Pluspunten
Every company has their advantages and disadvantages. I began working at LR in 2003 and was immediately given responsibility which is exactly what I wanted. I didn't want to sit around twiddling my thumbs. I was hired to get the job done and right out of school I was getting paid more money then I had ever seen in my life. I was more than grateful. I knew the only way to advance and get pay increases was to work as hard as I could. As the accounts began to grow, so did my career and within 2 years I was promoted to Creative Director. I rearranged the departments and tried my best to get a working system in place. As our accounts began to grow, so did the demands of our buyers, thus increasing our workload almost overnight. We tried our best to acclimate to the change, but sometimes it was stressful as with any job. But I do feel like I should defend LR against these other reviews. From what I experienced, most of my staff came in the first day expecting a pay raise. Some were shocked that they had to work at all. Ladies and gents-this is the work force. You have to work your rear end off to get ahead. It doesn't come to you on a silver platter. You cannot go into a job with expectations of running the company after 6 months. I don't think any of you realized the amount of pressure the owners are under at all times. I'm not forgiving their behavior, but I am speaking objectively about what happens behind closed doors. You have no concept. Over the years, it took me a lot of trial and error to learn how to be a good manager. Listening is key. Making my staff feel important and recognized is crucial and I apologize to any of my staff that didn't get me at my prime. All we can do is grow from our experiences, but don't think the grass is always greener. You had freedom to do a lot of things there (socialize, talk on your phones, surf the web). Everything in moderation. As long as you were getting the job done, that's all I cared about. My advice to new employees is go in with a positive outlook and understand that it is a privilege to work in the fashion industry and the unemployed would be very grateful to be in your shoes.
Minpunten
One of the advantages of working at LR is the Empire State Building views. They are breathtaking and when the workload caused me stress, I simply looked out the window and regained control. One of the disadvantages to this though is the lack of space. That is a major con but that's the trade-off. The other offices I've seen in the fashion industry at similar companies made our office look like Google. With some clever reworking of the space and storage, the place is workable for sure.