I was a tailor/fiter. All you hear is Productivity,Productivity, Productivity. Points, points,points! Faster, faster. 10 min on a suit , pant fitting, 15 min for a dress. Nobody cares that customer wasn't ready - (standing in front of the mirror by the time you came) or decided to try another dress for you to see! Forget it ! And if she decided that she needs shoes ( and you definitely need them if it long gown) , sales person have to go downstairs to get the right shoe size and heel size. But for some reason it always wrong heel size even if you give them the ruler to take with them ... It looks like they are all from the same school... AND...if the customer will realize that she needs a bra... OMG!!!!!! People from lingerie department start bringing all these bras, girdles and cups... Another 20-30 min are taken.. Than you start your fitting. You take care of the customer while manager writes a note how unprofessional you are spending too much time and losing productivity not only for yourself, but for the whole shop!! If you tapered suit, hammed pants, took it in, shortened sleeves, shorten collar - it's too much - you are considered unprofessional !!!! You had to give customer suit that fits him perfectly. But what are sales people for? Aren't they trained to chose the size for a customer? How many times they fought with me that "That's the size" . If it's the only suite in stock, don't promise to the customer that we can resize it. We can't. Not because we are not able t
Prosdecent pay/ benefits (401 plan), clean, bright, no prophanity
It's all about meeting your sales goals. You do your a star - you don't your out the door
Pluses: If you are making your metrics with Nordstrom they will help you go anywhere. They are very interested in advancing people and promotions are strictly from within, They have a great Mananagement Training Program and they fully support relocation to any other store in the country if traveling interests you. If you're a good sales person they will move you up to management fairly quickly too.
Management is never brought in from outside - even the Human Resource Director and her assistant started out as a sales person on the floor. This is a plus and a minus. Yes, they understand how stressful commission-based sales can be but they have no idea how to actually fulfill the more serious tasks Human Resources should handle. This is going a little too far with the "promote from within" philosophy. HR is pretty useless overall.
Another positive however: The company offers employees working 4 days a week full benefits and they are good. Great health insurance plan with $1400 per family given to you tax free in a FSA for medical expenses, stock options, 401K matching funds, employee discount and employee holiday shop day with serious discount and vacation time, This is a rarity in retail. They are also pretty good to great with accommodating any schedule requests.
My favorite part of the job is that the mantra for all Nordstrom employees from day one is "use your best judgement". You never have to call in a manager to make any decisions on taking a return with or without rec
You might think that if one must work in retail, that high-end (meaning over-priced and over-marketed) retail would treat their employees a little bit better and start your pay at a little bit more decent a wage than traditional or typical retail outlets.
Partially true. Nordstrom started out being non-traditional but quickly became such a political and depressing environment that I was actually relieved when their massive after-Christmas cuts came.
Let me explain: Here I am, a former English teacher with a degree in English and years of retail experience under my belt (I mean, who hasn’t worked in retail at some point in their lives), suffering from teacher burnout. I had quit teaching and needed some form of income. Yes, I knew retail would not even approach what I’d made as a teacher unless I was in management, and even then, it would still not really approach 30 grand a year.
At any rate, I applied for positions with Nordstrom and stated the truth, no more, no less; and was subsequently hired.
Their “orientation” was a huge build-up to a new store opening. We were constantly told to be enthusiastic and see everyone else, co-workers, as a sort of extended family.
Once I was hired and began working, however, the illusion quickly faded. The department supervisor was never in our department, yet she criticized us whenever she appeared from out of her dimly-lit office. She never listened, just criticized, smiling as she spoke – like all the other managers.
It also became
Consroutinely break fedral labor laws, low pay, work most holidays and weekends, no respect
I worked at nordstrom three months before leaving, the atmosphere was very negative overall. When first hired on, the manager who interviewed me made it sound like a decent job, flexible hours, good team, and stable work. interestingly enough, it seems as if the entire store was either brand new or relatively new associates with the vast majority either quitting or transferring midway through July. training was decent, but it was downhill after that. the first month was quite doable and a good environment and i felt like i would stay at the company long term. when the big sale hit, they hired on a bunch more people from a staffing agency and paid them $5 more per hour that they hired me at, because they couldn't find enough people to hire on site, which irritated me quite a bit. the workload went from 10 to 100 pretty much overnight. way more orders than the team would be able to fill in a given day, which led to constant pressure and stress. The sales team here, while mostly friendly, gave off an air of superiority towards all support/ fulfillment team members, like they were more important. I can't count how many times our tiny team of 2 or 3 people had to find over 200 items in a few hours while dozens of salespeople were watching youtube videos, gossiping with eachother about dates, or staring at us from empty cash wraps while the store was completely empty. most of the time they are receptive if you ask for help, other times they will insist on finding it themselves or
Nordstrom is diverse, patient, ever changing, and tactical in better serving the customer's needs for the greater good.
Typical day at work was doing everything in my power to prepare the store to be open to the public. Huge variety of repairs, disarming parts of the building, cleaning floors (dust mop and floor machine), prepping sanitation/mask stations, changing bulbs/ballasts, daily PM's before store open, and unlocking doors,
Learned that people seem to stage situations there asking questions and being judgmental about others to you in a confrontational way while that person waited around the corner to hear what you say about them almost baiting to get you to be rude or ugly about them and then have to face that person. Seemed very deceptive and tactical. Seemed almost too fake and the odds too crazy for people to be that confrontational, and then the odds of the other person to just "be right there" right afterwards. So that part of the culture wasn't something I was a fan of either way, true or not. Some very rude and ugly about others, but in a tactical way. Found it better to say nothing and just do my job other than get pulled into their drama.
Hardest part to do was complete the work and your job before open and have time to take your breaks, especially when the schedules were changed to complete all of those things to only 1 hour before open, instead of 4-5 hours before open as it was for over a year and a half.
Pressure to do more with less time before store hours was very difficult but they appreciate flexibility and the effort I think. Guessing employee cuts due t
ProsFriendly and helpful co-workers, very patient, and understanding associates familiar with how it is.
ConsLittle work life balance, lack of consistency to a schedule, people too worried about what others are doing, when others are scheduled, than worry about the work they do themselves, too many Mall vs. Nordstrom politics.
4.0
Merchandising Associate | Vacaville, CA | Oct 22, 2019
A great company where you can truly be yourself and consistently recognized for your team and individual accomplishments
I have been with the Vacaville Rack since it opened 2 years ago (October 2017). It was a great learning experience to help get the store set up and ready to open to the public. During my 2 years with the company I have been responsible for markdowns (merchandise price changes) on a monthly basis for each department (some of the larger departments occur twice per month). I have also assisted with stock support (getting freight ready for the sales floor), sizing merchandise (making sure merchandise is in the correct location and presentable to customers), assisting customers in the fitting rooms, filling merchandise on the sales floor, and assisting with physical inventory (at the Vacaville Rack, as well as the Rack in Sacramento and Concord). As a merchandise support associate, I typically work 5 days per week with a typical shift 6AM-10AM (before the store opens to the public). During store markdowns the shifts can be as early as 4AM for larger departments. The hardest part of the job is the same as most retail with employees leaving the company (or transferring to another store) and new employees coming into the store throughout the year. The merchandise support team generally consists of 10 part-time associates, though we have gone through a period of months with only 5 team members (currently we have a team of 9 associates). The most enjoyable part of the job is that there is flexibility in our schedules, in regards to work/life balance. I have always been granted
The worst part of working at NPG is the hypocrisy and lack of action. The pace of change and innovation is near zero. This is a company and department that supposedly champions "continuous improvement" and a set of ideals and beliefs that all should live by. The reality is that true improvement rarely happens, but consultants and leadership are constantly parading around the offices celebrating "quick wins" while real problems continue to fester and teams fall apart. The core beliefs are rarely put into practice and frequently ignored or violated.
Managers and leadership are unaware, in denial, or just ignore the many problems and concerns of employees. There is zero support for career growth and no clear direction on how to get promoted. People seeking growth and promotions are told to "explore other areas" to "expand your skill set" by taking lateral moves or even positions that pay less. The compensation and career growth is not competitive with the industry at large. Nothing is done to retain talented, high performing employees. If you're ambitious, career oriented, and want to grow your skills, the only option is to leave the company, which happens frequently.
The scope of individual work experience is frequently very narrow and people are kept in their silos. Key meetings, facetime with cross functional partners, and important decision making is all left to mid level managers and senior leaders. There’s little visibility or understanding for the ave
ProsEmployee discount, Downtown Seattle Location, family friendly, decent work/life balance
ConsBad managers and leadership, toxic work environment, favoritism and retaliation, zero career growth, outdated technology, more in my review
I actually hated working here almost every day that I went in to work. On paper, the company sounds good. Commission! Product knowledge classes! Formal training! Organized events! Staff functions!
The true culture and reality of Nordstrom is nothing like it is on paper. As a 21 year old female college student, I applied to work in women’s shoes. I was hired. On my first day, they moved me to work in Men’s Sales. I learned this was because I was a “young female” who would likely have high sales from these wealthy Naples men. Of course I had nice and memorable clients. But I also had outrageous situations where customers make inappropriate comments in the fitting room or opened their fitting room doors before they were completely dressed. I had a customer request that I deliver his pieces after they were tailored. My manager approved the delivery and I went into his work to bring it to him. He made such inappropriate comments to me about how he wanted me to come into his back office and buy jewelry for me. I brought up all of these situations up to my manager who laughed and shrugged her shoulders. She told me that I need to play the “game” and that she has to too, even commenting on the “creepy” situations that she had been it.
I was highly pressured by the same manager to “donate” a portion of my paycheck to charity for one month. I initially said no thank you, and was asked to “rethink” and let her know. I finally said that I would do a small amount ($20 for one check) an
ConsToo much pressure, nit pick you for being 1 minute late, write you up for being 1 penny off on your change back to a guest at the cash rap, terrible co-workers, creepy clients, high school “mean girl” culture
Working for Nordstrom for the last year and a half has been overall a good experience. Working on the sales floor and in a support role I had the opportunity to see both sides of the coin. The customer service that Nordstrom teaches and emphasizes is a great tool. The level of professionalism working in the customer service department was something i really enjoyed as well as dealing with the daily problem solving and responsibilities I was given. It was also a nice steady pay which was great. Working on the sales floor was a different beast entirely. The nice part is your have the ability to control what you make and your pay check by how hard you work but the other side of that is that your pay is a roller coaster. Working on the floor your have to factor in returns on a daily basis, competition with other associates, your ranking on the schedule which determines your hours, and the time of year it is which has a direct effect on how high sales are. They say that if your have personals and appointments you can increase your sales even in slow times or when you don't have any hours but realistically its very difficult to create your own business unless you've been there quite some time. One pay check you can make 600 dollars and work 30 hours total and the next work 70 hours and make 2,000 dollars. So the stability of the sales floor is not something I would recommend to most. The management is promoted from with in so sometimes you have a manger who has been doing it for y
ProsGreat Co-workers, Professionalism, Great customers, Fun work environment
ConsUnsteady Pay, Not Much Advancement, Inexperienced Management
They will pay you as little as possible. It’s all about money. If you don’t sell enough, expect to lose your job quickly.
They are all about money here. When hired, they will give you the lowest hourly rate possible and if you ever ask for a raise (even after successful YEARS in sales with the company) they will tell you that they “cannot” give you a raise and you should have asked when you were hired. They put a new algorithm in place to prevent employees from being able to get raises. With this algorithm, you get about a 2% (25 cent) raise every 2-5 years with the company. THEN WHEN COVID HIT THEY SAID THEY ARE NO LONGER GIVING TINY RAISES PER THIS ALGORITHM! All of us who had been with the company for years were promised our tiny 25 cent hourly raises due in May. They announced nobody will get their raise and the unfair algorithm is going away in April, literally days before raises were expected for employees who had been loyal to the company for years. Management shows major favoritism, ESPECIALLY in the cosmetics department. It gets extremely ugly between salespeople because they push you so hard to make your goals or else you will be unemployed and at risk of homelessness. They call it “healthy competition,” but it is TOXIC! Their benefits are good in terms of health insurance, but you have to work consistent full-time hours to qualify for benefits and they are FAMOUS for cutting hours just below or far below this threshold at the cost of your healthcare. Once again, a lot of favoritism here. Whoever they like most (who likely sells the most) will get more hours. Even if you sell a lot and
Questions And Answers about Nordstrom
What is the interview process like at Nordstrom?
Asked Jan 4, 2017
Over the phone then face to face
Answered Feb 3, 2020
I applied on a Sunday, they called me the next day, had the interview on tuesday and got a call for the position offer on Thursday! Overall a pretty fast experience.
Answered Jan 23, 2020
What is the best part of working at Nordstrom?
Asked Dec 8, 2019
The customers and our discount
Answered Nov 17, 2020
The team atmosphere.
Answered Nov 12, 2020
How do you feel about going to work each day at Nordstrom?
Asked Mar 15, 2017
I dread it. That’s why I have put my notice in. They openly encourage bad behavior if it adds to their bottom line
Answered Sep 2, 2021
Nordstrom has condensed roles and also lowered the pay scale. You might start off at a decent rate but raises are harder to get to and the amount is less than it was before. They recently cut positions which means less staff - managers and sales team included. It’s hard to stay positive in this type of work environment. You get burned out working the night shift everyday.
This also makes time off incredibly hard. They split teams up in the store by job role. Because of this, each job has a set amount of people and you don’t get trained into other roles that often. So when you want time off it is very hard because you don’t have very much wiggle room because no one else but your team on hand is trained to do your job so they won’t have anyone to cover your absence which basically means they can only let one or two people have time off if any. Everyone on your team is most likely already working because they keep the team as small as possible.
They say Paid Training - but that means a walk through of the store and bye bye butterfly - spread your wings and figure it out your first day.
Sad to say but yes, Nordstrom is hard to move up in if you don’t fit ‘the look’ - you must really fake it till you make it which will be exhausting because the type of work you do is mentally, physically, and emotionally draining. Favoritism is always there whether it appears that way or not. With less management spots, moving up is harder to do.
You will get hired under one job but end up doing everything else + your duties. Not as extra but as an expectation. Because Nordstrom split their staffs roles it does make it harder to work because they also cut the amount of people from doing the work. Same work, less people.
Most people leave the company due to bad management. Job can be fun but managers will always make or break the job.
The discount is 20% but employees get excluded from any of the good discounts. They also ask employees not to shop sales until after customers shop it first. Really no great incentives. You get money from opening credit cards which If you are a cashier you must do or will be written up/cut hours - but the money you get on the spot gets taxed on your check so you eventually lose it later.
A lot of the good benefits they might have had before all changed because retail is slowing down in general
Answered Nov 29, 2019
How flexible are your working hours at Nordstrom?
Asked Mar 26, 2020
Extremely. My management team will basically always accommodate changes in availability, from preferences in shift length, number of days scheduled, and specific days needed off.
Answered Nov 12, 2020
Very flexible as they are willing to work with you in regards to what hours you can work.
Answered Nov 10, 2020
How long does it take to get hired from start to finish at Nordstrom? What are the steps along the way?
Asked Feb 25, 2016
Process was about 2 weeks... started on the career site, selected the position I wanted to apply for (you may want to apply for more than one as sometimes jobs are still posted even though they have candidates being interviewed and are close to making an offer so it’s not really available). About 3 days later I got a call from the assistant manager of the dept and came in for an interview, that went well sent a thank you note (ask for their card it’s a small nicety that’s going away but makes you stand out), several days later I was called and offered a second interview with the department manager, that too went well, (another thank you note!), about 5 days after that the manager called me for a third interview with the GM of the store, which went well after which I sat with HR and was formally offered the position. About two weeks total, if you’re applying during one of the job fairs or a seasonal position, the process may be different this was for a full time permeant position.
Answered Nov 15, 2019
For me, it was about two weeks, maybe a little longer. I remember applying and then receiving a call for a phone interview shortly after. Then a couple days later, I was scheduled for an in person interview. After the in person interview, it took a couple of days for me to receive the actual job offer. When I accepted the position I was given a start date for a later time that coincided with their training classes.
