counter sales representative

delivery driver

store manager

commercial sales executive

order picker

Carquest Auto Parts

A typical day would be getting the morning deliveries set up to go out making the routes for the drivers to take starting with high priority accounts then checking with my regular customers to see how they were doing sometimes getting back to them about parts we were looking for at the end of the previous day that's a brief description of a day. What I  learned.  That it is not a one man show it takes team work to accomplish tasks sometimes and not to be afraid to ask for help when needed also offer help if you see a coworker struggling with a issue. Management Carquest management for the most part was pretty good I had some good bosses that listened to us when we had problems worked with us to resolve issues. Advance Auto management on the other hand were not very helpful left us to figure out problems on our own made it more stressful by hounding the manager about the issue they were not helping with very cold and dismissive like it was not there problem but expected the store manager to figure it out quickly they put a lot of stress on my store manager. Workplace culture at Carquest was good. Not so much at Advance. Hardest part of the job Carquest keeping up with all of the calls from customers who only want to talk to you and nobody else also turning it off at the end of the day so many times I would be working on something for one of our accounts and would totally lose track of time and instead of clocking out at 5 it would be after 5. Hardest part of the job Advance Auto stress put on our manager to perform constantly on his back he was a good manager he did the best he could with what they gave him he even uses his personal money on the store to try and improve things and they still did not appreciate it. The most enjoyable thing about Carquest relationships built with coworkers and accounts feeling of accomplishment when you sold that Ac machine or oil filter crusher to a account there happy your happy everyone is happy it was something to celebrate.  The only thing enjoyable about working for Advance Auto was the relationships built with coworkers and the accounts because they were the same accounts as Carquest. 

● Work-life balance
Standard 5 days work, 2 days off- some overtime, I'm told there would be more, but due to coronavirus mandates in California, a lot less people are driving vehicles nowadays.

● Pay & benefits
The only area of being employed at Carquest that is weak- minimum wage starting but probably deliver $1000 worth of auto parts daily. Kind of cheap company, no employee discounts on merchandise, and health benefits are ridiculously high in cost.

● Job security and advancement
Just do your job well, show up ready to rock on time, and don't yell at the idiots out there sharing the road with you and you'll be fine. YOU have to put your career intentions out to management, if you want a career here it can happen!

● Management
I think I may be blessed with the most auto parts knowledgeable manager and assistant managers in the system. They know everything there is to know about auto parts, as well as the cars these auto parts are going into. All 3 of them started as delivery drivers, and its really cool working with them.

● Culture
Veey diverse group of fellow employees I work with, from all corners of the country and Earth as well. Plays well into the very diverse group of people in San Jose, Ca. Racism and favoritism is non existent at the location I'm at, we all get along as we should, like brothers and sisters!!

● Overall
Carquest Auto is a great place to work and grow in your aspiring auto parts career, if thats your goal. If not, its still a great place to work! High volume, fast paced workdays that go by quickly, and in this coronavirus madness, Carquest is considered essential to keep America running so you dont have to worry about getting laid off or reduced hours, at least here in San Jose, Ca. I can't speak of other store locations, only of mine. My store rocks, everyone is cool, customers are also. Being on the road delivering parts literally you take your life in your hands daily, with so many nimrods out there driving, but that isn't Carquests fault you know. Kind of cheap with the pay, considering our sister company World Pac starts at two dollars an hour more, exact same job description. But overall I would say 8.5 out of 10 if I were to be asked to rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. Thanks and good luck!!

A typical day for me is to check for deliveries because our customers come first, always.
If no deliveries are pending, I will focus on stocking night truck shipments that replenish previously sold items.
I have counter, register and sales experience with this position in which I will answer phone calls and order parts for accounts. Some parts have to be ordered from other stores.
I will assist the Store Manager daily for pulling Warranty, Core and New Return orders. Putting items in totes, labeling them and processing paperwork. After pulls have been made and paperwork has been processed, I will secure items on a pallet and create a shipment invoice for the night truck to take to the warehouse.

I mostly enjoy working the sales counter because I feel a sense of accomplishment when I am able to help customers directly, whether it is over the phone or in person.

When I transferred to this position, I was able to be more ambitious. Most of my co-workers do not have computer experience like I do. However, every one I work with treats each other like family. 

The hardest part of my job is knowing that I can accomplish more if I was able to be promoted but there are no positions available at this time for advancement and I'm stuck at a low pay and not enough hours, which is making finances hard with two children to raise.

This was officially my first job working inside an establishment and not working outside from job site to job site. I worked along side 3 other delivery drivers, A counter person/assistant manager, and our manager. This carquest was not a typical carquest as we did not sell car parts; This was a body shop supply warehouse that was bought out shortly before I began working here. The majority of what we sold were hundreds of custom car paints, some of which were extremely expensive for a gallon. A typical day working at this carquest auto body supply store started out with discussing with the lead driver and the other two drivers who would be taking what route, and once that was figured out we would start grabbing tickets, packing them all into assorted boxes for transporting, and lastly helping each other pack our vehicles. Once we were packed and ready to go we would begin our route. Our routes could consist of 1 delivery, 10, and sometimes 20; The distances would vary as well. Every Friday there was a run going up north, sometimes as far as lincolnville; I volunteered for this run as soon as we picked it up. This run up north was about 4 hours one way, which made making sure you didn't mess up the order while you were picking it pretty detrimental; The shops weren't going to see you again until the following Friday.

Little opportunity to control your time or your income. After two years of increasing sales not only was my salary cut twice, but I was asked to work more hours including Saturday every other week for a total of about 55 hours. Contract changed every year so I never achieved the annual bonus that was promised when recruited. Just when I achieved bonus objectives they changed the bonus program again. The ad doesn't give the full job description. CSM are required to work inside on the counter on Saturday and/or Sunday in some stores. Store manager's are forced to cut employees hours on a regular basis leaving the store unable to make timely deliveries and often not being able to answer the phones when customers call to place orders. While the mission statement claims the priority of providing great service, upper management continually implements mandates that do just the opposite. Avoid Car Quest unless you enjoy dealing with angry customers on a daily and weekly basis. Must drive your own vehicle, auto allowance and gas allowance is too low,

I was hired to be a Manager trainee, or so that's what I was told. I was placed with a self involved bs artist that had sooo many complaints against him it was ridiculous. This person almost lost CARQUEST their largest account CARMAX because he was so rude to not only his employees but even to his customers. They cut FT employees hours to save money instead of PTmers first so I took a night shift job with them so they couldn't cut my hours. I was then placed in a work environment with a Crazy female employee that couldn't control her emotions and a Vietnam vet who had post traumatic stress so bad he would throw stuff scream at people and he was the ASST MANAGER. The store manage was 24 yrs old and worked from noon to 4 and just showed up when he wanted to. I had to go to the city offices and complain just to get the Crazy ASST to stop smoking in the store without being threatened. I had called HR several times to try to resolve these issues but they do not care about their employees AT ALL. If you notice all of the positive reviews are those of PT drivers cause they are not exposed to all the BS. Finally I was hired away by a competitor that respects its people and doesn't make empty promises. They also pay well and treat you like you are part of a team not a number.

Although it was fun to work for CarQuest Auto Parts I found that it was more of a competitive store for business than it was about taking care of it's employees. I originally started out at minimum wage of 5.75 per hour and after four years I was still only making the new states minimum wage that took place in 2006 of 7.45 per hour and was struggling to be capable of getting food for my family of 4 even though I was working full time with no benefits. I was only capable of bring home approximately 200 to 250 dollars per week. I ended up leaving the company not because I wanted to leave but because the company had a policy that if you had more than 4 automobile accident in less than seven years you could no longer drive the vehicles as a delivery driver. My manager at that time tried to get me to be capable of working as an cashier in the store instead but the company let me go do to the fact of the 4 automobile accident happening and then proceeded to fight the fact that I had been laid off by them so I could not obtain unemployment for another 4 months after the lay off to be capable of providing for my family but by that time I had managed to obtain another job and was capable of feeding my family again but only by obtaining state assistance. but in general the work place was original.

What is the best part of working at the company?
My employer made this a wonderful experience, went the extra mike to help me who didn't have a licence at the time get to work and have things to do. This is a job for someone that isn't looking for a career and just needs a job right now. And is a great reference to have that you worked somewhere for 2 years . Gained information if anything else which is the goal at the end of the day. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The amount of independent thinking/ problem solving was not fairly compensated. Other companies if hired to do the same work would cost 70% more than the $15 an hour bi weekly I was making. But thankfully I got hurt and forced me to make some changes

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
There's independence sometimes which is nice. But the abuse and lack of emotional empathy in the store was toxic. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
There's not enough room to type the amount of tasks I was completing daily, weekly, monthly for 2 years. I worked in the store and outside of it. Maintenance is a broad topic. Property management is more what I felt like I was doing. And just happens to work at car quest some of the time.

Report to store at 7 AM Prep for daily calls, check new product and promos. Make first stop by 8:30 and would end at the store by 4:30 to write daily call reports. My daily calls averaged 16 to 18 stops. My goal was to discuss promos, sales and new product offerings with customers. Follow up with opportunities and customer services. I learned all about automotive parts and related industries. My manager was great with training, feedback and help me to be more knowledgeable and successful in all areas. My main responsibility was to support 4 different store locations. My fellow teammates were all long term sales people in this industry and well matched in personality which, made all interactions and team sales great.
The hardest part of the job was keeping up on the constant stream of new product information and changes in company programs. I was successful in all cases but the process took many hours outside the normal workday. The best part of the job was the people and the unknowns that everyday brought. I loved the industry and being able to travel the Territories.

Worked there for 4 years and dealt with a lot of bad management and favoritism.  Never would get offered full time employment and when the store closed I had worked there longer than any other team member.  I feel like I worked extremely hard and put up with a lot of stuff to try to increase sales and turn the store around and didn't get any recognition for it and I wasn't the only one who felt this way.  I never called in, if I did it was about twice a year at the most. Others in the store were being treated the same way.  Was suppose to receive bonuses when the store made plan, but never did.  Then they come in and give us less then a months notice that they are shutting the store down and either you accept a position at other store in another town or you go home, which I went home.  I stayed the whole time and helped get the store shut down and on the last day that we were opened for business I never even received a thanks for all the help or any kind of thanks for all the work that I had put in over the years.  Mainly upper management was the problem.  As long as they get there huge paycheck they could care less about the people who actually keep the wheels turning.  I'm sure its not this way company wide but it was in my area.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Counter sales representative 8 salaries reported	$16.88 per hour
Delivery driver 3 salaries reported	$13.17 per hour
Store manager 2 salaries reported	$45,000 per year
Commercial sales executive 4 salaries reported	$18.70 per hour
Order picker 10 salaries reported	$2,300 per week

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