Not worth the drive! - Anonymous employee Guitar Center Employee Review

1.0
May 30, 2012
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It's hard to find pros in working for this company because as soon as you think you have conquered something, there is someone right behind to knock you down.

Cons

This place is extremely competitive. I mean that I have NEVER worked at a company in which no matter how many years of experience I have, this place makes you seem like you are the dumbest person ever. They seem to make it their purpose to knock people down instead of building up their team. I work in an area where you have to interact with several different people in different capacities and different levels of management. From what I have heard from SVP down is that this place is competitive and each person in the room does their best to tear the next person down. This is not the environment where a "team" environment is fostered. From the top to the bottom is very "I blame you". Speaking on top level management, this place is extremely heavy in "titles". There are SOOOOSOOOOOSOOOO SOO many Directors, VP, SVP that the managers are really coordinators or at least doing the work of a coordinator. I believe they have all these titles to get people to work for them because I cannot see how anyone else would want to work out here if they have down their research they would truly know better. The salaries are not competitive with other companies in the area and it takes about 20 people to make a decision unless you are an EVP. Enough said...you get the picture!!

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5.0
Jul 16, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Management takes good care of you

Cons

No complaints that I can think of

1.0
Apr 21, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Plenty of capable individual contributors doing real work. - The brand and the business itself are legitimate — the problems are organizational.

Cons

- Senior leadership is politically driven rather than outcome-driven. Strategic initiatives stall out, and leaders spend more energy assigning or shifting blame than actually diagnosing and fixing problems. - Some parts of the org operate on deference to the top. Honest assessments get softened into whatever narrative leadership wants to hear, which makes real cross-functional work difficult. - Senior leaders do not consistently advocate for their own teams. When things get political, self-preservation takes precedence over backing the people underneath, and capable managers end up exposed.

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