management trainee

retail sales associate

relief manager

associate manager

truck driver

Big 5 Sporting Goods

The store level workers are great! They find ways to make work fun. I absolutely miss that. You'll form great relationships with the employees like no other job. They are very fun people to work with. My former coworkers are what made me look forward to coming to work everyday. The amount of teamwork is just great! Most people are more than happy to help you with projects. Same with the Store Manager, he is fair, funny, professional, all of the above. Schedule flexibility? Absolutely amazing, the best that I have ever seen and will ever experience! Working at Big 5 part-time will be the easiest job you will ever have. Not so much full-time because cooperate management will have extremely high expectations for you. And sadly, it is very hard to get a full-time position at the Klamath location. If you want to advance in the company, it seems like you would have to be working at multiple locations for 5+ years, which comes from a lot of people in the district not only this store. It is very difficult to get any promotion with this company. Also, the pay is the not the greatest compared to other easy jobs around the area. However, at the end of the day it's still a corporation. The only thing that cooperate management cares about, is sales. Sure, what cooperate management wouldn't? But the amount of neglect that the store receives is unacceptable. There were some big plans of moving departments and adding more shelving to the stockroom that was supposed to be done a few months ago... well, that never got done and most likely will never be done. Cooperate management will make petty excuses on why they don't get things done on time. Which resulted in us doing the same. Like getting equipment for a safe work or shopping environment, they will take their time on it. Since the Klamath location is "out of the way", cooperate management doesn't care so much about the store employees. Such as being over worked and being expected to do big projects in an unrealistic deadline. You wouldn't have to worry too much about cooperate if you work part-time, but once you become a part or full-time manager, then you should. They will get on you for not getting things done on time but when you keep them in check, they act like it's a waste of their time. If cooperate management was better, I probably would have stayed and made Big 5 a career. Big 5 being one of the only sporting goods store in this town, it doesn't get overwhelming busy surprisingly. The attempt of micro managing from corporate management will always come off as insulting, as they've made me felt like I wasn't competent enough to help run the store correctly. Every little thing has to be reported to corporate management, even if its a store level issue. The replenishment and inventory system is not the greatest. Every location is different, which corporate can't grasp. There are things in the store that will not be sold for months, even years and you would have to transfer them to a different location. Every location has different needs and wants. In conclusion, this is a great location to work at if you are a college student or retiree. Not so much if you would want to advance in the company. I did gain spectacular management experience at a young age. If corporate treated their employees more like humans than just a number, I would have kept working there. Will make a great corporate retail experience. Real quick, raises? Not so easy to have that conversation with corporate supervisors.

I've been a sales associate, manager trainee, and assistant manager here.  First and foremost, the only full-time employees in this entire company are corporate in El Segundo, or management.  If you are neither, you are part-time, and minimum wage.

The sales aspect isn't bad, and if you have the ability to sound confident in what you're saying (whether it's true or not), you will be a top salesperson.  There wasn't much pressure for sales initially, and rightfully so as this is hardly a competitive-wage job.  But more recently they have been pushing individuals to track their sales, and harass every customer that walks through the door to give up their e-mail address to receive coupons and weekly ads via Big 5's "cutting edge" program, the E-Team.  Seriously, they want every manager and salesperson asking every customer to sign up for the E-Team, then they want cashiers asking everyone who checks out the same thing.  While I understand the idea behind the E-Teams, they really want each customer asked for this multiple times during each visit, and it feels almost like you're harassing people.  They come for sports equipment, and your main priorities are to assist them and get their e-mail address via any means necessary.  Stores are compared to others in their region based on the metric of how many e-mails they get daily.

Also, they do not care about part-timers at all.  I've been to many manager meetings, and they always push the same agenda.  First, managers are to basically keep a list of their "bottom 10%", which means the lowest sales and task performers in their store.  In Big 5's corporate mind, managers are always supposed to try to get rid of their weakest links.  They don't care to train and improve these individuals.  It's cheaper just to find a legal way to fire them, then replace them with someone else.

Also management is hit-or-miss.  Some managers are professional, know what they are doing, and get it done.  Some are more chatty, don't do much but delegate tasks while they talk about how their nails weren't done properly last time (yes, this is a real example I've had happen to me).  Some play favorites, and give a few people the majority of the hours, while giving some 5 hours or less a week (this is one of the ways they are encouraged to get rid of that 10% I mentioned earlier).  Some have actually lied on my write-ups to try and get me fired (One time I was late on a Friday shift and sent home, also told not to bother coming in the next day.  Upon coming back to work I had to sign a write-up saying I was late for both Friday and Saturday, even though I was told not to show up Satuday as a punishment.)

All in all, if you're going to school or attempting to get a better job, Big 5 is a decent way to fill the time with a little money.  But if you're looking for a career that will let you support your family, you better become a store manager quick, or move to greener pastures.

At Big 5 Sporting Goods everything started out great.  I learned a lot was given responsibility and did what I could to succeed.  A typical day at Big 5 was clock in put your personal belongings away in a locker go to the sales floor and assist customers.  When you get a chance go to the front and check the work board to see what tasks you were assigned to that day.  Multi-tasking and prioritizing your assignments was key to success.  What I learned was that not every company is as professional as they say they are.  I learned that even though professionalism is paramount my managers were not professional at all.  Management was completely screwed up; from the store manager down to the 2nd assistant they did not completely comprehend professionalism.  They would gossip about employees as well as the district manager; they would have their favorites who could do no wrong; they would single out others who were not on their favorite list.  The store manager from the very first day was telling me bad things about the district manager and included that she hated him.  She went so far as to say that she hated her job and wanted to go somewhere else and liked nothing about the company.  I was completely new on the job and was very motivated but after hearing that I was completely ashamed of what I thought was going to be a great company.  From the top down the management only cared about themselves to their favorite employees who they would never write up.  Insanity is expecting different results but not doing anything about it.  My co-workers (the favorites) knew who they were and would exploit it at all costs.  They hardly worked and would stand around, walking around the store acting as if they were loss prevention, but never lifted a finger to do any hard work.  Whats funny is that while they were working it seemed that was the most opportune time to go ahead and shoplift.  I would find empty containers of items all the time and they weren't doing anything but standing around or walking around the store.  I learned very quickly to watch what they did and identified the problem.  They would talk to each other and not focus on their jobs leaving anybody that was inclined to steal to do so.  The hardest part of the job was to watch these people get recognition for what they did and others get singled out for why they didn't accomplish their tasks as well as the ones who did nothing.  The most enjoyable part of the job was to make a customer happy and see the smile on their face because of your hard work to find them the item that they wanted.  I was so happy to leave and would never want to work their again.

Working at BIG 5 was very great. I really liked going to work because my coworkers were really nice and so were my Managers. They were really understanding and lenient if you needed certain days off for school or if you were having hard times. I got called in a lot to fill in for my coworkers, but I did not mind. I was always happy to help.

A typical day at BIG 5 would be coming in, greeting customers, and looking at the daily log to see what your duty for the day was. Most of the time I was in the front as Cashier. A Cashier's daily duty is to keep the 

-Cashier pit clean

-Keep the clothes organized

-Dust the shelves

-Prepare the sales ads

-Take note of the defective products

-Keep an eye out for suspicious behavior with customers (loss prevention).

I was starting to do really good for Cashier, and I would start to be called in on all of my days off. I'm not even exaggerating! Like I said, I didn't mind. I got called in one day to cover the sales floor which is primarily shoes, but you do get questions asked about the workout machines, fishing equipment, and work out gear. My Manager noticed that I was doing pretty good in Sales so when I started coming in to work, I was slowly transitioning from cashier to sales. I really enjoyed it.

I'd say the hardest part of my job was when I had a really upset elderly lady. She got upset because BIG 5 doesn't let the customers take the hangers (we reuse them) and she started ranting about how Walmart lets you take them and that she's never shopping there again. I was Cashier at the time, checking her out and her husband had put a hat on the counter that he wanted to get, out of frustration, she grabbed the hat and threw it. I had a surprised expression on my face because I did not really expect that but I maintained my cool and just let her vent out. The last thing I wanted to do was poke  her buttons. I felt really bad that she got so upset just not being able to take the hangers home from the shirts they were getting.

Over all it was an enjoyable work experience, I loved my coworkers and how we always helped each other out if needed. My managers were also great. I got a lot of insight from the business perspective by working at BIG 5. Some things where what the company would do to try and get rid of products that aren't selling, they'd mark them down. Also they would make forms for us to sign in case there's a work related injury lets say on a ladder for example, they wouldn't get in trouble because we read and signed the safety information on Ladders.

The management at store 182 was excellent! There was a good mix of giving you clear instruction on what to do during your shift without feeling micro managed; the managers and my coworkers were all friendly and laid back, we had fun at work while still getting the job done. 

The job wasn't very difficult once you learned the ropes, all of the sales associates had their areas of expertise and areas of weakness. There is a lot to learn about the products throughout the store but it comes with time, the managers are willing and encourage you to ask about departments of uncertainty and they will teach you more about it; I was often able to get somebody else to cover the gun department because I wasn't knowledgeable in that area.   

A typical day consists of engaging customers around the store and asking if they need help with anything, the shoe department is the highest traffic area where I spent the most time. We would normally have a couple tasks on our work board for the day such as sizing shoes, sweeping the backroom, making shoe displays etc. On truck days (once a week) we would come in at 4 a.m. and unload the truck and then stock merchandise alongside helping customers for most of the day. Between ad set, truck, sizing shoes etc. it gets repetitive but you learn where the product is pretty quick. 

The hardest part of the job is the same as any other retail job, dealing with the angry customers; you are going to get the customers who think you should be an expert in every single department but as long as you are honest and don't BS them by making up stuff to seem knowledgeable and offer to get a manager to help them when they are free there normally isn't any problems. Other than that the job isn't very difficult. 

This is a good job for someone in college, I was going to college part-time as well as coaching basketball and refereeing and they were able to accommodate all of those commitments in my work schedule. Hours are inconsistent throughout the year however for part-timers because the sporting goods industry isn't stable (busy at the start of sports seasons and the holidays, extremely slow in January and February).

- The best thing about while working for Big 5 Sporting goods were the flexible hours, which allowed me to be able to adjust my schedule accordingly and allowed me to attend college classes.

- The worst thing is the hidden policies that are not written in the employee handbook that they present to new hires. For example, I am a male and I had a small ponytail that was just past my shoulders. In the handbook it only states no unnatural hair color or hair styles, the last part being vague, but still understandable. For my first year there, there was never a problem with my ponytail. One day, district manager comes in, sees me, and says I have to cut it because male employees cannot have their hair grown past their shirt collars. I stated what is written within the employee handbook and he counters it by saying not all of the policies are in the handbook and there should have been a poster in back about dress code and appearance in our break room, which we didn't even have. Our "break room" was a narrow space of the stock room the width of a bedroom door and only one person could fit as the space was also used for, of course, storage space for things like chairs and canopies. 

- On that note, the second worst thing is the lack of actual break rooms where employees can comfortably have their breaks and meals. All they are is just small spaces of the packed stockrooms with one or two chairs, a table, and if you are lucky enough, a mini fridge and microwave that takes up even more of the already cramped space and table.

- Sales associates are not properly trained by managers about products, resulting in being unable to help customers, losing business, and overall reflecting poorly on the company. The only "training" that is provided is cut dry, outdated videos. And once the video is done, the information is not able to be accessed again by the employee. No hands on explanation or demonstrations for greater details or if something is still unclear. Essentially, hired and told to go sale stuff like a child being tossed into the deep end of a pool and told to swim. Employees who care about doing a good job must devote what should be their own time free of work relations into independent studying.

I guess I should start by saying, this job was a stark reminder/confirmation, that I REALLY don't like working in warehouses, period. I really find the inside of warehouses depressing, I've never wanted to see the sun so bad in my life. So keep that in mind if reading my review to help you decide whether or not this job is for you. As far as warehouse work goes, this was one of the better ones I have been in, which I attribute to the fact that everyone there is union, which means the managers treat everyone with respect. The quota you are expected to meet every day is pretty daunting although not impossible. Every day that you fall short of your personal production rate you are written up. You also get written up for small mistakes, sometimes that can be out of your control (I had a label fall off a box of product while it was on the conveyor belt before it reached the loading dock). You can only recieve 4 write ups, on the 5th one you are terminated. I found these perameters to be very stressful to work under. I am all for hard work, but feel that holding people to these standards under threat of write-ups any time you have an off-day, is counter-productive to getting the most out of people. I feel like if I was less stressed/focused on not falling short of productivity, then I would be more focused on the task at hand. I also found the work/life balance very skewed, since it is swing-shift (3:45pm-12:15am)when you start out. You can get morning shift (5am-1:30pm) after about 3 years of employment (seniority based wait-list). I felt like I had very little time to do anything on weekdays before work, and even if I was doing something I had time for prior to work, I had the looming understanding that I would be going into that gloomy warehouse for 8 and a half hours later. If you enjoy or do not mind warehouse work and swing-shift hours, then I would definitely recommend this job.

Big 5. That was a great place to work on most days. I would come in, clock in, do a shoe verification, then straighten the store. On some days I would also set new advertisements. Most days customers came in pretty regularly, but not in herds. I would help size a customer, and then I would grab whatever shoe they chose in their size. If we didn't carry the size, I would grab a shoe that is similar. I would also accept calls for shoes and other merchandise, and if needed, put item on hold for customers. I would also help carry out big items, and place them into the customers vehicle. I learned many basic job safety skills, ladder safety skills, retail skills, and customer service skills. I also picked up some basic technology skills too. Management was the COOLEST. They were very understanding when it came to leave and sick time. They were also very helpful when it came to unloading merchandise from the truck, as well as covering for lunches and illness. The Co-workers were also very cool. They were funny, positive, smart, and experienced. You could ask anyone for help with anything and you got it instantly. The hardest part of the job was memorizing what was and what was not on the shoe wall. With so many different pairs, different brands, colors, and sizes, it was initially hard to identify, without the book, which were where, and which were missing. The most enjoyable part was the hours. the job was so very flexible in hours. I worked maybe a couple of hours one day, then a full shift the next, all because of school, and then the schedule would change when I needed to have something fixed.

There's ever a dull moment working at Big 5. There are always customers in need of something different from the right pair of running shoes to firearms and ammo to exercise equipment to camping and outdoor gear. There is plenty of product knowledge needed to do well so there's always something to learn. If it's a slow day there is always some sort of project to be working on. I learned how to deal with employees and co-workers to create a supportive and productive work-environment, how to diffuse situations regarding both customers and/or employees. The management staff was always friendly, knowledgeable and hard-working. The hardest part of the job was getting employees that have been there a while to stay productive and not get a feeling of complacency or entitlement. I enjoyed being able to help customers who thought they'd be in for a fight when they had an issue (returns, need a better price, defective equipment, etc.) leave happy and excited to return, also building a relationship with the regulars and listening to their stories about hiking treks, sports talk or gun talk. I learned a lot about people, such as what motivates an individual or what one might struggle with when learning a new job. I would have no problem staying with the company if i did not have other ideals for my career and what I want to do for the rest of my life. I was able to rise through the ranks from a part-time sales associate, leave for school, come back and land a job as a part of the full-time management staff.

I started with the company as a walk-in applicant, for a part-time sales position. After starting with them, I easily worked my way up to Assistant Store Manager in just over a year. Overall this was a good company to work for, the pay was ok. I think the major cons was the hours always changing to the point that customers and employees would be confused when we operated, and the pay was on the low end often open way later than any other business around us, sometimes later than people are even out shopping. 

The day to day tasks are somewhat antiquated, and the District supervisors were often walking contradictions. The dress code is a bit silly, for men khakis or work slacks with button-up shirt. Used to be worse. I think the worst part of big 5 was "truck days". In all the stores I worked in, the truck day was always a disaster, often overloading the tiny stores and the skeleton crew was now tasked with operating a store while unloading the shipment all in office attire. 

I eventually left because they could not keep my wages up with the growing costs of living in the town I was in and had to leave or become homeless as a store manager. 

Honestly though, if I had to do it again, I would! This is a small company, with skeleton staff often operating the stores, but everyone had a name, you knew the people you worked with. You weren't just a number, even at the District level. I really felt like someone at Big 5.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Management trainee 1 salary reported	$15.00 per hour
Retail sales associate 171 salaries reported	$14.65 per hour
Relief manager 1 salary reported	$20.81 per hour
Associate manager 1 salary reported	$15.42 per hour
Truck driver 19 salaries reported	$27.17 per hour

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