Hello, this is a honest no nonsense reveiw of Advantage Solutions. I didn’t want to post this review on there Facebook page and them finding out who I was so to remain anonymous I’m posting my review here. This is my second review two years later.
I’ve been working here for 2 years as a Event Specialist, let me say this, this job position should be treated as “temporary” employment to bridge into a better job and you’ll find out why as you keep reading. It didn’t take much to get this job, just a phone interview with the manager and I was in and since I needed a job, any job I took this.
I’ll start with the pros but their aren’t much firstly you work at your own pace and you’re not micromanaged as soon as you walk in the door, it’s VERY independent work so nobody is hovering over your shoulder. You set up and get to work. It’s impossible to get fired, even if you come across they’ve posted your position up on LinkedIn and Zip Recruiter behind your back. They are very desperate to keep people even if you’re the worse employee in the world, the only way to lose this job is if you quit. You’ll get plenty of free time to pursue other things or another job since you will only work “up to” 3 days per week. On average you’ll work 2 days per week or less and occasionally 3 depending on your area.
The cons, unstable hours, the hours vary week by week if any at all and if you’re depending on a paycheck every 2 weeks and a decent one at that this is not the job for you. NO ben
ProsWork at your own pace, no micromanagement
Consunstable hours, low pay, no benefits, non existent management
I've been with a company like this before and should have learned my lesson the first time. Although, Advantage Solutions is much better than the previous company and is definitely willing to work with you on some occasions.
A typical day is you, selling the products and being friendly to members which is nice especially if you love talking to people. The downside is that usually on some weekdays, or certain times of the month, you will be bored stiff and just stand there with warm food and no one to feed or your cold beverage becomes room temperature and you have to throw it out over a certain amount of time. And depending on which store you work for, you will be overworked and very busy or it will be very steady and make you feel you are actually working.
On what I have learned, patience is a virtue and some members can definitely surprise you and make you laugh instead of you making them laugh.
Management was excellent compared to my previous company, I was hired at one store and LOVED the manager there since she really did work her hardest every day (always willing to help us and answer any question no matter what, not to mention very easy to reach) and I appreciated her and has been the best manager I have ever come across. And honestly, this company doesn't deserve her. Due to moving, I had to relocate to another location closer and the manager is all right but I feel says some comments about the store that really isn't necessary or professional.
It was eas
ProsGood management, Great break room, You always get a break. You can ask off whenever you want just as long as you give notice.
ConsNo benefits whatsoever, Store workers can be rude, Strict rules, and picky co-workers
1.0
Customer Service Representative | Tampa, FL | Oct 16, 2012
Working for ASM was a humiliatating experience for me
Working for ASM was a negative experience for me. I was treated in an undignified manner and was misinformed about what was expected of me as a CSR. During my second interview I was told by both interviewers that the CSR position was a difficult one and that it would typically take me 6 months to a year to learn my job. After I was hired, I was placed on an extremely difficult, high-profiled account. Contrary to the fact that I had no prior experience processing purchase orders in the food industry, which the supervisor was fully aware of, I was expected to master my job and perform at a high level in a short period of time - not 6 months to a year, like I was originally informed. This caused me a great deal of stress and confusion. I focused and put my best foot forward but did make a few mistakes. To make matters worse, after placing me on this account, I was told that I would be expected to process 800 orders per month...... why was I not informed of this during one of my interviews?? As though this wasn't bad enough, the girl who was training me on this account was very negative towards me; she half trained me, then "threw me under the bus" to the supervisor whenever she got the chance, making me look incompetent and unwilling to learn my job. When I expressed to my supervisor what was going on with my training and how it was making me uncomfortable, she pretended to be attentive and understanding, but later the same day got behind closed doors with the girl who was train
A typical day: You go in and look at your fact card, it will state what product you will be sampling, goals, preparation, and your key sales points. You must gather all supplies needed (napkins, gloves, utensils, oven mitts, etc...) within fifteen minutes (if it's a large demo or you need to prep food obviously you get more time), and get out on the floor to set up. Throughout the day you give out samples of various foods, cooking or preparing on the floor for customers/members to see. You leave the floor and have fifteen minutes to clean up.
Pay: $12.00 for an Event Specialist, $12.50 for a Food Safe Certified Event Specialist (that's me), $13.00 for a lead event specialist, $31,000 (ish) salary for Club Supervisor. Checks are bi-weeky.
Hours: this is the bad part, normal weeks you get one or two days, during an event (Taste of Sam's, holidays, etc) you can get 5. Basically we live for holidays. It's the only time you make any money. Christmas time is the big one. My advice is to be constantly available for call ins, I average 3 days a week because of this and living down the street, so I can be there at a moments notice.
Management....people always make waves. It seems someone is always reporting someone else to HR. They even report the club supervisor. There's a lot of immature people, a lot of drama, it's hard not to get sucked into it, but you do your best.
Breaks: one 30 minute unpaid break per 6 hour shift.
Benefits: Horrible Starbridge(?) insurance, not worth ta
Number 1 Merchandising Service Provider in the USA
A Merchandise Assembler at ASM builds BBQ Grills, Patio Furniture, Wheel Barrows, etc. for retail outlet stores like The Home Depot. The products to be assembled are staged for us by Home Depot Associates in an outdoor covered work area at the store. We bring our own tools and build on folding tables provided by them. We have to be able to read manufacture assembly instruction manuals and have a high level of Mechanical Aptitude. In this job I have learned how to be fast while maintaining a high level of mechanical accuracy or quality. Sometimes the product is delivered directly to the purchaser after it is assembled, so they will be inspecting it carefully and they know exactly who assembled it. ASM management is fine, they do what they have to for customer satisfaction and leave us alone if we complete our responsibilities to the client's satisfaction. There communication channels are well established and they know the law so they play fare and by the rules. Only on rare occasions have I meet my co-workers or supervisor; other then that, we are pretty much left alone, I like this fact, there is no chatter, I come to work, do my job and leave. No BS and that's the way work should be. The hardest part of my job is physical endurance. During peak season there is much to be built and it is hot outside (under shade cover). In some regards you have be an athlete or be in peak condition. We are paid as "piece workers" or by % of invoice, so the more we can endure to build the more
ProsFlexible Start and Stop times
ConsUnpridictable Income, subject to retail outlet demand
I've never spoken to or received a return email from my supervisor for the Indiana region and there phone number is NOT available to E.S. I've emailed 3-4 times but never received communication in any form. If you have an issue you have to call the 'support team' and they are not always available when you need them because they are on west PST. When you do call them there are many times where you have a long wait to talk to someone and that someone is not always friendly or knowledgeable enough to get the job done and some are great and very helpful.
The in-store product demos: many times you have to prepare food samples for customers and two different products when there isn't enough time to do that with the hours you've been scheduled. It takes anywhere from 1-2 hours to set up for a product demo-sanitize cart, clean equipment if not done previously, search for equipment in the assigned area which can be crazy if previous E.S. are not organized or don't care about organization to make the job easier for themselves and others and then shop in a store that you are not familiar with and in those stores the department heads are so busy that they can't get to you to answer your questions, or they don't even know themselves where the products are in the warehouse and sometimes the shelves! Then YOU have to choose where the cart should go though suggested in the paperwork, many times there is no electricity available in those areas when you have a demo that involves cooking, so y
I was a full time beauty concierge and I loved my job! It was great to work independently, build relationships with guests and help educate guests on why specific products were so effective for them. The downside, we were all laid off without notice. They liquidated our beauty concierge program all the way through management. Typically in California, companies must provide a 72 hour notice prior to lay off, we did not receive that notice. Instead 2 hours before reporting to work we had a nationwide conference call explaining that our positions were all terminated, do not show up for work, do not report to job, simply you're done. We were all muted on the call as well so we were not able to ask any questions or get further information. All of us who were full time, were taken down to an on call position, they did this to avoid reprocussions of lack of notice, and to avoid paying unemployment rates, royally screwing 1000s of employees over. They agreed to pay us 2 weeks out as a "severance", however I had to fight for weeks to get money they owed me as well as my severance. I was not able to stay on for on call position, as they dont provide any work maybe 4 hours every 2-4 weeks, therefore I resigned. I did have to resign several times as they lack in efficiency, and feel they were really try to avoid paying me my 2 weeks severance, 40 hours of holiday pay, 56 hours of vacation pay, THAT I HAD EARNED AND WAS ENTITLED TO BY LAW. I loved this job while working there, the pay, t
ProsGood pay, benefits, holiday/vacation pay, gratis, working independently
ConsUnethical company, lack of efficiency, unloyal to employees, lay offs without notice
A lot to learn, but overall a fun, very social job
As an event specialist you must arrive already aware of the product you will be using during the demo and a general idea of the tools you'll need to execute your demo. You have 15 minutes to gather all things necessary and set up your cart/table next to your product. The moment you hit the store floor you must be constantly greeting customers and telling them about your product all while allowing them to sample and pushing the sale. If you run out of samples you must wait for a runner or the club supervisor to come to you to restock you. At this moment you must turn your event to an educational demo where you inform the public of your product and it's selling points. At the end of your shift you must clean all used items, as well as your cart and submit your paperwork to the club supervisor or the lead event specialist.
I've learned how to behave in a professional environment and how to communicate effectively with upper management as well as with my peers so that we're able to execute all events. I've also learned how to manage food safely according to California policies and have become certified.
Dealing with management is a breeze! I enjoy communicating with both the store's management as well as my own. We all understand that we're there to help create brand awareness as well as increase sales. Our company's end goal is the the same as the store's goal so we work in tandem to achieve them. The same goes for my co-workers. We all understand that we're responsible
Prosroom for growth, getting to know which products are new and cutting edge before the general public
ConsShort breaks, micromanaging, no raises in three years (but the company is profiting?)
Diversity in Customer polulation but poor management and communication
I have been an ES since 8/2013. During my hiring, HR promised me 24-26 hours per week, which have yet to materialize. This has created a problem in that I cannot hone my craft as an ES. The 'training' was done by another ES who looked and sounded as though he wanted to be anywhere but there training new employees as to the ins and outs of the duties of an ES. He sounded half-asleep and unenthusiastic in his training duties. I managed to glean the finer points/bare essentials, and ran with those, listening closely to everything he said to me. For a while I was getting one gig a month with which to practice my new skills, only to find out recently that I have been trained improperly. The 'Supervisor' went so far as to reprimand me for duties failed, and in front of customers no less! So their faulty training program has lead to a blemish on my reputation. Management also does not communicate in an effective fashion. The Lead assigned me one task, and the Supervisor reprimanded me for carrying it out. You are also not supposed to start any work-related task until your assigned start time, but I have witnessed the Supervisor allowing others to start before their allotted times. I was warned against it, while others were allowed to go ahead and start without anything being said to them. I hold no hard feelings to my co-workers when this happens; it is a management snafu and not the fault of anyone else. I try my best to cooperate and help my co-workers whenever possible because it
My typical day at work is when I get Walmart Stores, I first sign in, then I do a store walk to see what promotional features are up, then next thing is to try answering survey questions, distribution, and tasks questions as much as possible. Then next is execution such as working the department manager to fix zero sales correction to fixing the on hand, ordering the products for the home and for replenishing promotional features, asking department managers or Zone merchandiser supervisors to have permission to build displays or selling features to increase sales volume. Lastly, I put the Point of Sales or Irc such as coupons or shelf talks for displays or at the product home location to ensure successful sell through. Then I write down the task that needs to be address for the next call and I sign out and close my call.
I've learned to build trustworthy relationship with management in many Walmart stores and also learned how to sell promotional features or replenishing features to drive sales. One way to drive sales is ordering the product that sells the most in stores and ordering for a feature. Once product is arrived in stores, then take a picture and show it other stores to increase sales.
I typically go to Walmart and Sams club and do the job independently but I also call or email my boss for questions or concerns about new upcoming projects and duties that my boss wants it address in timely manner.
The hardest part of the job is finding somebody that is wil
ProsWorking with many management and traveling to places.
ConsNo lunch breaks
Questions And Answers about Advantage Solutions
Why did you leave your job at Advantage Solutions?
Asked Mar 17, 2017
Better job and more pay
Answered Dec 10, 2021
I am still with Advantage but currently working little due to the Covid epidemic. This is not a job a young person starting out would need unless you are in college. Great for retired peoplw who do not need to work full time. It is what you make it.
Answered Sep 21, 2020
What is the best part of working at Advantage Solutions?
Asked Dec 22, 2019
Opportunity to experience new skills. Better yet getting to serve and, provide great customer Service to the customers.
Answered Dec 4, 2020
When you do your job they leave you alone and allow you to just do your job.
Answered Nov 23, 2020
If you were in charge, what would you do to make Advantage Solutions a better place to work?
Asked Jul 27, 2017
Better communication regarding who to contact for which inquiries as well as prompt communication regarding changes.
Answered Sep 17, 2021
Make a company flow chart.
Answered Sep 25, 2019
What are the hours
Asked Nov 4, 2016
I work 4 hours per week sometimes 8, during 2018 hours were plentiful, now it’s pathetic and not even worth the gas to drive 30 miles and back to go work 4 hours. Long layoff periods of 2 to 4 weeks where their was no hours period.
Hours were shaved when the state minimum wage in California raised from 11 to 12 and it seems they’re cutting every corner they can to save money so they pass this burden off on the employees where in turn hours and pay ends up reduced for us.
This is not the job to apply for if you’re looking for a stable and study paycheck, if you want to feel under appreciated and never get a raise then apply here.
Answered May 5, 2019
Third shift 10pm-6:30am with a 30 minute lunch at 2am. They do provide part time schedule for first shift which I believe is 4 or 5am-9am (not positive)
