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River Island Clothing Reviews
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    River Island Clothing Reviews

    Updated 5 August 2018
    384 reviews

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    UK - All CitiesFull-timePart-time
    2.9
    StarStarStarStarStar
    Rating TrendsRating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    River Island Clothing CEO Ben Lewis
    Ben Lewis
    133 Ratings

    384 Employee Reviews

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    Pros
    Cons

    • "below minimum wage if under 20, 8 hours a week to begin" (in 42 reviews)

    • "Quite long hours and can get very tiring" (in 36 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. "Sales advisor"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Part Time Sales Advisor for Menswear in London, England
      Former Employee - Part Time Sales Advisor for Menswear in London, England
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at River Island Clothing (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Discount, flexiable shifts for when I was at college, fun when your working with the right people

      Cons

      Sometimes my pay was wrong and had to wait a whole month before I would get paid the correct amount.

    2. "Sales Advisor"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Sales Advisor in Birmingham, England
      Former Employee - Sales Advisor in Birmingham, England
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at River Island Clothing part-time

      Pros

      Great management, family culture.

      Cons

      None that I can think of.

      3. Join the River Island Clothing team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. "Decent place to work but experience may vary"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Sales Advisor in Glasgow, Scotland
      Current Employee - Sales Advisor in Glasgow, Scotland
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at River Island Clothing part-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      • Excellent 40% discount and quarterly uniform allowance (free clothes).
      • Wear what you want.
      • Informal working environment.

      Cons

      • Top heavy structure (5 management, 3 staff on duty during weekdays???)
      • Store management turn a blind eye to lower management favouritism.
      • Sexism, not only in the hiring process but also in how tasks are delegated. (4 men, 12 females, men will do the 'man' jobs, women will do the 'women' jobs, regardless of your title or position)
      • You WILL work more than your contracted hours. • Pay is very unfair, e.g. If you are working in operations, lifting heavy stuff in a sweaty stock room, your co-worker standing about in an empty, air conditioned shop will be making just as much as you.
      • You can forget about career progression, there won't be any room up there. These people stay in their jobs for about 15 years minimum.
      • You won't really be properly trained, I'm still learning day-one stuff almost 2 years later.

      Advice to Management

      • Take action on favouritism
      • Get rid of sexism
      • Stick to contracted hours
      • Improve training (scrap RIVA)

    4. "Good Experience Overall"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Part-time Sales Advisor in Colchester, England
      Former Employee - Part-time Sales Advisor in Colchester, England
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at River Island Clothing part-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      Good staff discount, very friendly team.

      Cons

      I personally have no cons as I enjoyed my time working here as a sales advisor.

    5. "Enjoyable but unprofessional"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Sales Manager in London, England
      Former Employee - Sales Manager in London, England
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at River Island Clothing full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      Discount
      Uniform allowance
      Friendly staff
      Kept busy so never boring

      Cons

      Poor pay (salary non competitive- about 20p per hour difference between manager and advisor rates)

      Unprofessional- some managers very bias and don’t treat everyone equally.
      Recruitment team ignore you. Rude and unprofessional.

      Unpaid overtime (management)
      No incentives.
      Long hours

      A few bad apples spoil the bunch.

      Advice to Management

      Treat everyone equally and practice what you preach!

    6. "Sales advisor"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Sales Advisor in London, England
      Former Employee - Sales Advisor in London, England

      I worked at River Island Clothing (More than a year)

      Pros

      40% staff discount, meet new people, flexibility

      Cons

      Management can be incompetent, schedule sometimes given at last minute

    7. Helpful (1)

      "poor management"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Leicester, England
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Leicester, England
      Doesn't Recommend

      I have been working at River Island Clothing part-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      staff discount
      lunch breaks
      fashion
      diverse role

      Cons

      poor management
      disorganised stores
      ignorant management
      lack of opportunities

      Advice to Management

      lack of opportunities and career progression. management have favourites if they don't like you, they will make sure you know by treating you less than others

    8. "Sales Associate"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Sales Associaate in Westfield, South East England, England
      Former Employee - Sales Associaate in Westfield, South East England, England
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at River Island Clothing part-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      I learnt a lot about customer service: how to manage and exceed customer expectations - values that I still use in interviews I have (i.e. ACE service); 40% staff discount and free uniform allowance up to 125 pounds - depending on how many days a week you're contracted for
      - Although a good starting point for a customer service role: they're open to individuals who have not had substantial past experience within the field

      Cons

      Lack of training: but a lot of the responsibilities under the job role you learn through time - just don't be discouraged and have thick skin for criticisms

    9. Helpful (1)

      "Awful place to work"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Sales Associate in Sheffield, England
      Former Employee - Sales Associate in Sheffield, England
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at River Island Clothing part-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Generous discount (40%)
      Some nice people

      Cons

      Cliquey, intimidating Atmosphere amongst staff
      Boring and repetitive
      Very non-flexible hours
      Horrible Customers
      Horrible management

      Advice to Management

      Treat sales assistants with some respect and stop standing around doing nothing while we do all the work. I lasted 4 weeks at River Island Meadowhall (Sheffield), I despised it from my very first shift. Made 1 or 2 ok friends but other than that there was a horrible atmosphere, and everyone was in their little cliques and would not talk to or acknowledge any of the new people. I would walk into the staff room to a group full of intimidating girls and they would just go silent when I would enter..I used to wait in the car till the very last min until id go in, put my stuff in a locker and just start my shift, because I felt so intimidated and judged by everyone. Management ignorant and love to excersise their power. Set shifts every week which took up the whole of my weekend. Very surprised I lasted this long. Worst job I have ever worked..avoid at all costs.

    10. "bad management"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in London, England
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in London, England

      I worked at River Island Clothing part-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      40% off clothing employee benefit, nothing else

      Cons

      terrible organisation at work, extreamly rude and inconsiderate.

      Advice to Management

      new staff and training programs

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