American Girl operates a chain of retail stores specializing in the sale of children's toys. Through selling female-empowering dolls and offering dining, parties, and special events, the retailer creates a fun, carefree experience for young ladies. The chain always looks to hire and develop exceptional associates capable of maintaining the distinctive store atmosphere.
Facts About Working at American Girl
Hiring Age: 18 years old (How old do you have to be to work at American Girl?)
Available Positions: Sales Associate, Cashier, Keyholder, Merchandise Handler, Stock Room Associate, Assistant Store Manager, General Store Manager, Sales Analyst, Quality Assurance Analyst, Human Resources Associate, Accounting Associate, Financial Analyst, Distribution Specialist, Auditor, Visual Merchandiser
Printable Application: No. Search Job Openings or visit official site.
American Girl Job Opportunities
Ideal candidates work well with kids and encourage children to play and grow. The company wants crew members to enjoy work but to also maintain professional sensibilities. A positive attitude remains essential, as the retailer guarantees friendly, uplifting experiences. The ability to communicate effectively with everyone from children to grandparents also proves vital to the job. The retailer employs a highly diverse workforce, and associates must efficiently collaborate with coworkers from all walks of life.
The specialty retailer employs over 2,300 full-time and part-time workers year round and an additional 2,500 during the holiday season. Most job titles feature part-time and full-time opportunities. Customer service positions represent the most prevalent roles, and a variety of opportunities exist in store. Entry-level workers may find exciting work in sales, hair styling, event planning, and serving. Retail veterans may take interest in leadership roles.
American Girl Employment and Pay Scales
An ideal employer for entry-level workers and experienced professionals alike, American Girl offers rewarding jobs with room to grow. To keep team members positive and productive, the specialty retailer offers excellent compensation along with opportunities to earn more based on performance. Entry-level employees enjoy quality hourly pay, and seasoned professionals receive competitive base salary options. In addition to standard pay, workers may access merit increases, bonus programs, recognition rewards, and equity boosts. Some common jobs within the retail store include:
Sales Associate
- American Girl sells an experience.
- Sales associates need to interact with children in fun and positive manners and make each experience special.
- Standard duties include ringing up purchases on POS systems, stocking products, and maintaining clean and organized sales floors.
- The brand looks for sales associates who enjoy public speaking and exhibit warm and friendly demeanors.
- Sales associates generally earn between $9.00 and $12.00 an hour.
Doll Hair Stylist
- A doll hair stylists works in the American Girl hair salon and provides expert styling service to customers.
- Children pick from a variety of styles, and stylists need to use proper hair care techniques meeting company standards and satisfy each child’s expectations.
- Dolls with damaged or missing hair, considered “well loved” at the store, need handled carefully, and some creativity may need to go into executing a good-looking style.
- Outside of styling, stylists need to inventory salon supplies and stock areas.
- The average pay for a doll hair stylish rests at about $10.75 per hour.
Loss Prevention Associate
- Loss prevention associates protect store merchandise, property and cash while creating safe and secure environments for guests and team members.
- To ensure asset protection, loss prevention associates monitor digital closed circuit TVs and follow security and loss prevention procedures set out by the company.
- Loss prevention associates need interpersonal and teamwork skills.
- The average pay for a loss prevention associate ranges from about $11.00.
Management
- Management roles include assistant manager and manager.
- Overall, managers ensure guests receive quality service, lead associates, and monitor sales and finances.
- Managers usually need to hold three or more years of retail or customer service experience.
- Additionally managers need to display proficiency with POS controller systems, email, and inventory software.
- The brand requires managers possess high school diplomas and favors hiring workers with fashion merchandising or business degrees.
- Base pay for managers begins at $10.00 or $11.00 per hour, with tenured employees under store manager titles taking in over $60,000 in annual salary with experience.
Tips for Applying
Applicants should go online to find and apply for store jobs. First-time applicants need to create online profiles, which may include resumes and cover letters. Candidates should ensure proper spelling and grammar in all hiring materials. Additionally, career hunters should keep information current by continually updating personal job profiles. Candidates dedicated to attaining a specific job should tailor resumes and cover letters to the positions desired.
Application Status
After applying online, candidates receive confirmations for submissions along with job numbers. The confirmation informs applicants the talent acquisition teams will contact candidates if selected for interviews. If a week passes with no contact, a candidate may wish to talk to a hiring manager by calling the store or showing up in person. When in contact with hiring managers, applicants should inquire about the status of the job and express desire to join the company. The retailer seeks passionate, dedicated workers to join the team, and applicants demonstrating persistence may earn job offers.
American Girl Employee Benefits
A company dedicated to personal growth, American Girl provides a vast range of job benefits to help employees succeed inside and outside of work. Job title and location of employment may affect specific work benefits offered in packages. In general, the company provides plans to support healthy lifestyles, tools to boost future finances, and perks for enjoyable work/life balances. Healthy lifestyle benefits often include medical, dental, and vision coverage. Financial benefits include:
- 401(k) retirement plans with company match
- Company-paid life insurance, and
- Disability plans.
Work/life balance perks may include paid time off, product discounts, and adoption assistance.
Other Information About American Girl
Designed for girls ages three to twelve, American Girl works to inspire adolescents to learn, create, and grow. The chain earns notoriety for selling a variety of 18-inch dolls, with over 2 million sold since conception in 1986. Books and school supplies to further encourage personal development also stand readily accessible to patrons via the company retail chain. Since 1986, the retail chain sold over 140 million books. The brand catalog remains the largest consumer toy catalog in the U.S. and boasts a following of millions. The specialty retail chain operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel, one of the largest toy companies in the world.
Agnes M. Pluska (Croak) says:
In the fall of 1988, I was hired as a Pleasant Company employee. My job was to remove doll heads from the dolls that had sunken eyes and replace them with a brand new adorable heads. I loved my job and the challenge it required. One warehouse can store quite a few of dolls!
My supervisor, Pamela Todd-Miller, was so great! She made the whole experience fun and rewarding. She was so excited to share the news that the Pleasant Company was going to move to Middleton and we were asked to partake in the grand experience!! I was so honored to be invited to join the job of my dreams…are you kidding – I was asked to become like one of Santa’s helpers!!
The transfer took place right before Christmas and that’s exactly what it was like – we had arrived at Santa Pleasant’s factory of elves! I couldn’t believe it and how awesome it was to see such a huge operation unfold!! Everyone was full of enthusiasm and excitement!
For Christmas that year, I convinced my mother to purchase 5 dolls for my daughter and 4 nieces (Marie, Katie, Christina, Molly and Sam). We were able to bring them into the Middleton site to have Pleasant sign the dolls. What a special Christmas indeed! To this day, all my family loves their dolls and have purchased countless items from the American Girl collection.
At the new location in Middleton I was hired to work on the line to fill orders as they came in. Unfortunately, I was too slow because I kept rejecting products that I felt were not up to Pleasant Company standards. I kept thinking about all the grandmothers out there that would be buying product and wanted them to receive the very best. Maybe I should have applied in the returns and repairs department. Actually, the schedule did not work with my family at the time so I had to regretfully leave my employment at the Pleasant Company.
Today, I would love nothing more that to return to such an amazing place that provides joy to so many people…young and old!