Physical exhaustion, aches, spirit-killing, mind-numbing, minimum wage
Pros
I applied during the holiday season, economic recession in swing, and was hired out of over a thousand applicants, including a part-time dental technician, retiree, army reservist, and other folks needing income who they took in. They hire 30 people around the holidays, so it's not hard to get in the door. It won't feel like they hired enough though. It's better to do stock so you can have moments away from an onslaught of customers while you're busy out-of-sight unloading a truck, loading backroom shelves, ect. Backroom work, while physically requiring a lot of lifting and climbing ladders with boxes, feels like a break, so it's better being a stock employee instead of a cashier or guest service associate just for that hour or so working away from the chaos. It's not that physically dangerous, or dirty, and it's not open all night, so those are some pretty good perks, plus it's there as a last resort. Sometimes they had free snacks for everyone in the back. If you have previous management experience, they may offer you a part-time job after the holiday season for minimum-wage, but if you take that job and you express an interest in management, are always early, take call-in shifts, stay late when they ask, give good customer service, and work hard/fast, you can be the first to be considered should a shift management or backroom management position open up. Those guys were hired from within the crew. There were only one or two of them though, and I don't know how much growth they can make from there.
Cons
Even though I was only in my young 20's, by the end of the night I needed a hot bath to recover. If you are assigned to do stock, they'll have you wear all black to set you apart from guest service workers with the idea that you will get more work done, but you must also help customers who approach you, and there will be so many coming to you every hour that it'll be hard to make a dent in your work. Customers come first, but the shelves and your boxes must still be done in a time frame. The guest service workers must have been under-staffed because you don't see them around and you will get swarmed by multiple customers simultaneously, each wanting to be helped before the others. You cannot use the walkie to call guest service for help because they will also be busy, and a couple weeks into the holiday season the walkies become a customer layaway pick-up and manager emergency use only. You may feel physically, mentally, emotionally drained. You may feel a heave of dread before clocking in. It pays minimum wage, so this is a job you take in a time of desperation.
