Great if you're good at sales, however always battling weak commission structure. - Assistant Manager Guitar Center Employee Review

2.0
Sep 26, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Rewards for good salespeople to some extent, work around music instruments, usually cool people to work wit, benefits, somewhat flexible hours.

Cons

Weak commission structure, company constantly restructuring compensation, hours, etc. I was one of the top sales people, the best in my department, always top 5 in my store, sometimes #1. However, I never felt fully compensated for the work I put in. I exceeded quotas every month, always made a commission check, however the pay was low. You have to "fade". Basically that means the commission you take home is that amount that exceeds what you make in wages. So the more hours you work, the more the system works against you... which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. On top of that they change the structure constantly without notice. I thought I was going to make a whole lot more during December (busiest month of the year) because I thought it was based on the current bonus structure. Turns out when I got my commission check it was considerably lower due to the fact they made the commissions lower for that month because they said it was busier month! Also, they are rapidly going in the direction of best buy and moving away from rewarding top earners. So if you want to get by on almost nothing with modest job security then GC might be for you.

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5.0
Jun 25, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very flexible with hours working.

Cons

Difficult to stray away from Hal Leonard curriculum sometimes, but may be different now.

3.0
Jul 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Sweet deals and discounts Coworkers are very pleasant to work with Good as extra income Good for aspiring musicians to network with experts of the industry

Cons

Obsolete softwares Scheduling system software that is thenmost imperative tool as of it will be the backbone of a lesson lead for your team of instructors success it's also somewhat obsolete amd constantly crashing both IT and Upper management are aware. IT is very diligent and pleasant to work with but Upper management expects their lessons lead to work and deliver at 100% capacity while they continue to have an operating system that only works at 75% capacity, just beware of that and if you're willing to work under those conditions. With that put there go at your own discretion. Nobody gets Christmas/winter holiday vacation time off, also go at your own discretion on that one especially if you have kids and family looking for work-life-balance.

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