pros
The experience garnered from such a position will open other opportunities for the future career-wise, so I'm very happy to have been an Assistant Manager for this company. I felt the role required a certain amount of accountability and independence. For me, I considered it a positive in part, as I enjoy that ability to be flexible within my position. The sales team I worked with was one of the best I've had the pleasure of knowing. Not only that, majority of the customers/clients received most of our staff with the utmost respect and made the experience all the more enjoyable. I don't think the workload is per se all that immense, but I will go into that in the next section. Benefits are immediate upon hire for full-time employees, without any probationary 90 day period that many companies require. The accrual rate for vacation and sick time is quite fair. I found the position to be a decent work/life balance. Oh and I can't forget the rather generous employee discount, which many of our team members took advantage of.
Cons
There aren't many growth or full-time work possibilities with this company. I was one of a few lucky enough to be promoted. I disliked the management structure of the particular store I worked in. Upper management tended to delegate on-the-floor work duties to lower management, while their work left them conveniently in the office hours on end. I've completed many tasks that were the responsibility of our General Manager. General management rarely frequented our store, leaving our staff confused and uncomfortable at times, not to mention an inherent sense of broken and ineffective communication. The pay does not align with the amount of work and service this company expects of its employees. I had some of the most hard-working people on our staff and they all, including myself, deserved a raise, which hasn't occurred for years. While it was wonderful to have medical benefits, the more affordable option being a high deductible PPO plan was actually one of the most expensive health plans I've ever had with a company. I almost missed my old HMO plan.