Pros
I had a lot of fun and made some great friends. I used to get much worse stage fright, now I find it much easier to speak up for myself. I also learned at lot about who to trust and when. Sometimes you might get to work at 6am and be off by 2pm. That was really great when I needed to get to the bank or something. I did lose weight. :)
Cons
I got many raises in job responsibilities, as high as I could go (senior photos & families). But never an increase in wage. Those that did ask for raises were generally let go. I was thankfully advised to copy my time sheets by another new hire. Checks were never correct, always under the amount due. I'm great at math and I had a difficult time getting the "accounting" department to understand how my check was wrong. Those who were salaried worked 60-80 hours a week without a change in pay. Hours are crazy. Sometimes you may get to work at 4am and not get home until 10pm. You only get 30min for lunch. No communication. Some people were fired then hired back the next week. During slow times they may just not give you any hours with out any warning. I did well because I laid low and just nodded my head when someone yelled at me. Everyone got yelled at so we tried not to take it personally. Tough times experienced together make for good, lasting friendships.