If you know who Boscov’s is, you know it’s been around for a while. They pride themselves on being family-owned and one of the last department stores left in the nation. The interview process is easy because no one really knew what was involved in my position, and once you’re hired you realize there is no training or onboarding. You may be lucky enough to find a desk to sit at, or they’ll just joke around with you that you can sit on the floor or work at an executive’s conference table for the first 3 months. Maybe you’ll get a computer right away, but if not, you’ll borrow someone’s until they get something for you.
Those should be your warning signs to find something else. After being with the company for a few years you become used to sexism and comments on being too young to know what you’re doing. Executives disrespect your work, belittle you, and go above and beyond to put you down in front of others. The entire workplace is catty and since everyone has been raised in this environment, they’re all out for themselves and the only way to get anywhere is to put others down and walk all over them. Your ideas are first considered wonderful and then as you stay with the company, they tell you it’s not the way they do things. They invest millions of dollars in out-of-date advertising but paying an employee a competitive wage is laughed at.
There were multiple times I was told to watch myself because I was a younger female who was intelligent. Ideas or concepts wouldn’t be accepted among the real leaders of the company (all white men over the age of 65), which is just a fancy way of saying I wouldn’t be accepted because I was a young smart female who knew my profession.
Numerous times I saw men being promoted over women for no other reason other than their gender. It became clear when COVID-19 hit, and a brilliant female executive was let go for a male to take her place who had no experience in her department. Of course, that information was hidden in the best way possible, because that’s what they do.
Instead of hiring people to do a job, they continuously pile more work on top of top performers. When you say enough you are told to be grateful you have a job and work harder. Once you say you can’t possibly do anything more, they find any way to degrade you and make it miserable for you to continue working there.
To any female under 50 who has ambition, I wish you the best of luck working for a place like this.
