Fun encouraging teamsgood training program, inspiring managersflexible shiftsStaff benefits positive culture and working atmosphereperformance management through huddle

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Unfair, boring, a total mess

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Miranda NSW - 17 January 2023

I worked at cotton on for about 5 years. Management is constantly turned over internally for some reason for minimal pay rises, How many shifts you get depends on whether you can gossip with the managers and not about work ethic. Treatment is poor and they will crack on you for not coming in 15 minutes early even though they dont pay you. Mind numbing work. TOO MANY KPI ON THE COUNTER. Customers will hate you for it tbh.

Pros

Discount, other staff

Cons

terrible shifting, changeover in management.

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The Cotton On Group insights

Based on 10 survey responses

What people like

Trust in colleagues
Feeling of personal appreciation
Inclusive work environment

Areas for improvement

Ability to meet personal goals
Energising work tasks
Support from manager

Hideous vibes, stressed and worn out staff

Sales Assistant (Casual) (Former Employee) - Perth WA - 22 December 2022

Harrased by customers, SA'd there, management never lasted, bullying, gossip, extreme pressure from head office for already worn out management for kpi's

Pros

Discount, Other casuals are great

Cons

No continuity in shifts, pays not amazing, overstimulating, s assault and bullying reports ignored, management cant last past 6 months, no career opportunities if you dont suck up

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Beneficial but toxic work environment

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Eastland Shopping Centre VIC - 21 September 2022

Generous 50% staff discount however little to no training and expect you to know how to do everything. Half of the time I’m at the front and embarrass myself because no one has trained me properly. Stressful environment, pushes staff to sell more to people and guilt when not enough made. I transferred to a store more closer to me and I was struggling to adjust so I would acquire some help to settle in, however they treat me like someone who isn’t capable instead of giving me the support when I need it. Depending where you work staff are passive aggressive, will act nice and will likely talk behind your back. Not to mention the lack of diversity of staff

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It’s a great place

Causal Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - Melbourne VIC - 30 August 2022

i love working here. I love the culture and the way that the store is set out. Overall, I would recommend working here

Pros

Discount

Cons

Nothing

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The best place to work at IF you have the right management.

Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - Perth WA - 24 June 2022

I’ve been at Cotton on for 3 years and it has been the best job I’ve had retail wise, I’ve made amazing friendships, learnt new things to take me to a senior role if I’m wanting aswell but I had horrible management. It was all favortism, a completely toxic workplace and I was treated horribly, continuously picked on by my 2IC and not treated well at all by my manager, all the favorites got good hours and if I was lucky I got a 5 hour shift a week OR even Fortnight after Christmas peak while everyone was still getting full hour days or multiple 5 hour shifts a week. My managers continuously made me feel as if my work wasn’t good enough, I never got recognition for the good I did, yet all the new people and favorites were treated like absolute gold. Continuously got spoken badly about to other coworkers by my manager and 2IC to the point where I decided to leave because they made me hate my job, made me feel as though I had to walk on eggshells, continuously got anxiety before my shift and would continuously get nit picked on about anything they possibly could find to nit pick me for. It’s a good work environment IF you have the right managers that don’t play favorites, know how to properly manage, treat everyone fairly, give everyone a chance to grow, actually care about the well-being and life of their staff and not just if they’re able to work. I’ve worked at amazing Cotton on stores before where I never ran into this problem of being treated horribly and feeling like an outsider but there are some cotton ons that are like this, the good thing is you can always just transfer -

Pros

Friendships, learning how to progress in your role, discount.

Cons

Toxic management, favortism, treated horribly.

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Good first retail job

Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - Sydney NSW - 23 June 2022

It was my first retail job and it was a great experience getting to know the industry however, depending on where your store is it can be pretty boring and slow. especially on weekdays. also shifts are pretty short ranging from 3-5hrs most of the time and managers will roster you on the closing shift alone without any support.

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Super fun workplace

Casual Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Chermside QLD - 14 June 2022

Absolutely loved working at typo, recommend it to anyone. Very supportive environment. The pay is actually really good and theres a lot of potentional for career growth

Pros

Friendly environment, good hours

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Good Retail Job

Casual Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Sydney City NSW - 7 June 2022

Pays well, work life balance, uniform deals, management was good, made lifelong friends, there is long hours and stressful when by yourself. learnt key customer service skills

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Great retail experience

Casual Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Werribee VIC - 4 June 2022

I’d recommend getting a job at cotton on if you’re looking to seek work within retail as it’s a great starting point. The training and store environment was great, however sometimes management won’t give much notice for rostering shifts.

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Jobs at The Cotton On Group

Sales Assistant positions

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Full Time Sales Team Member - Cotton On Orange Central Square

Orange NSW

4 days ago

Full Time Sales Team Member - Cotton On Stockland Glendale

Australia

18 days ago

Full Time Sales Team Member - Cotton On Tuggeranong Hyperdome

Tuggeranong ACT

15 days ago

Very stressful environment

Casual Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Marion SA - 12 May 2022

Too much pressure for a clothing store! Its only clothes but the pressure to sell and to have the highest average sale is ridiculous.You get assigned to a department and you're watched the whole time and picked on by girls who have barely left school.

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Good first job

Casual Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - Melbourne VIC - 18 April 2022

Working at an outlet store can be a lot, it's fast paced and very demanding. I find that there is little opportunities to get to know your team members as you don't get the chance to talk to them, especially when you are appointed to different areas of the store. It's just go work and go home. It's very, i'm solely here only for the cash, vibes (only for outlet stores i'm assuming). Supervisors and managers can be very too much and in your face to get things done. It was worth the 50% ig.

Pros

1 hour break, 50% full priced items, shopping after shift

Cons

multiple short hours, little opportunity to expand and the environment of an outlet store

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Great workplace

Casual Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Maitland NSW - 5 April 2022

The culture is amazing. The diversity of brands and products makes no day the same or repetitive. The managers do have high expectations of KPIs and upselling but they are lovely people and will listen to you whenever you need about work or personal stuff

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Typical retail experience

Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - Miranda NSW - 3 April 2022

Management was generally understanding and flexible with availabilities. KPIs were constantly pushed which was sometimes stressful but expected of a retailer.

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productive but kpis are pushed

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Perth WA - 28 March 2022

twas an okay place to work, nothing crazy lol. i had a good experience but would also never return. the management was alright but needed a lot of work.

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Nasty, highly competitive, not a fun environment

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Penrith NSW - 2 March 2022

You get treated as just a number to management, treated horribly by store manager and coworkers and higher management couldn’t have a care in the world and won’t do anything about it. KPIs are incredibly unrealistic and they don’t give you the tools to be able to reach them.

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Great starting job

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Sydney NSW - 16 January 2022

Great first job. Great discounts to employees with a great vibe during Christmas. Plenty of opportunities to work at alternative stores and make some decent money

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Fun retail workplace

Sales Assistant at Cotton On Body (Current Employee) - Melb VIC - 4 January 2022

Quite an enjoyable retail job, other staff are friendly and easy to talk to, no intense pressure to meet KPI goals but are still encouraged to do your best.

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Fun place to work

Casual Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - Sydney NSW - 29 November 2021

Not consistent with shifts but still a really fun place to work. Recommend for people who don’t have retail experience. Co workers are super nice and friendly and very supportive and understanding work culture.

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Good pay but unstable hours

Casual Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - New South Wales - 17 November 2021

I worked in an outlet store and it was a great first introduction to fashion retail!The KPIs are super unrealistic, and if you aren’t comfortable pushing sales, it probably won’t be fun for you at all.Everyone is casual besides the managers and this makes hours and pay really unreliable. Some weeks you could work five shifts, and the next week only one. It makes keeping up a social life hard because you often don’t have much disposable income and most days I wasn’t working I tried to keep clear in the possibility I might get called in. Like even if I had just worked six days in a row, I would still try to keep the following day free because what if the week after I only got one shift? The pay itself is really good though, and you get penalty rates as well.If you are hired as a Christmas casual, do not expect to be kept on afterwards. They only hire Christmas casuals because they need all team members in store to work Boxing Day, in addition to extra staff they’re able to call in during the Christmas week itself based on sales. You’re likely to get one shift a week until Christmas, but you’ll probably be confused each time you work because of how little time you spend in the store. But this is an ideal job over Christmas if you’re looking for a second job or are a teenager with little financial needs.I guess it’s true for most fashion retail, but the girls my store personally hired were all skinny, white Instagram-model types who always wore revealing clothes like yoga pants and crop tops to work everyday. It’s definitely not their or management’s fault, but I always -

Pros

Brilliant pay and penalty rates, fun work environment

Cons

Unreliable hours, overstaffed

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Really depends on your management

Casual Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - Perth WA - 29 June 2021

Work is not hard and once you have the hang of it it isn't difficult at all, very kpi focused and can be obsessive over people shop-lifting, you have to act like you care about those things to stay in the role. I had an excellent store manager who I felt was fair and gave shifts out accordingly, but the management changes all the time. New store manager picks favourites and allocates shifts based on that.