Worked as a DJ during the weekends and Operations Manager during the week.
Pros
The nature of the business. If you adore celebratory atmospheres (weddings, events, parties,etc) then you will enjoy the events. You are responsible for creating client relationships and taking care of them the day of. I enjoyed the hands-on approach. I've built friendships with a lot of my brides & grooms, and peers afterwards.
Cons
The pay structure can be confusing and is often times changed. I worked there for 5 years and had other employees both new and long-time confused about the pay structure. When it comes to DJ-ING, they pay you an hourly wage. You are then able to earn more money by meeting with clients or generating business. You are not paid to the event or during the breakdown and drive back (unless you drive 50+ miles one-way to the event). Other DJ companies may pay around $400/hour (and still provide the equipment, advertising and ability to meet with clients prior to their event) where as my paycheck for an event was around $120 ( I was one of the top paid DJS in the company.) This is a franchise so you must consider that you will not receive as high of compensation compared to non-franchise companies. You can also received "generated bookings" which is a bonus for bringing in new business. However, as a manager there were many times that I witnessed the owners not giving the employee(s) their bonus because; 1. The owners said because they had to "sell" the services on the phone to the client. Even though the clients only called because of their employees working hard at their events 2. If you did not show up to their mandatory quarterly meetings (which you receive no hourly compensation) and had a generated booking, you therefor forfeit your generated booking. You only receive your generated bookings at these meetings. I've witnessed seasoned employees forfeit their bonus because of having family events on the day of the meeting, which always fall on Sundays. As a manager; Even though I worked during the weekend as a DJ, my hours in the office and as a DJ were separated to get out of providing benefits. After every promotion, I received worse hours. As an operations manager I was responsible for the up-keep of equipment and making sure employees had what they needed for upcoming events. Upon this promotion, I was told I was not responsible for selling services. Yet, I was given the late shift to sell to customers. Initially when sales was my main goal, I had to fight the owners to answer the phones and was told that if the client called back in and booked the services after I left for the day or on my day off that I would not receive my commission. This was done multiple times and was a relief when I received the operations manager position, until I realized I had been deceived. I was also never given full-time because they were "unable to afford at the moment," yet after I quit they hired a full time operations manager and a full time sales manager. I was doing the job of two employees and not compensated for it.
