Pros
Pros – As the non-executive level, almost all the people on your team are great and sincerely want to create good work. You’ll most likely end up becoming good friends with each other. The environment is pro-pets and pet-friendly and if you don’t have a pet when you start, you probably will within a few months. If you enjoy working a ton of hours without ever getting proper support or recognition for your efforts, you’ve found your dream job. Like that? I’m going straight to the cons now.
Cons
Cons – As said by almost anyone else who has reviewed their time in the NSC the company is insanely top heavy. Too many cooks in the kitchen are indeed ruining the company direction and vision. Despite having many upper level executives, there is absolutely no trust from CEO level leaders in these people being able to make any decisions or do their jobs. So you end up with a horribly ineffective mix of VPs trying to read the minds of their bosses while not being empowered in any way. This trickles down to all levels, resulting in an environment of distrust, finger-pointing and blaming as each associate or department tries to pin the blame for projects not following direction -or more precisely total lack of agreed upon direction - on the next person or team down in the food chain. The lack of respect and support given to associates has created an ugly, detrimental environment that eventually kills your passion for your work. While many VPS and directors are spending their time schmoozing, lower level associates are doing massive amounts of work with minimal direction or input from their out of touch bosses. Expect to be doing the job of two or more people your whole time at Petco. Career development or advancement in the advertising and creative departments specifically is a total joke. While spending hundreds of thousands on yearly rebranding efforts, their only attempt to save money entails laying off longtime employees to replace with more entry level positions. On that note, if you’re a female who has or are planning on having children – watch out. It's definitely a boy's club around there. The first positions to be eliminated ever so conveniently seem to be moms, and recently a rash of them who were on maternity leave or had just shortly returned from them. That alone speaks volumes to upper management's level of ethics and how much years of loyalty and hard work are not respected. Bottom line is if you absolutely need a job, this one will teach you just how bad a corporate environment can be run while paying enough to let you survive. It looks good on a resume and you’ll pull in decent enough income while looking for a career somewhere that will respect you and your talents.
