Hard work and dedication means the sky is the limit
Pros
- Wage, like many jobs the wage is the most important to the majority of us and at Wren if you truly commit to your work you can easily earn 65-70k a year. My lowest earning year was the first complete year at £52k. - Flexibility - as the mobile designer I have a flexible job role that means I get to drive around all of Scotland (especially nice in the summer) and also work from the office and other location if I choose to, the other benefit would be as you aren't in the showroom permanently you can change days off and get holidays a bit easier. Company events and development- At Wren they host an event at the end of the year that is great fun and you get to be surrounded by the best of the best in the company. The company's always changing and taking feedback from staff- this is very important as no job is perfect but its nice to work for a place that can be so adaptive. Longevity- If you are good at your job Wren will not sack you (as a designer) you are they key stone to the company's success and they back you 100%.
Cons
- Hours - You often find you will be working 3-4 hours over your contact a week. -work life balance- although you can alter days off and get holidays the days are restricted and any bank holidays/ festive holidays you are normally working (except 3-4 days at XMAS ). Although not a negative - most new starts feel like they should be able to start at 100mph- the job takes a long time (6 months to a year) to properly get a grasp of what is possible so when you first start you are gently held back to ensure you aren't making mistakes on peoples kitchens (which from the business and customers perspective alot better as there are few complaints errors and charges against designers/managers. - Progression- unfortunately unless you are wanting to take a pay cut progression is very difficult for a designer to become management as you have to do time as an AGM (which can lead to a pay cut if you are a high earning designer), before making GM however the experience is essential to run one of the Wren showrooms. - Getting charged for errors on plans - this is the most demoralising thing that can happen a mistake on a plan you get charged for - tough but fair. You quickly learn to stop making errors.
