Oh where do I begin? I was managing at another photography studio and wasn't really appreciating the hourly, pay and bonus cuts due to them not getting in line with the current trends, so I saw the dual studio manager position open up for JCPenney Portraits and went through the interview. I told them about my experiences at my other position and their rebuttal was, "We're not like them. You'll get bonuses, commission, a stock ownership program and a little higher pay." Ok cool, I'm in. This sounds like a place where I can settle down, move up in the company and expand my career. HA! WRONG! This by far has been THE WORST experience in employment that I have ever been through.
First off, when I was going through my training process, in only a week's time, everyone got an e-mail saying that they would not be getting a raise at the end of the year. That was the first red-flag.
TRAINING:
Like I said earlier, my training was barely A WEEK for a management position. Actually, it wasn't really training at all. At first they told me that they would train me in one of the studios near me, but a day before my first day, they told me that I'd be traveling 80 miles to a studio to train. I nearly quit then because I was close to having several accidents due to the severe weather we were having that week. They don't pay you by the mile. When I got there, they just sat me down in front of a computer and made read through all this "WOW University" material. It was literally filled with hundreds of pages that you had to go through with a test and hands on tutorial (which we never did because the regional manager was too busy taking care of other studio issues.) I told them numerous times that I needed to be taught differently and need more hands on training. The regional told me to write everything down that I needed extra guidance on and that she'll be back to go over all of that. The next day she tells me, "Sorry I had to stay here at my studio." I then notified the DM that I needed extra help and she said that she would send one of her "best district trainers" to help. Did that happen? Nope. I even asked other associates from different studios and MANAGERS, but nobody seems to know what they're doing. After that, I was on my own, literally on-my-own.
ENVIRONMENT:
The entire staff is part-time. From what I've understood, they laid off a lot of photographers, I even read some reviews on here that say the same thing. What was once a single studio manager job is now a dual studio one. The number of people working at your studios is based on the number of appointments that you have. They have a formula that determines all of this. Basically, if you're over 14 sessions for an 8 hour period, you can bring one other employee on to help you I will get to the reason for all that later down this review. So here's what you do when you're on your own: Shoot, sell and check out sessions in 40 minutes. Seems easy, right? That's through phone calls that you HAVE to answer to schedule appointments, customers that are coming in to pick up their prints that has EXTRA prints to sell to them. That's if everything goes to plan, though it's not always the case. The prints that they send in come in flimsy paper envelopes that easily damage the prints during shipment, so you HAVE to do a reorder (keep in mind, this is with a customer that you're either in a session with or selling to that you walked away from) After a few complaints from customers from me leaving them and me falling 40 minutes to an hour behind, I stopped answering phones, left it to voicemail and listened to it when I had time. Due to the lack of training there were some issues that I simply didn't know how to resolve. There was one time the camera wasn't working due to their software glitch and the studio was totally inoperable. The RM didn't answer her phone, the DM didn't answer her phone and help desk never answered. I even tried asking my fellow co-workers who...oh wait, I was all alone without a team to back me up.... With you falling behind, you will not get a lunch...this is also based on how restrictive your state's labor laws are. Think about it, kids going crazy, phone ringing, software screwing up and missing shots, fixing damaged prints, not having a lunch break for hours, calling everyone to find solutions to issues, lather, rinse and repeat.
EQUIPMENT:
Their equipment is sub par. Seriously, it's outdated and stone-aged. Again, with toddlers that move a mile a minute, you need to have lights that sync up and charge quickly. Literally, time management is key here if you want to stay on time. I can't tell you the number of shots I missed because of the stupid lights! Not only that, but the software is idiotic, it limits you to the number of shots you have to take and if you're not paying attention due to you focusing on getting the right moment, it deletes your images. Yes, the biggest no-no in photography is allowed in this company. There's also a sensor that tracks motion, this allows if the camera will be able to shoot or not. This sensor NEVER works. When you're trying to get a shot, the lights don't fire and it beeps at you. Everyone disconnects this sensor anyway, BUT you have to connect it back when the District Manager comes in.
BENEFITS:
There's a stock ownership program, but it won't exist anymore. This company won't last. You do get a little commission from the sales you get. I got about $50 from last month. Cool, my gas is covered. Healthcare is mediocre. $175 per month with a $4k deductible with zero coverage on regular doctors visits and zero coverage on name brand medicine and 20% off on off brand. By the way, if you get sick, you have to pay your bill ($120 for me in one case) and they make you take a week off to make sure you're over your bug and get someone else to cover. Bonuses? What bonus? They are based off how much revenue BOTH studios make. If BOTH studios make at least 110% or over budget, you'll get paid, BUT you're also scored based on customer surveys. You could be doing the best you can, but because of the issues I mentioned above, customers can give you a bad score and you won't receive your bonus. Of course this is intentional so the company can save money.
IN SUMMATION:
When you look at the recent layoffs, the part-time underpaid staff, and raise cuts, it is obvious that this company, like all the other retail photography companies, are going under. Google CPI, they owned a plethora of studios: Sears, Wal-Mart, Picture Me, etc. They went bankrupt. Why? Technology is getting better and cheaper to the public. People can take their own, decent quality photos these days and NONE of these companies are doing anything to keep up. Like Lifetouch, they are only finding ways to hold on to their profits as long as they can, even at their employees expense. If you want to make a quick buck, go ahead and work here, but there isn't a career here in this field anymore.
