Fun place to work with no job security and mixed management styles
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While working with Albertsons LLC., not to be confused with the dead Albertsons Inc., I had a very mixed and usually fun experience. I started with them at age 15 as a bagger, or, as they like to call it Courtesy Clerk, and it was an incredible experience to start out. I had excellent supervisors and managers and they pushed me extremely hard which led to me learning how to work hard and efficiently and helped me learn the importance of having a strong work ethic. I was taught very well and learned how to perform perfect customer service even with difficult and sometimes abrasive store patrons. Something they taught me that really stuck but has no real world relevance was how to bag groceries and they taught me how to do it right. At the time I thought it was a stupid thing to have to repetitively practice when not with a customer but it's something I eventually realized was a very important procedure. Today when I go to King Soopers or Target or Walmart I don't allow them to bag my groceries because they don't bag correctly, and sometimes even safely with meats, at all and because of what I was taught by my teachers at Albertsons. Within 2 months I was moved up to cashier and was again meticulously trained on how to do my new job. Then in the next several weeks I was forced to start a second job to support myself and surprisingly my manager was more than willing to work with me and my new revolving schedule. After a whi
ProsAbove average pay, 20 minute breaks, good chance of being promoted.
ConsPossibility of lay offs at any time, horrible treatment from corporate management
Typical large grocery store chain. Typical days consist of general production, stocking and cleaning interrupted by greeting/helping customers. Amount of teamwork depends on what department you're in and time of day/shift but generally one communicates directly with 6 to 10 coworkers a day. (I worked in a pretty small store.) I learned pretty much everything there is to know about the grocery store business except the higher levels of management and bookkeeping. (Shipping/receiving, inventory/ordering, customer service, loss prevention, creating/managing sales displays, shrink prevention, analyzing sales trends/patterns, specialty foods and services and many more.) Local management is very understanding and flexible; district and corporate level not so much. They would come into the store with impossible expectations and agendas without recognizing each stores unique situation. All large companies suffer from "one size fits all" philosophies and Albertson's is no exception. This problem is intrinsic to large companies and cannot be avoided but its still frustrating to the grunts at the bottom of the pyramid. Several times while working there changes were made which everyone agreed should not have been made only to have the company revert back to the old way after 6 months or so and millions down the drain. Usually such changes were made because someone in corporate found they could save some money in the short term by making said change; without thinking of the long term. An
Prosrelatively easy, low stress env, discounts, working with the public
Consinconsistent hours, very repititious, holidays and weekends, working with the public
I gained experience, but it wasn't necessarily good.
I'm not sure that I would condemn anyone working for Albertson's, but I certainly wouldn't praise someone for picking this company as a career choice. From the moment I began working until the moment I was laid off four years later, I was told on a daily basis to not get comfortable because the store would be closing soon.
My first night on the job I was brought into the department and told where the lights were for the cold bar (that's what we called the area behind glass where we kept our salads), I was shown where food was in the freezer, and I was told where the supplies for cleaning dishes were located. The supervisor then told me she was going home and left me alone in the department. I thought I was going to have someone come in and train me on the machines or how to cook food, but no. I was left alone to run that department and close it down, and I had to get my feet wet by being pushed in, not by jumping in.
I managed to make things work. I read the labels on the containers and packages until I could convince myself and customers that I knew what I was doing. I unfortunately had to turn away several people, but I did make some sales. And those customers came back the next day, and the next, and so on for four years. I became an expert at my job and was up for promotion when the store finally was put into real danger of closing. The owner had died and his sons inherited the Albertson's company - at least that's what we were told - and were auctioning it off to t
ProsIt taught me to dive in and be the best despite circumstances
ConsPoor training, few opportunities to advance, little to no raises in money, no real implementation of authority by management
Albertsons is a massive corporation that has a void to fill in terms of management, pay, and work balance. But it has alot of culture, and job security.
A typical work day:
Get to the store, read over your daily tasks, this ranges from cashiering, to maintaining the store, to bagging, and such on. After that you go about your day, help customers, and be there if they need you. You also have minor daily tasks to do such as gathering shopping carts, cleaning isles, putting unbought products back on the shelves, etc.
What I learned:
While I was with this company for almost 4 years, I learned how to perfect my customer service skills, as well as how to effectively manage my time.
Management:
The management with Albertsons is the worst Ive ever had to deal with, and I was an employee. My personal manager, we will call her "Manager A", and my store manager, "Manager B" (Who is Manager A's boss).
During my time there Manager A and I had personality conflicts. She tried to pile work onto me being as I was a rather quality worker, and if I were to tell her I would have to either stay for overtime to do it, or ask if she can give it to another person in my position, she would threaten me with a write up, or actually write me up for 'Insubordination'.
One of my final weeks of working with the company I was on vacation in another state. I requested the correct days off including the day before and after departure. Manager A neglected to tell me she didnt grant me the l
ProsMeet awesome people, Forged in the fire for customer service, Learn how to bite your tongue.
ConsPainfully short breaks, Very low end benefits and pay, Low hours, Atrocious management (For the most part), Company has a lack of care for employees.
Can be either fun or horrible...depends on your manager
I've been a cake decorator for about a year now. I love doing what I do and making people happy. My coworkers are nice for the most part but as for management it goes both ways. Some speak down to you and others want to be friends. For example, while still new, a manager whistled at me, snapped his fingers, pointed to a spot on the ground in front of him for me to stand, and rudely gave me an order. Never introducing himself as the assistant store director. My manager on the other hand is too nice and never wants to look bad. I feel like she took advantage of me by constantly asking me to dish out bad news or coach other co-workers...coming from someone who is not a manager- lectures about what someone did wrong and how to improve are not very effective and people tend to talk bad about you afterward....not fun but I say what has to be said so mistakes wont be repeated.
My manager also delegates most of her tasks to other workers, comes in hours after her shift starts, leaves hours early (my favorite excuse of hers is "I have a life, you can stay"), talks on the phone with friends, hides out in her car when she is supposedly in the office doing paperwork, doesn't order supplies on time (yeah, happy birthday- I don't have what I need to make your cake), she recruits others to help with her job and takes all the credit for it. Doesn't train new employees properly- I took on that responsibility with the past 5 employees, she just sticks them to learning one task like baking
ProsUnion, steals some money each week but you have job security and fast raises, "Sample" foods in each department
ConsPoor, unorganized, unreasonable management, They try to push you to work off the clock, No actual full time employment
Enjoyable work environment, fun and friendly co-workers, physically demanding, must be self sufficient
Once you have punched in the first thing you do is grab a cart and start culling the tables. Once that is done, start looking at your hot spots and grab what you need to fill them. customers often have questions on products so it's best to know your stuff. Depending on the time of year you will have to cut watermelon bowls. It's very important to never run low or out of these as there is a 56% profit on them. The front tables must always look their best as it's the first thing the customer sees when they walk in the door. Bananas must always be kept full as it's the most selling item in any produce department. Bagged salads must always be fresh and full as that's where most of our money comes in. Now that the department is as full as you can make it, you grab your cart and cull the tables once again. That's when I start cleaning up the backroom to get ready to leave. I run my cardboard and trash to the bailer and dumpster, sweep and squeegee the backroom floor, make sure counters are clean and clear and make sure the Goat (a big garbage disposal) has been ran and is clear. Before leaving, straighten the tables once more. Clock out and leave.
I learned most everything I know about retail here. I learned how a grocery store works, how to run a register, everything I know about produce, honed my customer service skills, learned time management, organization, learned to write orders, problem solving, sales tracking and business.
Management has always been fair to me here
ProsPleasant work environment, friendly people, plenty to keep you busy
ConsHours bounce around every week, The dumpster in the summer smells horrible
Was bullied in the bakery and nobody did anything.
Let me preface by saying that I loved this job. Working in the bakery was easy and fun and I learned a lot. The whole store felt like a community and everyday was different.
However, about 2 months into working here, I began having issues with a coworker. She had clearly disliked me from the get-go, and nobody knew why, as I got along very very well with everybody else, but I decided to give her space as I didn't want to cause any problems. She trained me, and I helped her do her job on the daily, even if that meant I had to put my own work on the back burner sometimes. I found out after about 2 months that she had basically trained me completely wrong. She trained me to do almost all of her responsibilities (of which she had very few, might I add) so that she could leave early. She got spoken to about it, and I was told things would be different by my manager. Never got an apology from this girl, but decided to let it go so we could coexist. However, things only got worse.
She became very cold towards me, would leave huge messes for me to clean up, clocked out and left hours early, leaving unfinished jobs that I then had to race to finish or stay late for, and was all around not doing her job and being extremely rude about it. Not only that, but she, a grown woman, would throw tantrums at work. I'm talking crying, throwing things, slamming things, walking out early. It was scaring the rest of the staff. She was getting spoken to about it by management everyday, but had no
A somewhat productive workplace with nothing to do but work
A typical day working at Albertsons would involve me coming to work usually 10 minutes before my shift, and clocking in my time that i came to work on the company's time clock. i then would start bagging groceries if there were any customers at the check out stands. Bagging customers' groceries required a strict set of rules that were hard to follow and very confusing at times, but i managed to do everything as best as i could. Bagging customers' groceries also required me to work under pressure, as sometimes the customers would yell at me and treat me like im an idiot if i accidentally did something wrong when i was bagging their groceries. If there weren't any customers at the check out stands, i would be required to do any random work i could find, like putting baskets back at the cart stand or cleaning any garbage found in or around the check stands.
Occasionally, i would also be required to sweep the store floors,clean the bathrooms,take out the trash, and pull carts from the parking lot. Sweeping floors and cleaning bathrooms was a pretty easy task to do, but sometimes customers would try and get me i trouble with management for something i didn't do by telling me i didn't clean the floor or the bathroom when i did. taking out the trash wasn't really part of my job, but sometimes the managers would tell me to do it because my coworkers were lazy and didn't want to do it. I think that pulling the carts was the most challenging thing about my job because most of the ti
Union protections, poor management, hostile work environment
Albertsons was the first corporation that offered me a job. Union membership was required in order to maintain employment. Within one year of working at Albertsons, I was moved from courtesy clerk position--lowest position--to a barista position at the Starbucks kiosk before being officially promoted over a year and a half later. In 2012, due to layoffs, I was demoted to courtesy clerk combo (fulfilling courtesy clerk position, cashier position, and barista position) before being reinstated in April 2013.
The management overall was unpleasant to work with. When I asked for help from my assistant store directors because of my Starbucks manager, neither one offered any relief from her poor management or lack of self-control over her emotions. I was given extremely detailed cleaning tasks as a closing barista, with no other associate available to assist me. The Starbucks manager and the store managers were demanding that I perform those cleaning tasks, serve customers, and close the department without giving me time at the end to finish my tasks. None of them wanted to hear my experiences or ask me how we could work together to find an agreeable solution for everyone involved.
Scheduling was often an difficult issue for this store. I accepted the position with the understanding that my school schedule would be accommodated, but more often than not, my managers (both store and Starbucks) showed very little understanding or flexibility. I was harassed about any time school w
ProsUnion protection, health and dental, claims to have flexible scheduling
ConsQuestionable management, seniority over experience or ability determines promotion
Your typical work schedule upon entering will be preparing food products to sale to the customers such as Deli Meats and Cheeses, Fried Food, Making Trays, Grab and Go Meals or Snacks and Sandwiches under the supervision of your Deli Manager or by your seniority. You are also expected to hand out surveys towards the customers and make half an hour announcements. You will also be deep cleaning and rotating products hourly.
I really didn't learn anything, but to do better than what my management or co-workers were doing. You might pick up some skills, but
The management doesn't represent the business very well, they're selfish, rude, immature and dishonest. Too many chiefs and very few Indians. There are some decent managers out there that follow the rules, but barely have the authority to do anything. During your interview, they ask questions while testing you throughout the entire session. Make sure to let them know what hours you actually require and what your pay should be. Expect them to also break their own policy, health codes and make poor command decisions that will not be for your own benefit. If you report something that is broken, they'll likely not fix it until 5 months later.
Many of your co-workers will be after your job and hours, do not trust them to be your friends. They are more than willing to bark orders due to a poor command structure and report you over the pettiest of things to make you look like a horrible worker. Advise to keep to yourself an
ProsReward System
ConsPoor Scheduling and Hours, Bad Management, Untrustful Co-workers
Questions And Answers about Albertsons
What is the interview process like at Albertsons?
Asked Jul 8, 2016
One interview, 20 minutes. Got the job.
Answered Nov 9, 2021
This place is a train wreck all along I kept asking what about the benefits what about the pay and I never ever could get that out of them why would you want to hide the benefits and stuff like that from somebody who’s thinking about coming to work for you something is wrong with that
Answered Aug 20, 2020
What tips or advice would you give to someone interviewing at Albertsons?
Asked Aug 26, 2016
They are about the company and making money only.
Answered Dec 10, 2021
Dont do it! You will find yourself very unhappy.
Answered Nov 21, 2019
How are the working hours at Albertsons?
Asked Jul 13, 2016
New part-timers, a lot of hours 30+. Stay there for just a year, hours are cut to 24 hours. That $.10 extra is too much for them to give you more hours. But they don’t hire people, so you’ll work 36 hours and six days a week, which in-turn schedule you 12 days straight in a two back-to-back weeks.
Answered Nov 9, 2021
Fast paced
Answered Sep 21, 2019
What is the work environment and culture like at Albertsons?
Asked Jul 8, 2016
Very unsafe. Lift drivers are going to kill somebody. North salt lake location
Answered Feb 26, 2020
The culture, environment, & management all just hire & run them off & hire more. Awful really everyday dreaded & hated working there. Over worked, under paid, treated badly, & won't ever recommend anyone to work or shop in such a terrible place. Hours are awful you are there so the favorites can have off & you will close everyday.
Answered Nov 21, 2019
Do they drug test?
Asked Apr 3, 2017
No I was not drug tested June 2021
Answered Jun 7, 2021
I was not drug tested. Maybe they did away with it in 2020.
