Pros
- Free drinks. Yes, that includes Slurpees! - There's a small learning curve for most aspects of the job. - You get to meet plenty of interesting people, and if you're resourceful, make connections that can help you in other areas of your life.
Cons
- Drinks are the only thing employees get at any discount. 7-Eleven gives you the option of having store items deducted from your payroll, pre-tax. The result? You're paying what your customers pay for everything. - The hours. While you accept the position with the knowledge that the store is open 24 hours a day, every day, scheduling can become extremely unpredictable. Don't be too surprised to get a phone call saying that someone called off three hours before their shift, and your manager needs you to come in. - Franchise structure. As in, there doesn't appear to be a lot of structure given to franchisees who open a store, which leads to a lot of rule-bending and/or ignoring as a means of staying afloat. - No opportunity for advancement. This varies from store to store, so I don't want to overly discourage anyone, but there's a common perception that franchisees will do everything they can to keep costs at a minimum in order to pad their pockets. In my particular case: - My boss is owner/manager/assistant manager. He introduced a co-worker as the assistant manager my first day, only to find out a few months ago that no one at the store held the title. - I was given an offer to learn extended duties (which, I came to find out, were things that I should have learned well before the discussion occurred), only to have it rescinded when I couldn't commit to staying for longer than the next six months. Granted, it may take time to fully get the ins and outs, but I picked up on the job so fast, I was working on my own in less than a week.