retail sales associate

marchandiseur

reset merchandiser

retail merchandiser

chargé de recherches

CROSSMARK

Brand Ambassador was my first job. Met my manager at a Campus placement. Interview was just a Skype meeting, some paperwork and I was in. It was great for a student who studied during the week and needed a weekend job (sometimes including Friday nights), but only good for people with patience.

Here was the usual process:
Two days a week (usually weekends) I would be scheduled for events.
Received Demo/Event briefings in the weeks prior.
Headed to a event location (usually a grocery store).
Text manager upon arrival.
Purchased product. Saved receipt for reimbursement.
Set up tables and equipment that was either pre-provided and stored at store or brought from home.
Prepared food in a recipe or provided samples of product from packages.
Finished shift, closed up the booth and got all necessary paperwork signed.
Filed report with photos, event reports and receipts.

Pros:
Shifts were just under 6 hours each day.
Pay was minimum wage. It worked for a student job.

Cons:
Very routine and lonely. I only met two managers and a few colleagues. Usually I was the only Crossmark employee in store unless one or two events overlapped.
I got little instruction beyond the first event. I discovered there were several online services, payroll, benefits, and job boards that were never brought up, unless I specifically asked for an explanation.
Advancement was only discussed if I wanted to become a regional manager. Not ideal for a student.
Changes in some policies were not sent out in emails.
The event equipment and tables varied in quality by store.

Summary: Its a self-managed, solo job that is great if you want to improve your cooking skills, people skills or marketing skills. However, its lonely and I would recommend a job with an actual team environment.

I work with the company for 4 year over that time I had 8 different managers and the majority of them were all hired out of the company and did not receive much training. Which affected the staff below.  Due to the managers poor planning we would receive "emergency" stores to complete that day since the deadline for them was two days ago.  
When I was hired I received a 5 min training session on a project that took over 8 hours to complete with no support from the team lead or the main manager.  When I had questions about the project I had to guess at the correct answer and hope that it was correct.  When I wanted to branch off into other areas of the job I had to claw my way trying to get extra work... Too many staff and not enough regular work.  When special project came up there was always a good chunk to go around but that happens irregular.

If your a hard worker, expect to be asked to help train people, even though there are team leads (the people that are suppose to be the trainers)  you will not get a increase in wage to do this or any other perk.

If you have a concern that you take to HR they will do nothing but twist things back on you.  If you do not get let go after dealing with hr expect your work world to be a nightmare until you do quit.

My advice for people thinking of working for this company, be a strong individual that can work with extremely limited support, be quick on your feet when problems come up and when you do have to call your supervisor be persistent because they are always over worked, usually taking care of there district plus another.  because the company can not keep management and over work the ones they do have.

Flexibility in when you can complete your work, as long as all projects are uploaded by the deadline. Perfect as a part-time position or for a semi-retired person looking for a little extra cash. Paid for drive time and mileage, which is a very important aspect.

Organization from the top all the way to the bottom is very poor. Instructions change constantly. Projects are often loaded incorrectly and data needs to be re-collected. Written instructions from clients are almost always extremely confusing and unclear. Employees often need to call to clarify instructions and procedures because clients do a poor job at expressing their needs. Communication is seemingly non-existent at times between Crossmark and the stores we are expected to collect data in. Employees, managers and organizations in general often have zero knowledge of Crossmark's involvement in the projects we are completing. Co-operation is routinely not received because the overall footprint of Crossmark as a marketing entity is tiny.

Raises are not given and bonus structure is unfair and almost impossible to receive.

While employed by this company, I found my supervisor did not respond to a few of my requests for information to complete my project.  The pay is low, no benefits unless full time.  The data collection job hours fluctuates, where one week you could get over $200.00 as long as you travel out of town.  The following week you could end up with $60.00 for the paycheque.  I found the pay doesn't help with car maintenance ( which you must do ).  If you end up in the ditch during winter driving..be prepared with towing coverage.  The company is only concerned over who is going to do the meaningless task, which may take 20 minutes to an hour.  The job is created for the bored person with a new reliable, cheap to run vehicle.  Also a coworker told me the company never gives raises.  After one year, I did not receive a raise.

Like anywhere else, the coworkers come off as being nice but they do a lot of slamming behind the back.  The only good thing about the job:  flexible hours you choose when you work (within a given time limit) and you are paid weekly.

I was given 8 hours "training" by the laziest "trainer" that I had ever met!
This training did NOT even cover everything that I was expected to do in my job!

There isn't even a manual on the position, or the equipment that I am supposed to use!

My position is as a "Field Agent", and I am expected to know EVERYTHING about the job and my equipment with NO training!

I have had THREE supervisors in less than one year, and my current supervisor is based in MONTREAL, and I am in ALBERTA!

We finally have a Team Lead (she is based in my area) after almost a year after the last one was fired.

The only good things about this position are:
that I work my own hours (as long as the work is done by the deadline.)
and I am paid $14.50 / hour .

Other than this, I am looking forward to quitting this terrible company, as soon as I find another part time job! (NOT IN RETAIL!)

I have been with Crossmark for years. I love that I can work on my own schedule, but I have seen different management come and go. Each one had their own demands that sometimes just conflicts with the idea of what a 'flexible' schedule is. Nevertheless, it was great at first with pay, workload, and the schedule. Then the client started wanting us to spend less time working. Quality went down naturally, finished rates of work shot down sharply, for me at least, and as the minimum wage here rose and the prices of everything here inflated....I'm still getting paid the same? Not worth it. Right now it has basically become a side job for extra pocket cash, and I mean it....Pocket cash. So if you are looking for some extra cash, and flexible schedule, sure, this is the job for you. If you need a stable income and good hours, then no. At least for this position anyways.

The job was simple, and you can only do as good as they allow you to do, but the manager uses everything in her power to keep you in the dark and will use other employees against you as manipulation and sexist favouritism. Even if you do everything perfectly, they will still let you go when the contract ends, so that nobody can move up and their jobs remain secure. And the hours are not claimed, you must do that yourself, really doesn't help anyone that make such a small amount. the travel pay was the most attractive feature in this area. Try applying for another contract afterwards? you'll never hear from them again. Companies like this are geared towards American metropolis regions, catering to big box stores partnered with nestle corporation. basically the worst of the worst. it's a part-time side money event, get it done and move on.

Typical senseless meetings boggles up efficiency of actually working on client projects. Meetings to discuss meetings, too much repeated emails and communication, archaic file sharing systems, managers including managers including managers. Emails upon emails upon cc emails upon conversations that go on and on and on.  The kind of company that needs to refine their workplace culture in effectively using communication skills better.  I always used to ask myself when in a meeting 'what purpose does this serve and is this useful use of my time?' Times that by 50 people and the preparation and all, it was a waste of my time reviewing and reviewing senseless information.  For a just get it done person, this will drive you crazy.  Less than industry standards in salary too and benefits are not great.

Crossmark was not a bad company to work for, but there were some significant issues. They overwhelmed employees with a large volume of work that had to be completed in a short amount of time, and there was a lack of hands-on training to learn how to complete tasks professionally and efficiently. This often led to employees falling behind on their assignments and, as a result, they were unable to complete their locations on time. Consequently, they were considered not to be fulfilling their responsibilities, which could lead to termination for not showing up for work.

As a part time retail representative, my expereince has been overall pretty positive. I have learned the discipline of a sales rep, scheduling my day accordingly.

When I need assistance or insight, I can rely on my Supervisor and the Crossmark management to be there for me.

The freedom an outside rep brings, is probably one of the most enjoyable parts of the job. Especially in the summer months, where you are not stuck within the confines of an office cubicle.

Sadly, this freedom can come at a cost, as the hardest part of the job is the inconsistency of work. Assignments can be plentiful or few. It is the nature of the business.

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