sales associate

associé aux ventes

vendeur en prêt-à-porter

department manager

visual merchandiser

ZARA

If you like to be treated with disrespect and talked to like a 4 year old, if you like to perform 2 people's duties during any given shift getting paid minimum wage with zero recognition and appreciation, and if you like to have a manager call you 5 times a week changing your schedule on you, then Zara is the perfect place to work.
-- Extremely rude and unprofessional management. They probably think minimum wage employees should only get minimum or no respect. They put you right on the spot with very little training and ask questions like "how come you're not doing this or that" like you're an idiot. One time I had to go to the washroom after 3 hours of doing stock and helping customers nonstop, the manager asked through the walkie "where are you" as if I had been missing for days, and after I informed her that I was just using the washroom real quick, she actually said "hurry and come back up here okay". Ridiculous. 

-- Extremely heavy workload. They are always understaff. Of course I understand this--it's all about the bottom line. But don't blame me for not finishing the work when you just simply don't have enough manpower. Basically they expect you to know everything inside out in your second week and be able to check 250 items in stock, replenish all the items on the sales floor with perfect sizing and folding, serving 10+ demanding customers, and still do cash register in ONE HOUR. That is just humanly impossible. Oh and they never forget to make you feel incompetent when you don't complete the tasks or ask questions. "Why haven't you finished so and so yet" is asked every other hour during your shift. 

-- Hazardous stockrooms. Very crowded with clothes, hangers, poles, hooks, boxes and everything in between right in your way. It's ok if it's just a stockroom, but you actually have to work heavy ladders and stools to get clothes. It becomes impossible to maneuver the tools at times. It's a huge accident waiting to happen. 

-- Completely incompetent managers. Other than being rude and unprofessional, they also can't figure out something basic like scheduling. Your shifts change all the time, which is ok, I understand, it's retail, it's to be expected. But when they cancel your morning shift (meaning it's erased on the hand written schedule sheet) the day before, and call you at 7:05 the next morning asking "how come you're not at work", that's just not acceptable. Apparently, the managers haven't figured out a way to communicate with each other. They also miscounted my hours worked. I was underpaid by 8 hours during one pay period! Thank god I logged all my hours and checked my paycheque thoroughly. I didn't sign up to volunteer, definitely not for a place like this. 

The list can go on and on, and mind you, I was there only for 3 weeks. Those unpleasant incidents all happened in just 3 weeks, part time! I refused to take such treatment, not for $10.50/HR. NO. I'm still kicking myself for not having quit sooner. 3 weeks is too long in such abusive work environment. 
If you can find another minimum wage job, RUN!

Working at ZARA means working in a VERY dynamic environment. 

Pros:

- Teamwork is everything. You can really develop your skills in that, and leadership as well if you are a senior associate 
- Early access to the latest trends and the coolest items. ZARA is always extremely fashion-forward, and no one can deny that. Even if you don't watch the runways, you will know what is hot at the moment just by working on the floor or on cash. 
- Employee discount is great. 
- The day is never boring and the time flies by. 
- The breaks are balanced and are long enough (30 min or 1 hour depending on your shift duration). 
- You learn to be stress-resistant and stand your ground when being pressed by customers. 
- The managers will protect you in case of conflict (providing you really didn't do anything wrong).    
- During sale, you can easily snatch the best items or rare sizes. Feels good to know that that jacket in XS of yours is the last in the whole GTA!


Cons:

- Not enough training for new employees. They do an orientation, but really you will have to learn as you go.
- As a result, there's a lot of criticism that is not always presented properly.
- The fast-paced environment creates confusion. 
- CUSTOMERS. They complain about not being respected, but really it's them who do not respect you and your hard work. Some of them are nice, and they make your day. But sometimes they might be rude right away or treat you like a servant. But the worst thing is what they do to the merchandise. Imagine that you have about 15 to 30 people shopping at once, 50 if it's rush hour. Now every single one of those people misplaces or throws at least 3 items on the floor. That's 45 to 90 items already (God bless you if it's rush hour). And the day is not even done yet. That's how the stores get messy.
- At cash, you will have to deal with people who act as if they have never been informed about the return policy. 
- The workflow is built the way that it does not allow for proper customer service, even if you want to deliver it. There truly is no one to greet at the door or approach them. There's only one person who is assigned to locate customer requests, and the rest is working hard to clean and maintain the image.
- The expectations are that the store is supposed to look like a boutique, which is entirely unrealistic with the customer volume and the stuff available.
- The managers are under enormous pressure and are not always courteous (however, the best of them will answer your questions even when stressed, and will protect your from customers, so this is a PRO). 


Overall, it is a great place to learn and grow but can get extremely stressful. However, you do learn stress and time management, develop your self-confidence, quick thinking, teamwork and leadership skills.

Opening tills for the correspondent department, supervising other cashiers, typing out and delivering memos to all departments in the store, merchandising, filing paper work, keeping counter clutter free, assorting damages of the store, responsible of sending out to seamstress small fixable damages.

Was able to learn everything regarding the retail industry, minimum banking and depositing information, improving peoples'skills, improved computer skills, inventory input, a fast cashier, fast counting for opening and closing tills.

Co-workers extremely friendly and professional.

Management varies, overall professional, do not talk to employees besides work related demands, did not co-exist with employees would never be seen talking, hanging out or eating lunch with them either, if this was the case they could possibly get in trouble by head office which is a staff that consisted of people from Spain not well informed of Canadian Law and Human Rights. 
Encouragement to be tough and hard on staff was acceptable and taught by those in higher positions, wearing make up was promoted for girls, diversity among appearance for men not quite.

The long hours , closing one night and opening the day after was absolutely one of the hardest things to deal with and not being respected by those in higher positions, yelling at staff, speaking in a condescending manner , being judged by overall appearance and never acknowledging the good work and efforts just constantly hearing the bad on a daily basis. A very interesting, surreal and terrible formula to achieve the improvement of skills and motivation of the staff, which caused many people to walk out.

Learning about the latest runway trends and working around such beautiful pieces and clothes was a nice experience if you enjoy that field of customer service, great Christmas parties.

Starting with Zara from1999 in Spain was an amazing experience.
the learning /coaching was amazingly astute. Being immersed in European culture was an eye opener of many things. I started my journey in La Caruna Spain, where the company originated. visiting the factory where everything is produced from 25.90 t-shirts to  229.00 skirts.  Learning to put take apart a cash register was easy... putting it back together was a completely different case as the only language our instructor spoke Spanish. needless to say we had to learn the language or be eaten. I learned enough to be able to work in the shops in La Caruna, Madrid and the Canary Islands.
The Order process differs from store to store, that was enlightening as I just thought it was automatic to receive generic orders. we learned to order based on the selling trends of each store how to staff the store based on light and heavy traffic days/ times.
The Staff were very happy to help us Canadians learn the European way of doing things including Siesta. wonderful (Canada should adopt that!!) It helped balance life and home. after Spain was London where our roles picked up a bit as we were fluent in the language...sortof. Learning to run a high street boutique was like nothing else we've done in the past. although Spain-Madrid in particular was a 'high street" but seemed so small city in regards to London!  The merchandising aspect of it all was easier then I thought as HO sends you a photo of exactly what they want . use to this as all store are expected to do the same.
off to Montreal, Canada to open the Zara store in the Place Montreal Trust mall.  All of what we learned from setting up fixtures, filling them, staffing store with all department staff, setting cash desk operations, cleaning so that everything was perfect was a 50 man power task with 14/15 hr days. Helped open a few more store locations across Canada. Toronto being the last stop and where I started as Cash manger. and through the years and decisions of going to part time and eventually being full time as assistant store manager.

The actual job itself is not bad if you like to always be on the move. If you work in operations you’re gonna be getting hurt and dirty quite a lot. I’ve had racks and crates fall on my head, I’ve injured myself on signage stands cause they weren’t put away properly, I have bruises all over my legs from the ladders. If you felt as if you were working towards something it might feel worth it, but unless you’re willing to give up your humanity you’ll never rise in that business. 
HR is useless and will never actually do anything except tell you to “talk to your managers” 
I have definitely whitnessed racial prejudice as well and intense patronizing. 
If you’re bad at your job you will get yelled at for every little thing you do until you quit, and if you’re good at your job all the responsibility will fall on you no matter what position you’re in. The better you do, the more responsibilities you’ll be given. 
Zara isn’t able to actually get rid of managers, so even when the ENTIRE store hates one manager (including other managers) there’s absolutely nothing that will be done except potentially the manager could get transferred. 
On the plus side it’s pretty hard to get fired unless you steal or just don’t show up for a week straight. We had people with 10 no shows who still got shifts and never got fired. 
So pretty much you’ll be working your head off for a company who would throw you over a cliff if it benefitted them. Never think anything a manager does for you is for you, it benefits them in some way or else they wouldn’t do it. They don’t even give out references so if you devote 5 years of your life to this company and work really well, it’ll be for NOTHING. 
Obviously this depends on the store, I clearly had a bad experience with psycho managers who act like incompetent children. But as a whole, I would say Zara is probably one of the most corrupt companies I’ve worked for. 
Oh, and enjoy your 25% off, it literally makes no difference except on sale days.

I work at Zara Yorkdale for the past 6 years. Over the years I have been a very loyal and valuable employee and have shown my appreciation to the company for the employment opportunity they have given to me by coming in on unscheduled days when asked, staying late and coming in early when ever I was needed. Unfortunately, I have been forced to quit because of management. Both SRA managers refused to approve my temporary availability I provided them for only two weeks due to school. I communicated to them that I was unavailable for during the week but could come in on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. They continuously gave me shifts that were in direct conflict with my availability during the week. I spoke to them, to fix it just for two weeks and was told it was unfair to the other employees. However, I verified the schedule for the last three weeks and saw we had a lot of employees who were off during the week and only worked weekends with maybe one day in the week who were not with the company as long as I have been.  Thus, I was given no other option but to resign and I feel as though they purposely forced me out because they kept giving me shifts, I was unable to work in order to give just cause with warnings for no show.  I would think a person who has been with Zara for over five years has seniority and would hold some significance in my employment with the company.  I did not want to be given any warnings with the company as you can see my tenure is impeccable and I am without any incidents.  I had a great time getting to know other staff members and customers. In the end my hope is that Zara management in Yorkdale gets training in how to treat their employees and to have more compassion and understanding especially during this time. 

Gaining experience in retail was efficiently gained as you had the help of fellow employees to walk you through different tasks, and having to do so and a fast-paced environment in all aspects of retail including; floor, stock, cash, and customer service.

In terms of employees, there's not much to argue about. Friendly people that you could rely on when in need of help. Although the workplace can easily become stressful that affects productivity and customer assistance due to poor efficiency of management and communication between managerial and other upper positions.

Management of the workplace needs dire improvement. Needs to understand the needs of a fellow employee and to continue to provide efficient behaviour while having a friendly and approachable attitude to both customers and employees; Zara still has much to improve on this as management can act almost aggressively towards their employees, even in front of customers which can be extremely embarrassing.
Management must understand the strengths and weaknesses of their team and assess the issues in a efficient, yet understanding manner. What management would seem to do is that they would just place you in a position and expect you to perform with as much ease as someone who has extreme expertise in that position. No support as to what you can do better, but rather criticism and yelling that may seem to be "motivating" to the management's understanding.

Understand that this was only my experience with where I worked, and the workplace environment can vary depending on the location. As I've heard that some places have it better than others.

I could not find HR’s email, but I hope someone from HR is able to review and take this into consideration.

	I have been working at Zara for three years and it is possibly the most toxic place ever. To begin, though I love working with my coworkers, the management at Zara Eaton Centre is very unprofessional. They will disrespect not only their workers but also customers as well. 
	Secondly, if you’re a student trying to find a part-time job, it’s better to look somewhere else because if you book days off for school, they will reduce your working hours from 4/5 times a week to once a week. They do not take into consideration the obligations that workers have outside of Zara and this is very frustrating. 
	Lastly, just last week, a colleague of mine asked for a resignation sheet from the manager, and he denied her request. When she finally finds a resignation sheet, he then rips it in half and throws it in the garbage. This is very disrespectful and inappropriate behaviour.
	Overall, Zara has the most disrespectful managers ever, and I believe HR should investigate and look more deeply in whom they are hiring or promoting to lead the team because it seems as if these managers have not been trained well in communication and professionalism. HR should also focus on developing programs to enhance the quality of their leadership styles. 
	All in all, a manager is one who is a mentor that one can learn different skills. Skills such as leadership, communication, patience and collaboration, NOT hostility, inconsideration, the tolerance of mediocrity and relishes the suck ups.

of course, just like in any retail stores, stress is inevitable. zara is notoriously known for providing consumers fast fashion, therefore, they try their best to meet customer satisfaction. each week, you're expected to receive high units of merchandise and it can honestly be so taxing. if you're a full timer, you're most likely going to get a schedule as early as 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. to help with "truck" on shipment days. most shifts are usually 8 hours long unless you're a part timer who has a limited availability. most people would say that it's a difficult place to work at if you're a full time student, honestly, if you discuss it with your managers, there's a chance that you'll get the schedule you desire. also, if you're a hard-worker, they'll obviously respect your availability request so as long as you're reasonable. it is a taxing job, as you always have to keep moving and also your zone changes per hour. on the other hand, it's the overall team that makes it worth it to come to work. everyone's friendly, it's like you're a whole family working together. but, i guess it really depends as to which location you're working for. if you're nice, cooperative and respectful to your colleagues.. then they're obviously going to treat you the same way! it's an overall good experience, it's just the customers that makes it unbearable sometimes. it's honestly what you make of it.

also, good pay for a part time job. hrly pay+ commission

A typical day at work included opening and closing cash registers, processing returns, exchanges, online orders, cash and credit discrepancies, and transfers. You would also process holds, damaged items, and alterations. You had to keep a continuous knowledge of the products and customer demands and maintain the fitting rooms. Most of all, you had to assist customers with any questions, concerns, and requests. You would have to maintain and replenish merchandise on the sales floor. 
I learned that you have to be patient with customers and manage your time wisely. You have to stay calm because it can be a hectic environment sometimes. You have to really pay attention to the merchandise because it changes weekly. 
The management was amazing in my opinion. They were understanding, efficient, smart, and made sure that you are being trained properly. 
The co-workers were fun, young, helpful, and passionate. 
The hardest part of the job is trying not to be overwhelmed in the beginning. Dealing with angry customers is also hard. You just have to grin and bear it and deal with the problem as best to your abilities. 
The most enjoyable part of the job was seeing all the beautiful clothes. It made me appreciate fashion and the hard work that goes behind it. Working at Zara helped me gain confidence in my abilities and helped me realize my potential.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Sales associate 8 salaries reported	$19.50 per hour
Associé aux ventes 9 salaries reported	$18.67 per hour
Vendeur en prêt-à-porter 8 salaries reported	$18.63 per hour
Department manager 4 salaries reported	$52,500 per year
Visual merchandiser 3 salaries reported	$21.67 per hour

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