I like this job but I would rather start a career that I have studied.
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 w
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 thing
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 th
Prosworking with incredible people
Consnot enough hours
5.0
Assistant Store Manager | London, ON | Sept 10, 2015
Fast paced yet still very fun work environment
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 pay
Prosgreat reward systems, great team, opportunity for advancement
Conslong hours, unpaid overtime, lack of available payroll
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 b
ConsBad management, workplace culture, flexibility, long hours
2.0
Retail Sales Associate | Coquitlam, BC | May 19, 2022
Uninspiring, exploitative, demoralizing. A dead end job with no value for employees.
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.
Massive Amount of turnover, Various poor descision making and poor Quality of life
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.
ProsGreat staff, Manager;s with a passion to learn
ConsVery little development or advancement opportunities, Unpredictable schedule, Poor Management at higher levels, Salary Cap`s, Massive turnover
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!
To be honest the first few months were pretty decent, getting lots of hours etc. but to be honest when they changed the break policy it was the start of a downwards spiral. Used to get 4 shifts a week between 5-6.5 hour shifts, Now I get 1 shift every two weeks pretty much. Management says they don't have a lot of hours to distribute but kept hiring people which therefore taking more hours away from other people. One of the LODs would berate me when it was just them and myself alone and I would end up going into panic attacks at work because of them. Many of the coworkers have complained about this individual but no actions have been taken for things to improve. An LOD/Manager should be someone the employees look up to and respect and honestly this person is very hard to respect with how they treat others. With the new break policy they no longer give any breaks to those who have less than a 5 hour shift which is okay I had no problem with it, until they only scheduled employees 4 and a half hour shifts only because thats the max we can work without a break now and the managers/LODs would get the long 8 hour shifts and sometimes some of the employees but not very often.
American Eagle was my first job ever, I was very excited to get hired because this was my favorite clothing store to shop at. It was the only place where jeans would fit my unique body type, and I felt comfortable wearing their items. At first, the job was very fun, I got to meet some amazing coworkers, but I started to notice the management at American Eagle was terrible, just disgusting towards their staff and their customers. I ended up working at store 413 for almost 2 and a half years. I was treated so badly, but I still had hope that management would become better.
One of the main reasons I wanted to work at American Eagle was because of how much they branded themselves on inclusivity; whether that was height, weight, skin color, etc. American Eagle prided themselves on the fact they were able to provide a safe clothing store for their customers. As I got older and became more aware, I noticed Cathy would make disturbing comments about customers. She would shame her customers on their body size and what size clothes they wear, she would shame them on their ethnicity, color of skin, etc. When I would hear my managers speak that way about their customers and their employees, it is sickening and that is not something I stand for. The worst part is she would say these comments in secret to her younger employees and expect them to agree with her, that shows how much she is willing to abuse her power.
During my time there, I was the longest lasting employee, besides Cathy.
What is the best part of working at the company?
The coworkers are often so kind and so fun to work with, especially at my location. The discount is a big plus!
What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The location, the hours, and the expectations. At my specific location (which I will admit can happen anywhere), I didn't feel safe. With the lack of security at the mall and the constant shop lifting in the store, I felt nervous and unsafe. Something that always made me "cringe", I guess, is like the constant stream of creepy men that would cat call you, make you feel uncomfortable, and like ask you out or for your number, etc. is ridiculous, as a minor I never could wear crop tops, shorts, and I never wanted to wear dresses and/or skirts because I felt unsafe. My criticism for the company is that we should have had something in place to deal with this, especially when we had "dream zone" where you would stand out front of the store, in the open for hours at a time where many men of all ages (generally older though, like grown men old enough to be my grandfather) would come up to you and make you feel unsafe. At one point I had random women coming up to me to ask me if I was okay. I think this can unfortunately happen anywhere, but there should be something that management could have done to protect their female and minor associates. Another criticism is we never got enough inventory for jeans, the main thing that AE sells. Customers would be so upset th
Responsibilities:
• Responsible for defining the scope and implementing business rules of the project, gathering business requirements and documentation.
• Responsible for writing Functional Requirement Specifications (FRS) and User Requirement Specification (URS).
• Analyzed Business Requirements and segregated them into high level and low level Uselo Cases, Activity Diagrams / State Chart Diagrams using Rational Rose according to UML methodogy thus defining the Data Process Models.
• Create and maintain Use Cases, visual models, including activity diagrams, logical Business process models, and sequence diagrams using UML.
• Implemented new integrated Savings, CD, IRA system; new Leasing system; first Consumer Loan Securitization; numerous acquisitions; new Credit Scoring system; new Commercial Loan Accounting system; new Collections system.
• Analysis of new Business Requirements and preparation of the Functional Design Specifications Extensively used MS SharePoint a content management platform, for managing content across the organization within a shared repository.
Gathered and validated requirements, resulting in detailed business rules, functional requirements and process design.
• Created and scheduled Sessions based on demand, run on time and run only once using Informatica Server Manager.
Conducted interviews with key business users to collect requirement and business process information.
• Captured system requirements by writing Use Cases.
• Responsible f
Okay company but Iffy unethical management and promotion is via favoritism only. Higher management (HQ) has no idea what goes around.
Awesome interview manger BUT after that it goes downhill if you aren't the favorite of the management. First day I had to figure out by myself how things worked around the store as I was not given a welcome, training or first day basic training. I had to ask a employee for help all my shift. Human Resources Manager are unpleasant and very rude, there's hardly any consideration for employees, you only have 2 minutes to clock in or else it will be reported (have in mind that even if you're at work 30 minutes early at clock in there's only one computer or iPad to do so and a lot of employees clocking in by making a line, so if by the time you clock in, 2 minutes have already passed then you're kinda screwed. They do not tell you anything or give advice on the matter but after the 3rd time they call you in to give you a sanction. They advise you to find someone to chance shifts with if you can't make it to work that day but they don't tell you that doing that will still count as "being late" and "not absence"which immediacy adds up to another sanction or penalty, and by the third one, you are out. Trainings that are suppose to last hours are cut short, training for favorites are never cut short. There is a lot of miscommunication and mild disrespect between some of the managers and workers on the sales floor and "talking behind peoples back", there's a lot of favoritisms pithing the managers, management and workers, a lot of unfair treatment and exclusion. There are a lot of grea
When working as a seasonal, no matter what your experience level, you get paid the minimum amount like everyone else. When they train you, it is done on the floor, and explained to you while you are physically performing the tasks assigned to you by the Lead On Duty (LOD). They give you a tiny sheet to record how much you have sold throughout your shift. Depending on the manager and on how many hours you are given for that shift, they may want you to sell a large number of clothes. While I appreciate that they like having steady communication amongst everyone, the one thing they stressed over and over again is that if you wanted to get more hours, you had to convince almost every customer to sign up for a rewards card, and a credit card.
Even if you have no customers in your assigned room, management watches you. If at the end of your shift, you do not reach their goals, you can kiss any chance of getting decent hours goodbye. They stressed to us that what gets us hours for the following week is how many people we get to sign up for the card. You could've sold clothes to everybody, but if you didn't get one credit card (and it happens) then it is looked down upon. At least the rules are equal amongst everybody, and there is no favoritism displayed. One enjoyable perk is that you don't have to wear a uniform, or specifically their clothes, but it just has to look like they came from them. Wearing the jeans helps you understand the clothing better so you can use a better sale
I worked here for a summer and overall did enjoy the time that I had. I've got some opinions and lots of time in quarantine so here goes.
How I felt at the end of the day varied so so much based on which manager was there and who else was working. About 2/3 of the other employees were cold or really didnt make an effort to include me in anything when I first got there, but one of the old managers and a few good people did and that made it worth it. By the end, I felt like almost everyone had opened up and we had some good times. There was one manager who everyone else seemed to like but I always got bad vibes from, they'd always ask how you were doing but clearly weren't listening and then would leave, come back in a few minutes and ask again and would keep that going as long as there was nothing else for them to do. That and some scheduling issues made it feel like they didnt care, so I always liked when the other manager was working. I never heard of any drama (but I also think there was a group chat I wasn't a part of so I also kinda dont care, id rather not be in any drama).
Scheduling was so frustrating and getting hours was almost impossible. I started off with only 1 or 2 shifts a week, and they only gave us the schedule one week in advance. (the schedule for Sunday-saturday of week two would be given on the Wednesday of week 1. so some days, the schedule might be delayed, so you'd have 2 days notice for a shift) This made it impossible to plan anything else in my
ProsSize inclusivity, overall good people, amazing discounts
Conshard at first socially but got better, frustrating scheduling
Just a forewarning, they will take advantage of you.
I had the pleasure of working at American Eagle for a little over a year. Just to give you an idea, it was my first job, but I was started at $7.25/hr, and that’s fine! But after a year, I was only paid $7.40/hr. It may vary based on minimum wage in your state, but obviously, this is a little depressing.
I started in the summer of 2017, and was working about 30+ hours a week as a sales associate, but since I was a minor, those were 4 hour shifts. I sometimes got lucky and was asked to work longer, but I was mostly working 6-7 days a week (a summer lost).
This would be a great job for someone looking for some sort of retail experience, but when I say there are other places that would love to have you.... there are other places that would love to have you.
I was always comfortable at American Eagle, but it was very hit or miss. If you weren’t “in” with the people you were working with, it was not an enjoyable place to be working.
I cannot stress this enough: my LODs have made me cry on several occasions and I have wanted to quit the job on the spot many times. I finally found another place to work, and tried managing both jobs in order to keep up with American Eagle, but I finally put my two weeks notice in, and was questioned for it. A fellow employee was asked by the LOD, “Did she say anything bad about the store?!” Right after I wrote on a little note I was quitting.
This is by far the most unprofessional work enviro
Prosbrought in donuts sometimes?? weren’t even that good.
Consinadequate coworkers, taken advantage of, little to no advancement, terrible management
This is long I know I’m sorry but it’s a warning to not work here!!! This is for the outlets of Little Rock location!!!
My coworkers were amazing, they were nice and fun to work with. The general manager however was a nightmare. Floor set nights are 6-8 hours, I did my first floor set with there about 2 weeks after I started, I wasn’t given a break at all during that 7 hour shift which was from 8PM-2AM. After these long shifts when clocking out you’re prompted with a question that asks if you were given a break during your shift and if I wasn’t given a break I pressed no which happened often especially in my first two months there. so anyways I asked my coworkers what happens when we’re not given a break and we do press no when prompted, and they said nothing really happens. I thought maybe we would be given extra time during another shift or something but no. nothing like that ever happened.
I’ve only been there for 5 months and in my time there, I’ve seen 3 lesser managers quit and 3 other employees that had been there for years quit as well. and those are the only ones that I knew of because I’m sure there were more.
As a part of the overnight merchandising team we proscessed shipment overnight. Our usual shift was from 9pm-12am which of course means no breaks since it’s a 3 hour shift. One of our shipment shifts our shipment manager was unable to be there so another manager stepped in and took her place for the evening. For this shipment the general manager ins
A typical day at work during the weekends are pretty slow, sometimes you get a rush and other times you get no customers or sometimes customers who just browse and then others who simply want to do an exchange. During the weekends, sometimes it is busy on Saturdays, and other times not, unless it is peak season, holidays or special events happening in the store. It is a relaxed setting for the most part unless you are working in a high volume store. I learned a little about management but not as much as I wanted to due to the short amount of time I was there and I learned a lot about jeans which was really cool. Management was horrible for the simple fact the store manager's delivery was unacceptable and the way she would talk to her employees was very rude. She always had an excuse as to why she was upset and her personal issues would interfere with her job which is very unprofessional to me and annoying to be quite frank. She did not do well under stress AT ALL. The other merchandise manager was cool to an extent but she had her days with mood swings and whatnot and would have an attitude and be rude sometimes for no reason or because she was upset and would take it out on you. I do not feel like the store manager believed in her team nor was she a genuine and kind person. That is why the majority of her staff did not like her and would talk about her behind her back. Overall, you are what you put out, so that is what she got in return. The workplace culture was great, I lo
The company pays its assistants and management team better than most retailers around, however it’s extremely difficult to move up past assistant manager unless you’re in a market with a lot of stores nearby, in which case it’s still difficult to do anything past store manager. Associates are paid extremely unfairly and treated disposable, yet they wonder why they have such a high turnover rate.
The upper corporate management is sneaky and not at all straight forward. They all seem part of this weird team—they all came from different company’s right around the same time and then started “cleaning house” and replacing all of the other experienced management with their friends.
At one point, recently, in early 2020, they terminated the employment of one Full Time ASM at every single store to be replaced by two part time managers just cause they wanted to shake things up. No warning to the full time staff, no severance package, and no loyalty. Some of the people fired had worked there for 2+ years.
I worked there for six years loyally, was sent to multiple store locations to train other managers and assist in helping other stores learn best practices. I was a top performer consistently and put work above my social life. I missed many family and friend functions, turned down other job offers, turned down extra curricular activities all through college that would have bettered my education, all so that I could be more available. I made influencer videos and worked with higher ma
ProsHigher than standard starting pay (mgmt only), excellent discount on clothes, easy to request time off and move shifts around, good amount of PTO provided, holiday pay, in-store team can be close knit family if you let it
ConsAssociates underpaid and over worked, upper management isn’t loyal to its experienced employees, hard to move up past store level, raises are few and far between, customers are entitled
Questions and answers about American Eagle Outfitters
What questions did they ask during your interview at American Eagle Outfitters?
Asked Jun 8, 2017
They asked me to talk about my past shopping experience
Answered Dec 13, 2022
what is your favourite jean fit
how would you describe your personal style
Answered Nov 27, 2022
What tips or advice would you give to someone interviewing at American Eagle Outfitters?
Asked Feb 17, 2019
be yourself
Answered Jan 14, 2023
Wear the product!
Answered Nov 30, 2022
How long does it take to get hired from start to finish at American Eagle Outfitters? What are the steps along the way?
Asked Mar 29, 2017
Took 4 weeks start to finish, I applied, 3 days later got a call from someone of management set up an interview for just over a week away went really well and was told to expect a call the next day from DSM. Didn't get the call for 4 days set up my interview for that Sunday had the interview and couldn't tell how it went 4 days pass got a call from management from store said I'm being offered the job never got a call regarding my offer but recieved an email with a login and it explained everything needed to know
Answered Oct 8, 2021
Try matching your resume to thier reqirements for the role at the company
Answered Sept 6, 2018
How often do raises occur at American Eagle Outfitters?
Asked Mar 22, 2021
Rarely if ever
Answered Jan 16, 2023
Never received a wage increase in the 2yrs
Answered Jan 10, 2023
What benefits does American Eagle Outfitters offer?
