Pros
Overall the company is attempting to move in the right direction. Corporate HR has had an overhaul and theoretically you work in a flexible work setting (although you're not allowed to call it that.) The brands are fun to work with and (depending on your buyer) you can make a business impact right away. If you're lucky you will get to help with strategy, exclusives, sit in on market, and will be involved in business decisions. This obviously depends on your area/buyer but most people do not work late or weekends. Some brands may send you a small holiday present which is always rewarding. The systems aren't as ancient as the competition.
Cons
It's nearly impossible to get clarity on career development. Overall buyers have no incentive to promote since they will have to take on the responsibility of training a new AB. Company wide there are zero guidelines on how to get your buyer or DMM to "release" you so you can begin interviewing for a promotion. You might get stuck in a pyramid that holds ABs for 4+ years or you might get lucky and move fast. A lot of the merchant support teams (Vendor set up, pricing, data, etc) don't support you - they will either be grumpy when you ask for help or will flat out ignore you until you stalk them nonstop. The sample sales really helped boost morale but those ended when Covid began. Also - as much as the company talks about love there is an overall attitude of "why should we thank you for doing your job." As a result you feel undervalued since no one acknowledges when you go above and beyond. Some buyers are truly amazing but others kiss up and kick down. I've had buyers that I did not report to be aggressive and rude in division wide meetings and no one acknowledged the situation. Overall there were a lot of people who are unprofessional but got away with it due to tenure. Lastly the admin work between ABs is not evenly distributed, offices with more than 30 brands should have 3 assistants to help with the day to day minutia. Since a lot of the onus of development is put on ABs to network and self train they need to have an evenly distributed work load to level the playing field. Pay is not competitive and totally all over the place, in general expect 1 -3 % raise a year.
