Pros
There literally hasn't been anything I've enjoyed.
Cons
When I applied to work for Dollar Tree, I had expected to only be what I applied for, however I found out that during a shift, only a single cashier and a manager are working in the entire store alone.I intended to only stay while finishing college but with this economy, it's been extremely difficult trying to find another job. The company is cheap, you will never be full time and higher management will be stuck working 50-80 hours a week. This particular store is extremely busy every day of the week and our store is smaller than the larger Dollar trees and right in the city, but it is one of the best stocked, we sell out of things within a few days. There is no sales floor at all, so you are required to do three jobs. During my typical day I am cashiering around 200+ people during my 4-5 hour shifts as well as being the to go person for the customers since there is nobody else in the building to talk to half the time. I am constantly running around the store trying to get as much done on my 'Appleseed' which is basically my to do list, which is nearly impossible to complete all your tasks within a few hours.My responsibilities include cleaning half the store, condense, assemble products, do damages, take balloon orders, answer calls, reshop, garbage, cashier and get products onto the floor and sometimes help with displays. Unfortunately, for returns/exchanges, voiding items and a few other things can only be done by the manager which is not allowed to be done by the cashier. Sometimes I'm trying to talk to three or more people at once such as being on the phone, talking to my current customer then having to answer someone's question from across the store or maybe even help someone who is physically disabled. The store is next door to a large apartment complex for elderly and physically and mentally disabled people so they do their primary shopping at our store so many have special needs or care that we must be aware of. These people are our primary customers and it can become a very stressful environment very quickly. You also get a lot of drunks and thieves. Sometimes I also do trucks in order to get more hours and usually you're stuck at work longer than anticipated because drivers are rarely ever on time and only two and if you're lucky, three people will be working a 1,200 piece truck. It gets very hot and cramped, and very difficult if you're short like me and can't lift some heavier things over your head without hurting yourself. After you finish unloading the truck, you are then timed by the hour on how fast you get products out onto the floor, which is also extremely difficult on truck days and that's when our store is extra busy. What I learned? I learned I should've never worked here, that's for sure. The turn over rate is extremely high, we only have around 9 people who work at our store and there's always a new face every week or two and I can't keep track. I've almost been there a year and I've so far been there the longest out of any cashier. I work hard but it burns you out quickly. I've really learned to just suck it up and have the patience of a saint to deal with the constant yelling and problems that come up. This job has made me bitter because you really see the worst in people, people are rude and treat you horribly and think you don't know what you're doing because you have a million things to be thinking about and doing and unfortunately our particular store, with the chaotic environment, customers will never get the customer service they want and it's unfortunate. Our store is a 'red flag' store which means there is high amount of theft, every day, and when you work by yourself, you can't do anything about it. When I first started working, I used to cry all the time because of mean customers, customers would take advantage of me because I was the 'nice girl' and being there for as long as I have, I think I've definitely toughened up and have become more numb to the things I and my coworkers deal with. These people are the reason why so many ex-employees have quit after a week. The only good thing about the store is some of the co-workers. I work with very interesting people who are usually going through a rough patch in their life and trying to get on their feet. They're pretty upbeat most of the time, but after a few weeks, everyone loses the will to want to come to work. A lot of my hours came from no call no shows, people just quit, or have break downs at work because of some quarrel between them and a customer. As much as I need more hours, I absolutely hate being treated like I'm on call half the time and then I get yelled at for not answering my phone, because when I do, I just feel guilty and feel like my availability is taken advantage of sometimes when I do and then I get told I need to come into work at that very moment and I have to drop everything I'm doing to take someone else's shift. I feel really bad for some of the people who quit, who felt pushed to do so because this place was making them miserable and they needed to get out. I get along with my coworkers and all of them have expressed that they would love to work somewhere else if they could and two out of the three managers are currently trying to find something else as well before quitting. For a while however, there were issues with people on the freight team stealing and one coworker in the past always came to work stoned. Dollar Tree needs people to take drug tests, because yeah sure, pot isn't gong to harm you, but it's keeping coworkers from getting things done quickly. The hardest part of my job is trying to not to have a break down and start crying or freak out at certain kinds of customers. You're constantly having to be on your toes and not slack off, so as soon as you clear your line of customers, you can't waste a single second to get your other responsibilities accomplished because the store will fall apart if you aren't working hard in this busy environment.