Guitar Center Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Guitar Center full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great money if you're a good salesperson, job is on commission.

Cons – Not great if you don't have good people skills

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Guitar Center full-time for less than a year

Pros – Getting to know lots of artists and styles of music you may not have been exposed to in the past.

Cons – If you are not truely dedicated you could fall behind in work very fast

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Guitar Center full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Fun place to work, helping people find their first guitar or build their collection

Cons – Work Holidays but that comes with any retail job.

Advice to Senior Management – Chill out we are just selling gear... & make sure the gear is clean...

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Guitar Center full-time for less than a year

Pros – You get great insight into the world of Audio. Product knowledge helps you if you're in the music industry.

Cons – Very competitive if you don't have a clientele. They drive on making sales and emails are a prime way to be top on the list in the company.

Advice to Senior Management – Help your employees as much as you can so that they can make as much sales as they can. Send the noobs clients and if they fail then so be it.... you tried,

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Guitar Center

Pros – Lot's of new stores opening creates a lot of growth opportunities

Cons – Need to be a quick thinker and have top notch organization skilss

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Guitar Center full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great benefits, 401k, amazing employee purchase program and abundant opportunities for growth and upward mobility.

Cons – Merchandise shortages and questionable pay for drum sales people.

Advice to Senior Management – Hook up the drum guys.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Guitar Center full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Good Company culture and winning attitude. Strong market share and passionate people about music and the success of the musicians they serve.

Cons – People were in roles that were not qualified or were promoted to their level of incompetency. They work the store crews very hard and at the time without much structure to succeed. I am sure it have changed now.

Advice to Senior Management – Its all new management now so I am sure they will do a good job.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Guitar Center full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Tons of room for moving up

Cons – They could stand to pay their employees a little better

Advice to Senior Management – Get a different pay structure for the drum department

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Guitar Center full-time for more than a year

Pros – It's a totally cool place...on the outside. Most of the people you work with are generally nice and cool people. Employees get an amazing discount...that is if they can ever afford it. If WalMart and Toys R Us had a musical baby, it would be Guitar Center.

Cons – Employee respect is extremely low to none. Pay is humiliating. Benefits are slim. Negative, and non-productive daily & monthly meetings are required. Unending list of demands. Employees are rarely recognized for a job well done, and when they are, it's through an email. Bonuses and raises no longer happen thanks to the Bain buy out. Outdated system by 30+ years, which causes scheduling confusion, inventory & shipping errors, and worst, long lines and upset customers. - Because of all of this there is a high revolving door as well as a lot of internal theft, broken equipment , unprofessional attitudes and jerk-like behavior due to disgruntled employees.

Advice to Senior Management – If you treat your employees as well as you do a vintage guitar, or better, the overall business, character, and customer service would dramatically increase! Like Sam Walton said, "The key to success is to get out into the store and listen to what the associates have to say....If you take care of the people in the stores, they will take care of the customers in the same manner."

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Guitar Center full-time

Pros – You get to help people with problems. You get to do what you're good at. Usually cool co-workers. Most of the techs are really highly competent despite the universal notion that anybody who works at GC can only be a buffoon.

Cons – 1. Repair techs are in SALES as much as any commissioned sales floor guy. The fade system for techs--you are required to be 'cost neutral' by charging enough per month to cover your hourly pay. If you don't have enough customers coming in or the repairs they need are not expensive enough to hit those numbers, you have a big employment problem. In order to make this amount, you are required to continually be 'upselling' repairs and upgrades that the customer may not need or want. 2. The hands-on training is terrible and absolutely insufficient. A two day seminar at a hotel is the extent of training for fretwork, bracing, cracks, reglue, etc. The rest is by 1-3 page PDF documents. I was sent a powerful and dangerous router and, with no training whatsoever, told to rout holes in a board and send in pictures. I did and now I'm 'A Level Certified' to go to town on your Les Paul. If you contact one of the three program managers with a question, your likely response from two of them will be "Really?" punctuated with a sigh. The third will basically chew you out for calling him instead of one of the others. Finally, point 3. The embarrassment of telling other local and respected techs and luthiers that you do the same thing as them, but at Guitar Center -- it's like telling jet mechanics that you pump gas at Wal-Mart, no matter how good you may actually be. Not a good thing should you try to find local employment in the instrument repair field after after GC dismisses you, which they will.

Advice to Senior Management – Let the Tech just help the customer make music by doing the needed work without having his job hanging over his head to hit a certain sales number...take it as an expense of providing top notch customer service. Like every other repair industry.
Real actual training. Less cynicism from the GC Garage management team.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend