Lifetouch reviews

3.1

50% would recommend to a friend

(2,228 total reviews)
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Ken Murphy

59% approve of CEO

27% positive business outlook

Lifetouch has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 2,228 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Lifetouch employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media & Communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
2.0
Mar 5, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Photographing cute kids, learning what makes a great portrait. You don't have to work weekends. Many of my co-workers were nice (but not all of them). If you only want to work full time for three months, like working with kids, like taking pictures, and have a lot of energy, this could be for you.

Cons

It's very stressful with low pay and no job security. Income varies from week to week. You never know your schedule for the next week until Thursday or Friday of the previous week, so it's almost impossible to plan your life around work. Also, most days you go to a school for the day not knowing if the school will give you a lunch break or how long you will be there. One time, I had to wake up at 3:30am to drive to a school an hour and a half away. Midway through the day, I had to stay set up to photograph until 5pm. It takes about an hour to tear down and pack up your car with all the gear, so I didn't get home until 8pm. You may work long hours with no break. During school registration days in August, you may have to work late into the evening one night, then wake up at 3:30am the next morning to drive to the next school and set up the equipment (which takes 1 to 1.5 hours) to be ready to photograph at 7am. On those occasions, it is impossible to get enough sleep and have the energy to work the next day. The work can be very draining. The schools make the schedules and sometimes they make it so there's only one minute allotted to photograph each student. You don't get to be creative with the school portraits. If you're a photographer, you don't get to use the images in your portfolio. There is a lot of wear and tear on your vehicle and you have to keep all the gear in your trunk, which will likely take up your entire trunk and back seats, depending on the size of your car. I didn't feel like a valued employee. The employees who had been there longer had a gas card, but they discontinued it for the newer employees. I lot of employees quit or were fired before the season was over.

1.0
Feb 3, 2014

Run FAST

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Friendships made that's honestly about it.

Cons

Everything, you can think of. No $, raises are far and few between, Insane hours, no set schedule, argue with you when you request days off, they tell you to be there 15 mins early for each job but wont pay you for those 15mins you get there early, which is illegal. Run by crooks and perverts.

2.0
Nov 12, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-If you truly love kids and are great with them, you'll enjoy this job. If you don't, you will hate every minute of it. -If you are planning on one day becoming a real photographer, this job does help you to fine-tune your directing skills when telling people how to pose. -Most of my colleagues are nice people.

Cons

I could go on and on about all the cons of working at a Lifetouch studio, but I'll sum it up into a few main points: -Underpaid and overworked Lifetouch expects the WORLD out of its workers, all for eight bucks an hour. -On-call shifts 99% of the time you will be on-call. And by the way, you don't get to find out if you're working until the night before or sometimes the day of. Forget making plans with people. Lifetouch expects you to wait by the phone to see if you will be working or not. -Not allowed to request days off during Christmas season Enough said about that one. -Not a photographer, a salesperson If sales is your thing, then go for this job. If you don't like being told to manipulate people into buying stuff, this is not the job for you. -Having to do "three layers" If you work at the studio, you might feel the same way I do about those three layers. "Let's take a bunch of unnecessary photos just to get that third layer, even though we're already an hour behind because we book our appointments 10 minutes apart". -Not a studio, a factory Appointments are booked 10 minutes apart because Lifetouch doesn't care about taking time with each appointment and making each guest feel truly valued. All they care about is the money. Sessions in the camera room are to be 10 minutes max. Excuse me? We're working with KIDS for crying out loud. There are so many more cons, but I'll leave it there. If you're looking into a job at a Lifetouch studio, you'll just have to see for yourself.

Viewing 43 - 45 of 2,228 Reviews

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