pharmacy technician

deli associate

warehouse worker

produce clerk

meat cutter

Albertsons

****Skip to the bottom for a basic overview****



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 while it became too much, between my senior year of high school, working 40 hours at one job and up to 30 at the other, I had to put in my notice with Albertsons. All 6 of my supervisors and managers had separate conversations with me regarding my leaving and they ranged from wishing me well to (mostly) begging me not to leave. On the very last day of my 2 week notice I was approached by the store manager and he offered me a position in the grocery department that allowed me to have a schedule that didn't clash at all with my school schedule and payed enough for me to not need to work more than 40 hours a week so I decided to immediately drop my other job and took the position I was offered. When I started in the new position I had the absolute greatest boss I have ever had. He was an incredible teacher, pushed me to work harder every day as a boss and was a friend at the same time. He taught me many things about the grocery business and helped me to grow as an employee and as a boy growing into a man. Working in the grocery department for Albertsons LLC was the greatest work experience I ever had. It truly showed me how to have fun while working my butt off. About 6 months after starting in the grocery department I was promoted 4 times, from clerk to lead clerk to meat and dairy supervisor to assistant manager of general merchandise to manager of general merchandise. While in these roles I learned how to operate, fix and run everything in every department in the entire store(short of the pharmacy) from the running and cleaning the deli slicers to operating and fixing/maintaining the powered pallet stacker. It was an incredible experience and my manager kept me busy and learning for that entire time. After a few months of being the GM manager the grocery manager came down with terminal brain cancer and voided his position immediately. When the news came down and the posting went up I was the first one to jump at the opportunity and my manager, the assistant grocery manager who didn't want to become salary, and the store manager decided to give me a chance(the Albertsons LLC hierarchy from top to bottom goes Store Manager-Assistant Store Manager-Grocery Manager-Assistant Grocery Manager-GM Manager-Front End Manager). This is when the job got horrible. The learning curve was ridiculous to say the least and since our store manager was a new father of twins I was also shouldering some of his responsibilities without the right training. My old manager had been a part of some of the office work so he guided me through what he was privy to and helped me wing it with everything else. I am a fast learner and didn't have any major issues after the first round of corporate meeting and a month of conference calls but at 17 it was a very difficult and frustrating process. After 2 1/2 months I was in a groove and was doing great when the corporate office finally revealed they were closing my store along with 26 others across the mid/south west for share holder purposes and 90% of all the employees at the stores affected would either be laid off or transferred to surrounding stores and mostly in diminished capacities including all upper management being moved down at least one level in the food chain. I worked as hard as always through the 3 month store closure and helped in every way possible in hopes of being one of the lucky ones but ultimately I ended up being offered a position as a grocery clerk(about 9 steps down), with pay well below what I was making as a clerk at my original store and that was over 30 miles away from my original store and about 40 away from my home. So I obviously turned down their offer and tried to haggle with them to at least help me get closer to home and I was basically laughed at and told because I was so young and relatively that I was one of the most dispensable employees they had. So at the end of the store closure, when the doors were being shut and locked for the last time, I was laid off by the regional manager. Even though this was one of the funnest and most fulfilling jobs I have had the pleasure to perform I would recommend that everyone stay far away from this company. Albertsons, whether it be Inc. LLC. or any other entity, seems to have a tendency to shut the doors of any number of stores on a whim and while it seemed that my job was at least some what secure even with a closure I was miserably wrong and I paid for with how it ended.

SO...in summary, my typical day at work was varied from the beginning. I would clock in and I would begin work which, every day throughout my entire employment, would range from bagging groceries, running a cash register, working the customer service booth, running and developing photos, frying chicken and making potato salad, slicing deli meat, baking and icing cakes, stocking shelves on both sides of the store, supervising the individuals who do the jobs previously mentioned, running ordering reports, watching and identifying sales trends, helping set up local sales for the weekly ads and the list never end. Albertsons LLC provides an amazingly varied and satisfying schedule and work day for individuals willing to work hard enough to prove they deserve the responsibilities.

As for what I learned, that's hard to nail down as well. I learned everything about the grocery business while working with Albertsons LLC. From how to sustain a hard work ethic to the ins and outs of the business side of groceries, I learned just about everything anyone could possibly learn.

The management side of things was slightly varied but overall the in store management was excellent. There were a couple stinkers in the bunch including the assistant store manager, the HR manager and the front desk manager but every other manager and supervisor in the store that held the position for over 2 months was absolutely awesome. I learned more from my managers at Albertsons LLC than I have learned from any other company I have worked for. I also had the best boss I've ever had at Albertsons LLC. He was absolutely incredible and effective and he is almost everything I have modeled my management style after.

Every single "co-worker" I had while working with Albertsons LLC was nice and I never had any issues with them. Employees I had working under me on the other hand were generally obnoxious and lazy. For every 1 good hire we had there were 5 horrible hires. When in supervising mode I was constantly finding people taking extra or extremely excessive breaks, usually in strange hiding places, being rude to customers and even sometimes stealing. So again, co-workers = good, employees = bad.

The hardest part of my job was generally having to correct and make up for my employees when dealing with customers. After an altercation with an employee people are generally not too happy when they work their way up the chain from rude cashiers to unhelpful supervisors to myself or one of the other managers on duty. It was a fulfilling part of the job, being able to do right by the customers but it was also the most difficult.

The most enjoyable part of my job(s) while with Albertsons LLC is the same thing as what my average day was like. No other job I have ever had has given me the freedom to do so many thing in a single day. I absolutely love having a varied work life and thrived in the position where I was not only able to DO everything but was also required to do every one of those things, sometimes all of them on the same day. 

For people who love variety in the work place the path I took with Albertsons LLC is definitely for you. While it was an extremely genuine path, there are still ways within the company to progress similar to the way I did. But in general terms I would not recommend Albertsons LLC as an employer to anyone, ever. They handled the store closure horribly and my situation worse. Even without my situation factored in 2/3rds of the upper management staff were laid off entirely and the 2 that weren't were reduced in their roles and were making far less than they were previously. To me that just doesn't seem like the correct way to manage any type of company.

I’ve been with the company all my life at store level 30+ years so I’ve seen the good and bad.  GOOD is it helps develop great work ethic. You learn to test yourself for the expectations are big. You can be a mentor to entry level associates and a mentor that means something. You can make a difference in someone’s life and develop direction for people that have none.  The customer and associate contacts are unlimited and can build some outstanding relationships.  Benefits are strong but going up in cost.   Medical, Dental, Optical.  401k match 7% you get 5%.  Short- and long-term disability.  You accrue vacation that is very competitive in the industry.  You can build a solid foundation for yourself with great skill sets that are practical in life.  You expand exponentially on communication skills.  It pays lower-level bills and the environment changes daily.  A non-management associate can utilize to get through college, keep themselves busy and if they pay attention can learn a ton about the logistics of business. For anyone not pursing management, it’s really a solid, diverse job with security that can be fun. If you want to work your way up, there are copious positions available. Albertsons is growing quickly, and the company needs people like never before.  (Pay determined by area, length of career and volume of store you work in.  Pay justification is also relative to work/life balance, how you feel that is) it’s an essential job and you will not worry where your paycheck comes from if you take care of it …………. 
that consists of the rest……….   
BAD is that the company is now publicly traded (Again).  Rolling out program after program 1/2 that make good business sense.  Company’s focus is more production with less hours.  Training to train monkeys instead of investing into knowledge of the associates experience and letting them operate under the unique circumstances that each establishment is in.  Albertsons is losing a wealth of experience because of this.  Managers are getting younger and less prepared.  Your time is needed on the sales floor but are flooded with office junk.  50+ emails a day, 5 that are needed (But know them all).    Everything that’s wrong is your fault even if its errors on the company.  Company errors are 80% of troubles. I.T. infrastructure is grossly outdated. A “Speak & Spell” computer from the 70’s could bring up web pages faster than at store level (I mean that with all do respect).  Low pay for associates but expect the passion and investment of high tier candidates.  This is where it’s up to you to build the diamond out of coal.  The never-ending challenge.  There are videos that are supposed to make you faster at what you do, hence saving labor.  The labor save expectations are not practical.  You would need a 10 out of 10 persons to get that savings.  I would compare this to the average person watching YouTube and because they did, they were instantly and expert at what they saw. What’s hard to swallow is you could put in 80-hour weeks (and you do. Many of them) and feel a personal self-accomplishment but when outside management walks in its as if you have done nothing.  There’s no resolution to anything you do other than you know you will have to work more.  Your told to delegate (and you do), but if you don’t lead by example, associates NEVER learn and DONT care (This is what the company attracts with pay, and the image set by workload).  IF your young (20 something) with no family and can more or less live at your location you will advance. Got to be able to handle long days 10 hours + daily.  Being athletic definitely helps. Doing some kind of work on your days off, answering texts, shopping for items, catching up on emails etc. (Some of this is relative to volume of store, the more business you do the more problems you have.  Also, if you are salary.  Hourly you just end up going in and  working).  Switching your personal plans at a moment’s notice (leadership is coming, someone called in, the list goes on). Time to coach and teach by inspiration is a 3 out of 10, ruling by fear and criticism is a 7 (This is 
 half of outside management, you at store level must be the buffer).  The company is trying to change this.  In open forum the message is team and recognition which has been increasing.  You can see them trying which is positive.  Then you get the one-on-one phone call or store walk.  This is where you hear all that’s wrong and negative.  The message can be “What is going on here”?  Can’t you solve shrink in this department or move the gross higher in another?  Conditions need help.  Oh, by the way NO overtime while behind the scenes you’re cleaning up an organization mess costing you labor.   You know the underlying issue is self-inflicted by the company and your perpetually on damage control. You voice your opinion on this but its swept aside.  What it boils down to is your either part of the solution (just accepting that it’s your fault) or the problem (pointing out the true obvious underlying issues).  Albertsons knows that they need to strive to be better, to separate the company from competition, its how they do this that misses the mark.  Investing in programs and not its store level associates( I cant speak for the office).  Store level is all for excelling but if I treated my associates the way managers are treated half the time (which happens in facility’s everyday) they would be gone in under a month.  Working your way up is not desired like it was 20 years ago.  Management outside the store (of any kind) need to support the facilities, understanding they have their job to assist store level.  Be compassionate of the environment.  Jump in and ask how can I help?  Attack the stupidity of nonsensical programs. Vet Ideas and learn to walk before running.  Make it so TIME OFF IS TIME OFF.  Recognize all good less bad and inspire through accomplishments.  Instead, time is spent putting another spinning plate in your hand while pointing out the obvious.  You get so much information that you can’t execute one thing great. You look around and see all the obstacles that have nothing to do with you and how you operate so It’s tough to care about the vision, to stay engaged with striving. The workload far exceeds the reward in my opinion.  To be fair, I could be dated…. When I was younger and had more energy, lack of priorities, it wasn’t much a problem.  To build a career with longevity I’m not sure I can recommend(At store level).  What started as working till retirement is now trying to figure out how to get out early.  If you can be a yes sir/mam person that doesn’t care about associates (I mean in the way you truly want to see them succeed) you can do good.  If you feel comfortable seeing an associate struggle when you know it’s not their fault, you can move on.  If you can allow the blame to roll over your shoulders, you can go home and forget.  If you are the other way, you will beat yourself up continually and work your life away.  
One small disclaimer* There are few hidden gems out there in outside management.  I have met and worked with several and they are outstanding.  But too far and few in-between.  Their message is drowned out by the hypocrisy.  I know I said more bad than good.  I say these things hoping the company changes for the better.  It’s given me a life I couldnt imagine.  It could do the same for you. 
I’ve given my life to help it succeed. I just know it can do better.


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 example being a change in bags which were substantially lower in quality (and thus cheaper) that lead to loss of product, which increases shrink, multiple "re-bagging" during packaging, and customer dissatisfaction. In the end the company realized that all this hassle caused by the shoddy bags was not worth the 2 cents per bag that they had saved by switching; and thus switched back, wasting thousands of dollars in the process. The expression "stepping over a dollar to pick up a penny" applies here. In other words, the corporate offices and bigwigs are not consulting the worker bees at the bottom before they make decisions; they just make them.
There were a couple of strike threats while I was there (there was a big strike less than a year before I started and it was talked about a lot) because every time the contract (between the union and the company) expired the company tried to cut benefits and wage scales and such. The company does everything it can to keep as many people off full-time as possible (and thus preventing them from reaping full-time benefits). I once worked five 39 and a half hour weeks consecutively (taking a page from wal-mart's book). These kinds of practices are typical, and expected, of large companies that see their employees as expendable grunts and are an unavoidable blemish in the shinny facade of capitalism. But that's a whole other discussion and you get the idea.
For the most part my co-workers were cool and I made many friends through this job. Grocery stores typically have a high turnover rate so there's always a few new people. As with all jobs it can get political and cronyism does exist. My store in particular was small and had a family-like atmosphere so things like favoritism, gossip and tattling were pretty rampant.
The hardest part of the job is pleasing customers during extreme circumstances such as a large group coming into the store (4 buses of people all at once for example) or a clutch person calling in sick. When you're way behind and the customer flow keeps coming (thus preventing you from catching up) or a very picky or rude customer throws a wrench into what you're doing, it can be a bit overwhelming. Anyone who's worked customer service jobs knows that working with the public can be a blessing and a curse.
The most enjoyable part for me was going to work knowing exactly what I had to get down that night, that I would be working with people who's company i genuinely enjoyed and that I wouldn't have someone staring over my shoulder while i did it. I worked in a side department, and mostly evening shifts, so I had very little to no supervision. I was trusted to do my duties and not clown around. So I was able to talk to my coworkers while working without fear or shame of "big brother" scolding me for doing so. Having coworkers who not only help you but also make you laugh makes a huge difference and such jobs should be cherished.
In conclusion, I enjoyed working there because I had good coworkers who were also my friends and the tasks were not physically or mentally demanding. Yes there were problems with the "higher-ups" but every job is that way to some extent. If you don't mind being a worker bee in a very big hive or working with the public, grocery stores could be a good fit for you. Just don't expect to make a lot of money or to advance quickly.

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 the highest bidder.

At the time Albertson's also had a small gas station that was unused for several years and the new store manager asked us to revamp it. I was asked in a meeting what I thought would be a good way to get people interested and I suggested that we sell our leftover foods from the deli and bakery at the pumps.I was laughed at at first, but I was told I could try it out one night and see what happened. I made $85 the first hour and sold all of our chicken. By the end of the night I had made over $200. The program became a regular event, but I was the only one who ever made money because I took the time to actually talk to the customers.

Near the end of my job I was coming in to open the department, I was training new team members, I was cooking all the food, I was selling the food and packing up food that didn't sell, I was selling the remaining packed up food at the gas pumps, and then I was closing down the department. I worked twelve hour shifts more than a few times and rarely saw the employees I was actually training. I was never up for promotion and I barely made more than $8.00 an hour.

The biggest problem I had with Albertson's was that their employees had no real training. I worked with a man who would turn off the lights and yell at people that we were closed because he felt like going home early. There was no implementation of punishment for doing poorly in your job. Some of the people there would take two or three hour lunches and never clock out, and none of the managers would even shrug their shoulders when informed. It doesn't surprise me that the store was always threatened in closing.

By June of 2008 I had started to look for another job. The rumors about the store closing were getting worse and people were leaving left and right. I received a letter in the mail from the company headquarters with a check that said, "Termination due effect immediately." I went to my store manager and he said he knew nothing about it. I was still on the schedule to come in for the next week. My boss called corporate and was told that I had been laid off as one of many cuts to the store as it neared its swan song.

The store closed shortly after and many employees were not lucky enough to get a check in the mail for their services.

Overall I learned several skills from my first real job, but the biggest one I learned is not to give up. You can't let people drag you down; when someone shoves you in a department with no training and leaves you to your own devices, you can either start reading labels and trying to work, or you can sit on your thumbs and blame it on poor managers. I left my job at Albertson's as a senior member of my department and one of the top sales people in the entire store because I didn't wait on other people to train me and tell me how to do my job. I figured it out and I took the initiative.

I worked for Albertsons before when I was young. I was a cashier for a couple years and used to love working for the company. Had a wonderful time with my co-workers, etc. This was about 16/17 years ago. I decided to re-apply to do something different for a different department that seemed like I would really enjoy and to give me more experience with things that I enjoyed doing. I went in for a interview for that specific department. I told the hiring manager that I would like to work that department full time if available. Told them that I did work for Albertsons before so I have experience working for the company already. I just would really love to be put in this specific department because I really enjoy doing this type of work. I was asked if I would be interested in doing another department to make up hours that I wouldn't get from being in the department I was interested in because I was told that those hours were certain hours. I was extremely confused about this. I said that I would be okay every once in awhile, maybe as a part time but I wouldn't want to do this full time, I want to be in the department I'm hiring for full time first. They said ok then tells me to come back tomorrow to talk to that department manager because they want me to meet them.

So, I talked to the department manager. They seemed to really like me and said they were going to talk to the hiring manager to get me hired on because they want someone to work there who enjoys that department.  So I left and everything seemed great and I waited a whole week and didn't hear anything. I called and apparently something was wrong with my background check at first so they had to redo it. Waited a couple days again. Didn't get any call back so I called Mon and was told to come in to do my paperwork Tue the next week. So now we are 2 weeks from when I had my interviewed and hired and already having issues. I thought that was a bit weird and confusing but I just thought it was due to systems and other new hires. 

So, I am finally able to do my training videos. The videos are for the department that I applied for and got hired on for with the other videos you have to do. Okay, awesome, I'm excited. Then I was told to come in to start on the floor training on Friday. When I went in to start training they told me to go to the other department I said I would only do once in awhile as a back up here and there. The floor supervisors were confused, I was confused. I didn't have any numbers to clock in with or to use for the job. I already knew how to do that job anyways besides having to learn a few new things with new systems. I did some new training there since we didn't know what was happening.  I was forced to work at this department for a whole week. I asked why I was here and not at my department I was hired on to do and kept getting told completely different things from everyone. I was finally able to speak to the store manager and the hiring manager about it and was told that there was a "budget" and the department I was hired for was over budget, etc. etc. Not to mention, there were 2 other new people that I saw working in the department I was supposed to be working in as well the whole time I was "training" in the other department I said I would do as back up, not full time. So, I was asked to "stick around" until after Easter when Mother's Day is coming up and that's when they will put me in my actual department. They will give me hours in the department I've been in as part time until my department has hours "available".  I waited in the break room to clock in to work. I heard them talking to each other about what happened. It was EXTREMLEY unprofessional. They were talking about how it was MY FAULT?? They were also using vulgar language and were very rude about my character. I've only been there a week. I walked downstairs and out the door. 

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 last 2 days of my vacation as I requested. (I couldnt go in and see while I was still there either due to company policy). She said I was good to go and such. I get a call from our book keeper telling me I was late for work, and I explained to her that I requested the days off and I was told I was good to go with the days. She got grump and said okay and hung up. I come to find out my mother went shopping a few hours later and Manager A yells at her infront of the entire front end, past all the registers, and makes a scene about me failing to show up and do my 'simple job'.

My first day back from my vacation I was greeted with a write up. I didnt argue, but instead went to Manager B (A's boss) and told him about the incident. He sent me home (unpaid) until the regional HR manager could get in contact with him, and the man was on vacation. A week later Im told I am being let go due to a policy I broke, as well as 'insubordination' again.. I tried calling the regional HR manager myself to see what went wrong, and he told me "You are a waste of space there, and always lying to the store director about Manager A", yet that was the first time I ever complained about her.

Co-workers:
The co-workers there, aside from most managers, are amazing people. They come from all types of backgrounds, with different stories, hopes, and dreams. Im still friends with a majority of my co-workers I had there, and they are some of the best people Ive ever met.

The hardest part of my job:
This would have to be about how much I had to bite my tongue when most managers came around and started acting like they were a deity, and how they can do no wrong.

Best part of my job:
I met alot of amazing co-workers and customers. Im friends with 2 customers, and I was invited to one of their weddings a few months before I was let go at Albertsons. Most of the customers are great people with alot to tell, from WW2 veterans, to chefs, and some business owners. Its really a great mixing pot to meet people from all walks of life.

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 cookies for 2 months. I have to teach them about our products, prices, how to bake/decorate, packaging, taking orders, cleaning, opening, closing...pretty much everything. I take on the responsibility otherwise we suffer and she points fingers at me for. Recently, she blamed me for a big drop in sales because my 3 cake tables were nearly empty for about 2 weeks. I kept requesting that she order more cakes and she never did (distracted with her new boyfriend she would brush off my request and start chatting with me about him- we were friends at the time). 

wow...i can write an essay on my frustrations with management. Everyone knows what goes on and no one does anything to improve the situation. I had to cut the friendship off with my manager and just keep things professional in order to get work done...in retaliation she changed the schedule of my other friend so we cant talk anymore. She became jealous of my other friendships once I stopped sharing personal info with her and started sharing with my friend. When I talk I keep my hands moving and my eyes on my work so it never interfered with my job (I could still produce 20+ cakes an hour while talking) She keeps talking about firing her because she says she talks too much....as a witness, my manager will pull you away from work, hide in the back and talk for over an hour about herself before letting you get back to work. Its crazy, looking at this essay I wrote, I think I really needed to vent O_O

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. They helped teach me everything I know and I owe them a lot. There are those that stand out in my mind more than others but that's to be expected. They have always loved to joke around to help keep a positive work environment but can turn around just as quick and whip you into shape. 

For the most part I have enjoyed my co-workers. Some are better than others but that is also to be expected. I can't think of one that I just plain could not stand. I am still very good friends with some of my former co-workers. 

The hardest part of the job for me had to be keeping good quality on the berry table. Berries go bad so quickly plus our distributor sends out bad quality every now and then. It happens every year. It doesn't happen so much during peak season. Corn is another big one, I have had many complaints of caterpillars under the husk. That and the Husk dry out so fast you practically have to re-trim them twice a day. 

My favorite part of the job had to be stepping back at the end of the night, looking at the department and walking out knowing I did a good job. Always being given opportunities for new training and responsibility. The feeling that the people you work for have confidence in you.

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 real consequences for her actions, so it just continued.
I, among multiple other coworkers, spoke to our manager repeatedly about this, how we felt taken advantage of, bullied, and exhausted by her childishness. She constantly promised change, but then nothing would happen. So I went higher up and I spoke to our store director, twice. Still nothing. My coworkers kept insisting I call the employee hotline, but I held out hope. 
Finally, 10 months into this job, I called the employee hotline and filed a complaint, stating that my manager treated employees based on favoritism and took no disciplinary action when needed. However, this only led to me being ostracized by a few of my coworkers, including my manager, who became cold and aggressive. I finally quit, as I saw how catty the entire bakery staff had become.
These employees act like you're their best friend, and are so sweet to your face, but as soon as you turn around they will say the nastiest things about you. I've seen and heard it happen to everybody there. It hurt to watch a job that I had loved so much, and had so much hope for, turn into sick home for bullying and ostracism. The Albertsons company does not care for the well-being of their employees, they only care that you keep a smile on your face and put up with the terrible working conditions.

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 time the carts were never really put in the cart return, so i had to go and find the carts all over the parking lot and when i got them together and put them back in the store, the cars were all driving very fast and i had to be very careful that i wouldn't get hit by a car or i wouldn't hit their car with the cart. Every once in while, i would have nothing to do because i did all my work and there was no more work to be done, and i would have to beg to get some work because i would get in trouble for sitting around.
Management was pretty good most of the time. they were very nice people, and i never got into trouble with them because i was a good worker who followed the rules of the job even if i didn't understand them. I think that the only problem with management that i had was the fact that sometimes i had problem with a coworker or with something and they ignored the problem thinking that it would go away on its own when it needed to be solved by me working with management and other coworkers to solve the problem.
The coworkers also were not too bad, i just got along better with some workers than i did with others. But there were never any coworkers that i completely hated and despised.

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