Pros
-plugged into the music retail industry, it's fun talking gear day in and day out -Satisfyingly challenging job in technical and customer-facing scenarios. Dealing with customers at in retail at a respected company is quite the upgrade from dealing with customers in hospitality -the employee gear discount challenges your self-control -lots of opportunity to learn and grow my career here -every employee in the department is as autonomous as their knowledge allows them, and if a situation reveals an unknown policy or procedure, it is quickly explained by senior employees and leadership -good ideas come from anywhere and leadership is far more receptive to hearing out these ideas than every other place I've worked.
Cons
-Stepping stone job; turnover in my department is high but most departures seem to be for career advancement, moving onto bigger/better things -The company's new ownership has me just a little concerned about the future of my very expensive Support department and potential layoffs, and the communication so far from the new ownership hasn't alleviated those concerns. -Very customer facing and dealing with customers can be exhausting -the daily praise you get from customers clashes harshly with the low pay. I feel FAR more valued by the customers I speak with than the company itself. -We are trained extensively on policies and procedures, but over all of it we are encouraged to do the "right thing" in any given customer situation. Appealing to morality serves a effective function of empowering the individual employee and streamlining decision-making, but it produces a good deal of cognitive dissonance in the long trial-by-fire process of figuring out what the policies ACTUALLY are. This would be an intolerable issue with this job if my leadership didn't swiftly answer every question I ever pose to them.