Pros
-Great discount -Free and/or extremely discounted items every few weeks -Made a lot of friends in four years -Good pay and good hours -Flexible scheduling -Most customers are decent people, some are very nice and genuinely appreciate any help received -Training is provided across the board -Mostly competent store management wherever I worked and very cool even under stress -Good support from other associates -Recognition for your hard work at meetings -Sometimes you'd meet the most awesome celebs that were the most down to Earth people. (We were not allowed to ask for autographs and everyone respected that). -The then-Director of Stores (I think) was a nice and very handsome guy, who'd smile at and firmly shake hands with everyone. -Before I even set foot in VS for my second shift, I had people trying to recruit me away from them. And subsequently, many of us received offers to work for other companies, sometimes in higher positions with better pay. They knew that, VS tended to hire more serious people but that later changed when they made cutbacks. -Some of the most outrageous people to work with, made for many fun times in and out of the store. -Stock team is amazing at what they do.
Cons
-Loud music, same CD for months (One particular Madonna song was on repeat 5 times in a row every hour because the CD player was malfunctioning. -Aggressive credit card selling. -Returns of very worn merchandise (it's a lingerie store, use your imagination). -Some managers were unworthy of being lumped in with better managers. -High turnover. -High shrinkage. -Stuck in fitting rooms for hours with no help on days when they would have to send other people home to save money on payroll -Disorganization when I participated at the Caesar's Palace opening. They paid $500 for my ticket but neglected to find a bunch of us hotel rooms. Luckily, a manager from some other CA store let the four of us (by then, some girls who came as far as Ohio and Florida, flew back home after hours of run around) take her Cal King suite and she stayed with a fellow manager. We weren't told until we decided to fly home after working one shift, about where to find our hotel rooms. -Pervs ask for your number and wanna buy the underwear you have on. -Celebs who take themselves very seriously. Bodyguards or reps call store before hand to "warn" management that no one was to approach the celebrity. -Whenever corporate or a DM shows up, a particular SM became a paragon of store management but then goes back to putting out the schedule the day before the new week started! She worked one day a week, in the office, with the door closed so even the other managers couldn't get in. Whenever she was out, she'd leave the others to pick up her slack and run the store in her place. They even said that if she didn't write the schedule, she'd have nothing to do with herself. Not long after I left she was promoted to District Manager. She knew how to schmooze. Imagine my surprise when I came to a new store where both the SMs actually worked the selling floor like everyone else.