Terrible 'Design Trainee Program' which has a success rate of less than 50% - Apparel Design Trainee JCPenney Employee Review

Communication was terrible, with an atmosphere that everyone was just trying to cover their own butts, rather than working together. Design trainees are lured down to Texas with the promise that after the six month trainee program (basically a full time design assistant position with the added pressure of extra 'trainee projects' which must be pitched to all the design directors for all the departments) there would be a full-time design position available. This is not the case, as trainees are let-go at about the 5th month of the program (so JCP won't have to pay taxes on you in the new year) and are expected to pay back the $2,000 moving bonus unless you've been with the company more than 1 year. They'll forgive the moving bonus if you sign a non-disclosure/non-defamatory contract. A neat little trick if you were not prepared to face the cost of moving again, paying back the original moving bonus and finding a new job on top of that and had an inclination to warn any of your friends/school programs that JCPenney plucked you from. While there are a few nice people at the company, most design trainees are paired with mentors who are overworked and uninterested in helping the newbie learn the ropes, not to mention untrained to handle the responsibility of helping the Design Trainee succeed with their trainee projects. It wasn't a complete bust though, as I learned to be a little more shrewd when selecting an employer, and only wish I had known in advance that they can most of their trainees so that I could've spent more time squirreling away my money rather than building a real life in Texas.