sales associate

customer experience leader

retail manager

store manager

préposé à l'entretien ménager

Victorias Secret

When you first get hired you are required to go through an on-boarding process that super long and boring. It initially starts with hours of training videos and required readings with quizzes (WHMIS, etc). Then you get trained on the cash register and since I was hired as a seasonal (which they are in desperate need for as soon as October and the winter shopping season hits).  I basically stayed working on cash for the rest of the 4 months, since I was quick and efficient, but also since they had their regular sales staff who were more qualified working the floor. This kind of sucked, and although I did get to work on selling a bit, I never really got the chance to prove myself to my managers.

Black Friday and Boxing were black out days (which meant every employee had to work, no exceptions) and they were an absolute nightmare. So many customers came into the store and it was crazy, but the managers and staff handled it really well. The head office sent us a box of cookies, and we had an employee potluck, which was fun.

A fun perk was all the gratis (free stuff) and large price discounts we got on certain items every month. In the 4 months I worked there, I got 4 free panties, 2 free rollerballs, and tons of PINK clothes for only $20. The reasoning behind this was to get employees to buy their new stuff and wear it and advertise it. Another cute thing was the themed days – so Wednesdays were PINK days (from Mean Girls' "on Wednesdays we wear pink") and Fridays were sports days
 – so you got to wear PINK  or Victoria's Sport clothes to work on the designated day instead of the usual mandatory all black.

A major downside to working at Victoria's Secret was the on-calls. They're basically an extension of your shift (usually for 2 hours after you're supposed to be done) and although they're shown on your schedule, you're only let known 30 min before the end of your shift if you're needed to stay the extra 2 hours (and in holiday season this was almost always the case). So you can't really have plans after your shifts if you have an on-call scheduled.

Overall, I had a good experience working there because I got to developed my professional and workplace skills, and I loved all my co-workers and managers.

A typical day at Victoria’s Secret is fast-paced, especially during peak hours. Tasks range from customer service and maintaining visual standards to replenishing stock. The floor staff generally work well together, and there’s a strong sense of teamwork among coworkers.

What I believe I learned
Working at Victoria’s Secret helped me build my customer service and multitasking skills. I also learned how to work efficiently in a high-pressure retail environment while staying organized and attentive to detail.

Management
Management was one of the most disappointing parts of the job. There was a noticeable lack of professionalism and accountability. The store manager often spent time on her phone on the sales floor, engaging in personal conversations rather than leading by example. The assistant manager frequently spoke negatively about team members behind their backs while pretending to be friendly to their faces. She also played favorites, and if you weren’t one of them, your hours could be drastically cut with little explanation other than “based on company needs.” Scheduling issues were common. Another supervisor had a very harsh and unprofessional communication style, yet complaints about her behavior were often ignored. Overall, the management culture lacked consistency, support, and fairness.

Workplace culture
The positive side of the culture came from the associates. Most of the girls were friendly, supportive, and great to work with. They helped create a more enjoyable atmosphere despite the issues with management.

The hardest part of the job
The most challenging part was dealing with poor leadership and lack of transparency. It was difficult to feel valued or heard, especially when concerns about management behavior were not addressed.

The most enjoyable part of the job
The coworkers were the highlight of the experience. Building friendships and working alongside a supportive team made the job more bearable, even on busy or difficult days.

Initially, I was very excited to start my new part-time job at Victoria's Secret, especially because it was a brand new store. I soon realized it wasn't all that people think it is.

A typical day at work consists of a typical day in retail. You must greet, help, and basically pester every customer in your view. (This gets bad on Saturdays when we are over-staffed and customers begin to get very annoyed). I have worked in customer service before, so this wasn't too new to me. What was new was the pressure by the management and company, and a $200 per hour average sales goal. Which if you do not reach three months in a row you are fired.

The management is only average, if not below average. Many people have quit solely on not liking our managers. They all know what they are doing, but almost all of them are condescending when it comes to something like our sales goals. Only one has made me feel genuinely good about myself and my progress. Besides the one; no encouragement, rarely any praise without a catch (wanting you to boost your sales), and more often than not they just become plain rude. 
It is hard for people to get rid of or trade shifts, even for important things such as family weddings and other significant events. There have also been instances of being scheduled completely outside of availability. 

Co-workers for me are not a problem at all. I love all the girls that I work with and it really is a fun but also productive atmosphere. We get things done and help each other. My coworkers, wage, and gratis are the only things keeping me at the store.

I will admit that I have learned a lot in the short time I have had this job, such as how to be a better sales associate, how to work on a team, and perspective on how management can be. All said, I'm glad I took the job and am still sticking at it, but I no longer recommend people try to apply here.

I worked at VS four maybe six months and found it very stressful. The sales goals are ridiculous especially when the store is always dead. I also covered shifts in the Pink side and their goals are even more ridiculous since no one shops in there. The breaks are nice, if you work 4 to 5.5 hours you get a 15 minute break, anything over 6 and you always get two 15s and a half hour. The difficult thing is having the MANY managers actually pay attention to peoples break time. I've missed many breaks even after asking because managers can't be bothered to pay attention. 
I did learn a lot about selling and can take everything I've learned with me to other retail stores. Also if you make your sales goals for the month you get back a percentage of that money back as an added bonus.
The associates are all lovely and will miss them dearly, they were the best part of my job. Customers were great too when I did get any. Always willing to listen and let me help. 
Management was not enjoyable, I understand we have to make goals but there was too much pressure and if you don't achieve goals they put everyone's results up in the back and highlight them to see who is failing.
All in all, it was a good experience to learn about customer service and selling techniques, the hours were great if you want to work they give them to you. The management and selling goals and having to harass customers say your name at least three times so they remember you was not my cup of tea.

I love everything the company stands for. I really enjoy the people who I have had the pleasure of working with for the last 4 years. I have seen a lot of changes in the time I have been with the company. The managers are all amazing people and I admire and look up to al of them. However, there is quite a lot of disconnect from what they preach to how they act. Certain members of the team get 'special' treatment and for those of us who have worked our butts off since our store has opened are fed up with the favoritism. Personally I really didn't see the harm in it, but then it started effecting myself and the stress and work life balance I can maintain. The newer changes and introduction of the incentive program has taken away sufficiently from the customer experience within the store. It has feeded to very greedy and unpersonable people working within the store. These associates bully other associates and do a lot of blaming when they can't get sales. Associates are not genuinely helping people they are just trying to get a number on a screen so they can make a decent amount of money for themselves. They don't care much if the store makes plan or if we as a team make our bra goals, then everyone in the store will get an incentive, they only care about themselves. And the managers don't do anything to change how they act.

A typical day at work consists of replenishing the store folding panties, doing go-backs, and connecting with multiple costumers. Working as part time sales support generalist you have to work hard so that management notices your initiate to the store that way they give you more hours. However I found that the management do have favourites. Full time associates are treated better than part time associates. Shifts as a part time support generalist often range from 3 hour shifts to 5 hour shifts and you would be given less than 20 hours a week. Sometimes you would even be given 3 hours a week which is extremely un-easy and left me feeling hopeless and not knowing if I would be able to pay for upcoming bills.Besides inconsistent hours what I enjoyed the most working here was helping costumers on their bra journey and working together as a team with my co-workers to make the selling environment a great place to work. Another downside I would say is that management does take advantage of associates, most of the time recognition of hard work is un-seen on a constant basis which management really needs to work on to make sure every associate feels well respected throughout the store. Overall the love and support from my co-workers made me stay around for as long as I did which was the only thing that made me enjoy working at Victoria's Secret.

I have worked with Victoria's Secret since October 2013. I opened with my team in November and I was so excited! Training was awesome, we trained at another store where we were able to experience first hand with experienced associates. In the beginning I thought things were great, we had a great team but when we opened our store things started to go down hill. Management was very unorganized, the STORE was unorganized, and associates and managers started quitting. The turnover rate of our store was ridiculous. We were without a store manager for several months after we opened, then we had a store manager join us for a few months, then SHE left, another few months went by without a store manager and things were chaotic. Overall, it may just be our store that is complete unorganized, not to company standards but yet whenever the district manager tells us what is wrong with our store the problems never seem to get fixed. We have category managers who are transferred from other stores that reassure us that this is not how our company is. There really is no room to grow, and the experience hasn't been the best and the only reason I'm staying is because I still need a job to pay the bills until I find another one.

going to work here in the beginning was fun and exciting. the work environment is very fast paced which i like and theres always something to do. my most enjoyable part of the job was my coworkers. however, i realized that this place was shattering my mental health. the management here is horrible. unless you are one of their favorites, they wont support you whatsoever. they expect you to always sell while the managers just go on their phones and chat to each other. there is a lot of gossiping among management about each other and the associates as well; they are super passive aggressive. also, if you go to the bathroom for too long, a manager will knock on the door to see if everything is okay to see if you can get back onto the floor faster to make them money. they have a double standard about many things. sometimes your fellow coworker wont get in trouble for something you would get in trouble for. they will only welcome you with open arms in the beginning just until they realize they do not like you and will start running you out of their store. i can only say i felt supported by two of the managers there. the workplace culture of this store is very fake. honestly, its like youre going back to highschool with the amount of gossip and drama. 

Although I loved working with my customers to find exactly what they needed, the management was very poor and we were frequently told to do better and work harder by the manager even though we would work our hardest and she was stealing our sales. It's a very competitive place to work as you fight for sales and your bonus. As a cashier, we would only bonus if the store did well. We got a bonus check once the whole time I worked there. I asked to switch to sales so I could get a chance to sell more and because I was good at it. The manager said yes and never switched me. I stayed as a cashier. I asked 3 more times and she said yes each time but never bothered to change my position. Your hours will always be inconsistent and the "on call" concept, although a good idea for the company if someone calls in sick, is a terrible impact on your life outside of work. As for the amount of hours, good luck getting some. There are 2 full time staff and majority of the staff who wanted full time ended up having to find a second job because no one would be given hours. The ratio of staff to hours able to be given is very poor. The only couple perks I found with my job was the scattered coworkers who didn't act fake and the free/very large discounted items every month. But they select the free item for you.

Victoria's Secret is a great place to work if you are up for a challenge. A typical day at VS requires you to have a certain amount of transactions per hour as well as target, it is very fast paced and requires you to know your products as well as connecting with your customers and making sure that they are satisfied. Working at VS has taught me to step outside of comfort zone and push myself beyond my limits seeing that prior to working there I was in a very relaxed environment where I had my clientele built and attracted others by using the techniques that I learned from my present clients. The team environment is great, meanwhile it is competitive , we all work together for one common goal. The most challenging part of the job is achieving and maintaining the transactions per hour expectations, meanwhile it is possible to achieve it is very challenging because many customers come in just wanting to check out the store or are just in to grab something that they've already gotten. The most enjoyable part of the job for me is when a customer is satisfied with me, knowing that I go above and beyond to make sure that she gets exactly what she is looking for while adding my own suggestions is something I thrive to achieve each shift.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Sales associate 3 salaries reported	$17.40 per hour
Customer experience leader 3 salaries reported	$22.17 per hour
Retail manager 6 salaries reported	$29.93 per hour
Store manager 4 salaries reported	$85,805 per year
Préposé à l'entretien ménager 1 salary reported	$18.25 per hour

Working at Victoria's Secret: company overview and reviews

Victoria's Secret

Victoria's Secret ratings

Popular jobs at Victoria's Secret

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected