sales associate

brand ambassador

retail assistant manager

sales leader

store manager

American Eagle Outfitters

A typical day at work for myself is started by logging in, and checking to make sure I know all the the sales and discounts that are applicable to that day. Then I scan the store to make sure everything is easy to see for customers and accessible as well as neat. I must also replace any items that are low in stock. After this is check the change rooms to make sure they are clean. While doing all of this I must keep one eye on the cash register for line-ups. The change rooms abide by this rule as well. The number one rule of retail work is the customer needs come first, this is my main focus.

Since I have worked at American Eagle I have learned how to deal with customers who do not speak English as a first language. This skill requires patience and communication. I use my facial expressions and hand gestures to communicate successfully with these customers.

The management at American Eagle is split between a number of employees. One must apply to be a key-holder but this still does not guarantee a fixed number of hours on a weekly basis. Because of this I have not applied to be on the management team.  

My co-workers are, for the most part, students. They are pleasant to work with, however they have very busy lives and I am often covering a shift for them. This is beneficial for me as it is an opportunity to earn more income for myself.

The hardest part of the job is is satisfying a customer who does not know what they are looking for. It is hard to see ones face who clearly believes in retail-therapy but simply does not know how to decide on an item. At this point I usually allow them to browse on their own. When I see they have picked something up I immediately suggest they try it on because I know once they are wearing the item they will feel their spirits lift.

The most enjoyable part of my job is satisfying a customer with a special request. When one goes out to find a specific outfit, it can be frustrating when it becomes difficult to find. This also makes the customer harder to satisfy. These are the challenges I enjoy.
EXAMPLE: During the Christmas season a lot of teenage girls will write down the description of an outfit and send their gift-buyers out to find it. This can be stressful and nerve-racking  for that shopper and it is my job to relieve these feelings and find the requested items in an efficient amount of time.

Unless you are one of the big popular stores, nobody cared or supported you. DMs were absent, or aggressively on you after being so absent. DMs and head office created toxic environments with "cliques" and favourites. I have seen so many amazing, hard-working managers, of all levels, passed for a promotion simply because someone else was a better PR move, they did/didn't like them or just ungrateful. They asked you to swoop in and fix other stores' problems but don't actually give you the job of fixing other people's problems. How hard you worked almost never had anything to do with it, unless you had friends at head office and you all went shopping together. They pushed for sales but wouldn't allow SMs to make decisions that were different or did not "fit the standard", but actually made you more money. Constant praise and recognition to same stores. Conference calls are a JOKE. Not all stores are the same, or even have the same demographic or FUNDING and it is ridiculous to run every store the same way. There are standards, and then there are old ideas that do not want to die. Company is constantly changing processes and creating and removing things meant to help; success rate is 50/50, they change to often to make anything stick, some things do work. The job itself is not hard, the problem is that it's not worth it. Internal hires are constantly low balled, which is ridiculous for the amount of loyal employees they have and HAD, before half the company quit. I'm sure things are different now. The best part really is your own store; the employees and the customers. If you had a great culture in your store, work never felt like work. Discount is amazing, and consistent contests keep associate staff motivated. Associate staff. You can never escape teenage drama, but it's probably one of the best jobs I have ever had solely based on the staff who worked within my store. Everything above was a hot mess, and I'm glad everything has changed and I hope it saves the company. There have been so many talented and amazing people that have worked for this company, I would hate to see them suffer the ultimate demise. Despite everything, I have truly made some lifelong friends. I will say that everyone truly has a different experience with this company.

American Eagle isn't just a clothing store, it's a family. My co-workers and I have created a strong bond that will last a life time. This translates to how we work in the store. We do not make commission, but they do track how much profit we pull in for the company. Everyone has their own goals, but at the end of the day that goal would be successful because even if your personal goal wasn't achieved as a team it was. Team work is important to my company and important to me. Team work is the core of motivation and confidence building, and that is exactly what i've learned at American Eagle. My leadership skills have escalated, and because that I have become a mentor for any new employees. To me, money is important but not as important as seeing a customer happy. Nothing makes me more happier than to know I helped someone. I had many different customers over the years but their was one in particular that stood out. There was a Rabi that came into the store and asked me about a belt in the window. He said he has never been in this store before but was intrigued when he saw so many smiles on the workers faces'. I soon realized that he did not just come into the store to buy a belt, but to talk to someone. Usually in a sales associate job, the descriptions entails one to sell in order to make quota but that wasn't on my mind. We talked about him being a Rabi, how his beloved wife was very ill at home with a neck sprain, and his experiences in other stores. He made me walk him through the entire store and show him what we had to offer. We came back to the box of belts and he taught me how to shorten a belt, and take the clip off to change the sizes (something you would normally bring to the dry cleaners). He taught me more than I taught him. I am always eager to learn something new. The Rabi ended up buying socks and a belt as a token of appreciation and talked to my manger on duty to praise my company. The best part of my job is being surrounded by people. The hardest part of my job is pleasing everyone that walks through those doors.

Each day is something new with American Eagle Outfitters. 

Retail is an ever changing industry and AEO has a much more desirable position in the global market than in previous years. Having recently opened locations over seas this year in the UK, American Eagle is a globally known brand that really understands the fundamentals of putting your customer first.

The most enjoyable part of work was the amazing team I had. It makes coming into work easier knowing you are part of such a close knit team of individuals with the same passion for customer service.

As part of the management team, we were very involved with our associates, providing constant coaching and training to ensure a sales driven team. I had the opportunity to work with various store managers and various district managers and I feel the one thing AEO lacks is company consistency. Involvement from both your SM and DM varied greatly. While each had the opportunity to contribute, some chose to procrastinate ultimately leading to a snowball affect, leading to a loss of sales and a negative impact on daily operations.

The most difficult aspect of working at AEO was the payroll ladder. Payrolls and sales are very dependent on each other. When payroll isn't invested wisely or situations don't entirely play out as you were hoping, your store could suffer greatly. As a result, if management didn't put in extra hours (of unpaid work since they are salaried), many tasks could not be completed with the various payroll cuts made over the past couple years.

The company provided many opportunities for advancement, various gifts for associates, rewards for hitting KPI's and this year, flew all store managers to Florida for a company wide meeting.

Worked there for a few months, they let me only work on weekends because of school but for some reason, they would sometimes give me shifts on weekdays which I obviously could not go to since I didn't have a form of transportation, and so I would have to ask people to take my shifts a lot of the time. Once, I didn't know I had a shift on a WEEKDAY NIGHT, so one of my coworkers called and basically said passive-aggressively, "Thanks." for not showing up when I specifically told them I couldn't go. 

Soon after, I quit because not only was that coworker made me and only female workers really uncomfortable, but the overall work experience was so blindly put together. I would learn what I'd have to do throughout my time there, instead of learning it beforehand. I didn't know what to say to customers asking for certain things like discounts and checking for the stock, and etc. 

Furthermore, the lunch break system is stupid. If you work for a certain amount of hours, only then can you get a 15-minute break. 15 or 30 minutes less, and you don't get one at all. This can be really tough especially when you're not energetic or you need to go to the bathroom.

Also, the app they use to check for your hours is the dumbest thing I have ever used. The "2-factor authentication" is a waste of time, who would think of logging into my American Eagle job app. It's so confusing to use, and I was never added into a group chat with my coworkers, making it super awkward when I see them because I barely know them/their names. The workplace culture was so isolating.
And btw, most of the low-quality clothes from American Eagle end up on the sale rack, so if you see something you like, wait 2 more weeks and it'll be 60% off LOL.  

American eagle outfitters is a dead end retail company who has no interest in the well-being of their employees past their legal obligations to abide by BC and federal employment law. They do not reward their employees with raises or promotions, and  will often hire managers who have no familiarity with the brand instead of promoting worthy, tenured employees. Their manager turn over rate is very high because of how disorganized the district managers and upper management are, so there was no surprise they often struggled to find decent management. Furthermore, When I began working we had multiple employee benefits (competitions for prizes, employee discounts etc)  but they were reduced annually until there were next to no benefits (this detriments motivation and morale, but they do not care as long as they can save a few extra dollars). It is essentially a mega apparel corporation whose goal it is to maximize profits while squeezing every last ounce of life out of their employees while paying them the absolute minimum amount of money. They expect you to give 110% on minimum wage with no commission on sales. It can be a useful position if you’re a student seeking part time work for a bit of pocket money, but is otherwise stagnant, monotonous and uninspiring. Work here if you cannot find anything else, and can tolerate boring, unfulfilling work with no guarantee of consistent shifts. Otherwise, move on. 

Oh live your life american eagle, what started off as fun, turned into a never ending nightmare, district manager has no idea what was going on or how to answer questions at times. Late arrivals constant so your always setting up floor sets late. Long long long hours for low pay and no overtime, you constantly beat last years numbers but the targets are so high you never bonus, they can be 20-40% up on the previous year. 

3 assistant managers lead you to not learn as much as a co manager would, spend too much time under one category and store managers who really don't care and disappear early you end up working more hours then them. Shipments are so high and the product you actually need never comes. Back rooms are too small, real safety issue. No actual training is ever given and worst of all conversion has the same expectation 20% across the district even though ever store, every location is completely different it baffles me. 

The one thing i loved was my staff, they really did love you and appreciated everything you said or did. Discounts are great they do look after you like that. Benefits are good and vacation is paid 2 weeks after one year. Pay is ok, but negotiate as much as possible there is room. For assistant you can get at least $38,000 if they really really want you.

Not every store is like this, but this pretty much is the picture across the district in bc.

American Eagle runs on a store by store basis, which consists of A team of manger's who oversee a staff of about 100.

The company itself has gone over various changes and staffing overhauls, Some for the better others for the worse.  

My coworkers could be more developed and though have a passion to learn are under qualified or have received insufficient training.

The hardest part of my job is the constant switching and changing schedule,  Sometimes Nights, Day's, or Overnights.  As well the Few to none possibilities of advancement through the company

I do enjoy managing and developing staff and have trained various manager's and associates throughout my many year's with the company.

The District Manager`s have had a poor presence, Provide very little training or development opportunities for Manager's. As well have had Constant rearranging and Continuous Changes in District`s Or manager`s in general.

Through american Eagle I`ve learned various Skills, Organization, Staff development, Scheduling, Time management, Problem solving, Customer first relations, Accountability and Forcasting.

In the interview, I was told I couldn't take a holiday since I was hired over Christmas season. Then they gave me the orientation and didn't schedule me for 2 months. I went in and asked what was happening and apparently they hired me too early.. so I waited because I was lucky enough to have another job. After that, they bombarded me with a lot of shifts for a few weeks so I made the decision to quit my previous job. As soon as the final two weeks of my previous job was over, AE kept calling me the day of my shift and cancelled it telling me to not come in. The would cancel a shift even an hour before I'm supposed to be there. Then over the Christmas break, they didn't even schedule me. Even though they told me in the interview that they were going to need me and it'll be super busy for us. Next time I tried to log in to the AE app to check the schedule, my ID code was invalid. Sooo I guess I don't work there anymore? 
The thing is, I was fast at putting things away and I tried to do everything they told me to do efficiently. The managers gave me decent feedback (none that was negative) so to my knowledge, I was a good worker.

Also, another thing is that it is kind of a toxic environment, the girls there gossip ALOT.. and are kind of aggressive to certain people - it felt very clique-y and felt like I was back in high school again!

This was my first real job. A day would consist of using an app to note your goals for the day. You would then go and speak to your manager and they would tell you where you were working. All you do for the day is greet customers and try to force sales down their throats, and also a little bit of tidying. Don't clean too much cause they'll get mad at you for it. If you aren't closing, you'd finish off your day by talking to a manager and using the app thing again. This place is really sales-focused. This was my first job so I can't compare but it caught me by surprise. It was to the point where they cared more about a sale than the actual customer and their needs. The pressure and sale culture honestly make me never want to work in retail again.  The store gets really busy on weekends. The work environment was ok. Often felt left out because the other employees already established relationships. Despite that, they were all really kind. Had a supervisor that constantly breathed down our necks, and an employee quit because of them.  Management could be condescending at times. Not allowed to sit so prepare for sore feet. The employee discounts were stellar, the best thing about the job by far. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Sales associate 7 salaries reported	$16.07 per hour
Brand ambassador 1 salary reported	$17.60 per hour
Retail assistant manager 2 salaries reported	$38,700 per year
Sales leader 1 salary reported	$47,500 per year
Store manager 3 salaries reported	$73,000 per year

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