Barnes & Noble Employee Reviews for Community Relations Manager

What do you like about working at Barnes & Noble?

"I loved working in the publishing industry and in Washington, DC. I worked with authors, events, government relations, education policy, literacy initiatives, and teachers."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Barnes & Noble is a great place for bibliophiles. They love to recruit from within, but be aware that it is rare the people from the retail side transition to the corporate side."

What don't you like about working at Barnes & Noble?

"There was no room for career growth in the PR and marketing field."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"I would have put the community relations activities in a separate division from the retail side."

"It all depends on the store manager. A horrible store manager will make your life miserable."

"It has it's ups and downs."

What do you like about working at Barnes & Noble?

"I love to read, and it was a pleasure being around all the literature that you could imagine. I loved being able to interact with different types of people every day. Working in Los Angeles gave me the opportunity to meet so many celebrated authors and celebrities, which was a blessing as well. It was a wonderful 5 years with the company."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Know your literature! Have a passion for people, a lot of patience and understanding."

What don't you like about working at Barnes & Noble?

"I did not always enjoy the retail lifestyle, which was sometimes difficult to deal with. Working on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years every year was somewhat disheartening, as I never got to spend it with my family. After 5 years of working at a company, the most vacation time I had was 2 weeks a year, which was difficult as well."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"The management was different at each store. I had a wonderful store manager in Texas. He was the epitome of what a store manager should be. He was a hard worker, passionate, and he made work fun. That needs to be present in every store manager, because it can trickle down to the rest of the management team, and in turn, the employees."

"Event planning and community outreach experience combined with my love of books, dedication to promoting literacy, but not a place for career in sales/account management."

What do you like about working at Barnes & Noble?

"The experience to connect with the customers directly. I was able to demonstrate how we couldpartner with the organizations to achieve common goals."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Just follow procedure and don't be too creative...I totally understand business policy and procedure but sometimes it OK to step into that 'gray area' when it is mutually beneficial for the company and ultimately the customer...the whole reason why anyone is in business to begin with...."

What don't you like about working at Barnes & Noble?

"The lack of continuity with developing business relationships. There were many constraints that had to do with personal management issues versus good business sense."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"To 'step outside the box when needed to realize the opportunities available without compromise corporate initiates, policies, and mission statement"