Help me decide how much I'm worth per hour

March 18, 2008 2:05 PM

How much does a Clinique counter manager earn in a department store?

My ex wants to know how much she can ask to get paid for managing five employees at a clinique counter in a Madison, WI high-end department store. She took a personality profile and the interviewer seemed very keen to hire her because she matched up with the most successful counter managers in the organization. So much so that they want her for management, and not as what she thought she was applying for, which was just an entry-level position. But they want to know what her salary requirements are, and she doesn't want to sell herself short, nor scare them off. They say the commissions add about $3/hr to her base hourly rate, but what should she ask for? She's really good at sales, and would be very credible in this type of position because she's a girly girl who loves makeup and stuff. On the other hand she doesn't have any management experience.

posted by tosteka to clothing, beauty, & fashion (6 comments total)

A good place to start is salary.com
posted by radioamy at 2:10 PM on March 18, 2008

I briefly worked in the offices of a major department store. I recall seeing wage info once for the cosmetics department in NYC. Seniority seemed to be the key variable. For someone who has been at it a few years, in a non-supervisory capacity, I'd guess $20/hr, give or take.
posted by Brian James at 2:42 PM on March 18, 2008

My wife used to manage a clinique counter in AZ about 8 years ago, at Macys. From what I recall in our discussions she said she worked less than 40 hours and made in the area of 40-50k with a reasonable amount of comission
posted by FearTormento at 5:49 PM on March 18, 2008

It's all about experience. Maybe $20/hr? But wait, she applied for entry level and they want to management-track her based on a personality profile despite no makeup counter experience? That's a little odd. If she gets the job, she should watch her back for weird inter-company politics.
posted by desuetude at 6:33 PM on March 18, 2008

Most department stores don't use the 40-hour week; mine didn't when I counter managed for a different cosmetic line. We had a 37.5-hour week. Benefits sucked too.

Management is an entirely different skill set than sales. Being a good salesperson does not make one a good manager. Simply sharing personality traits with other successful counter managers does not make one a good manager.

I would be very hesitant to jump into management, especially retail management, with no prior experience. She'll be managing people who work retail, which sounds silly to state as such but I know from experience that retail = turnover. If her counter is supposed to have 5 employees, does it? If it's not fully staffed, who picks up the slack? Will she be responsible for hiring and firing? When the employees call off, or don't show up, or steal and get fired- who has to cover their shifts? Around the holidays, this can mean 6 am openings to midnight closings, depending on where you are. It's brutal.

Not to mention the inter-counter rivalry. Those Lancome bitches will cut you if you take their sale.

Also- I am sure Clinique (a sub-company of Estee Lauder) has a lot of training available. They are a giant corporation. She must find out what corporate training will be available to her if she is hired, as well as store-specific training. Will she be required to travel for the training? Who pays for that? (My former employer paid all travel, lodging and meals when I had to go to training.)

Commission-based sales, basic management and retail as a culture are all things she will need to have a pretty good grasp of to succeed in this job.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 9:47 AM on March 19, 2008

With no experience, she can't expect to make what an experienced person would make. It sounds like they are taking a chance based on the "personality profile" and want to place her in the management position while probably only paying her a bit more than an entry-level person, on salary which means no overtime.

She will have to bust her ass and won't get any more money for it since she's a manager.

Retail is evil. The best burn out so fast it's amazing.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 9:50 AM on March 19, 2008