retail supervisor

customer service representative

greeter

production specialist

store team leader

Goodwill of Silicon Valley

Overall I liked working at goodwill. I guess it really just depends on who your coworkers are and how management is individually AND as a collective.  Let’s break it down:
Coworkers: Just like any other job, coworkers can play a major part on your experience. This doesn’t reflect on the company necessarily but I wanted to mention that most of my coworkers were the reason I stayed so long. They made it easy to enjoy work. 
Environment: When certain people would work, the energy and environment was great. Easy going, genuine and overall a good vibe. But when others would work the environment was very stressful, thick with gossip and at times unbearable and uncomfortable.  Again, depends on who was working. 
Management (individually): The only negative thing I experienced while working there was the GM. Lack of interest with helping others, lack of communication, unable to see how unprofessional behavior would affect the employees and store as a whole, and failed to recognize and understand employees complaints. The others were outstanding.
Management (collectively): Communication is extremely crucial and majority (but not all) of the supervisors and managers (specifically the store I worked at) are incredible. From helping on the floor, to organizing and handling important tasks, to being so understanding and easy to talk to when something would come up. They’re the types of people everybody wishes they had at work. They show and express the core values goodwill seeks to represent.
I suppose the only things that made me question whether or not it was worth working there is when I saw tasks being pushed on other employees and management by the GM instead of helping them, others being taken advantage of due to being extremely efficient, and at times seeing and hearing inappropriate and unethical actions. Most of the time the issues relating to why I questioned it is surrounding the GM and their lack of professionalism. But overall it wasn’t too bad.

From the moment I came in to work, I clocked in and went immediately to do my job required. I was able to personally "complete" it within 4 hours(Before lunch), which left me more free time to assist the other departments such as the Shipping side of things. I still continued to maintain the customer service desk and always carried the customer service phone with me just incase.

Lunch time was just comfortable and I kept to myself.

Management was always on my side and taught me a lot of things in order to improve my customer service game, such as the tone of voice to use with an angry customer which I applied in my own way to calm down customers. It was always my most enjoyable part of the day to just sit there, talk to the customer, and help them out with any issues that arised, even if it might end up in a refund.

The "hardest" part of the job was dealing with the returns we got on a daily basis. It wasn't my favorite part of the job.

The co-workers that I had all supported me as well during my time as a Customer Service Rep. I also asked them questions about anything they post specifically so I could understand what they were trying to convey to a customer who they don't talk to.

Goodwill works much like Salvation Army-helping convicts, homeless, drug addicted, mentally challenged and those who are job challenged. They tell you this is a good 'step up'...to work here and move elsewhere. That gives a good clue about longevity!
Some of these folks may be your boss. Or your co-workers.
Goodwill (after drug testing), will attempt to place you in one of their Retail environments, Warehouse or if you are lucky, small corporate environment. Hard work and very low pay. Very minimal benefits, no room for advancement other than working at the stores and moving up.
Vets work in the recycle mattress area; pulling apart used mattresses for recycle for low hourly wages. Warehouse has people sorting used goods 6 days a week. Both are located in old warehouses with hard physical labor and NO ac or heat in summer/winter.
Most Goodwill jobs are for those who need VERY firm structure and guidance. Rules/working conditions are 'convict-like' to keep you in line...and protocol is tight.
They are centrally located in Downtown, and have a small cafeteria to serve food.

The management team and HR of Goodwill Silicon Valley are corrupt and their behavior is vile . They treat people terribly and allow predators to work for them. If you expect to be treated fairly, guess again. The HR staff are awful people who pretend they are working for you. Never mistake that these folks are paid by their bosses to deal out the company's best interests, not yours. They will dump you in a heartbeat with no second thoughts about how it affects you. I would recommend that anyone considering working for them should burn or delete the application and never give it another thought. Employees are not protected from customers who are clearly mentally ill and or on drugs. Employees are expected to wait on these customers as though nothing is wrong even though these people are often threatening to staff and customers. Requests to place security guards or other intervention are ignored. The manager I had was smooching on the female staff and HR simply moved him to another store. The worst of the worst and lying liars who lie.

This place sucks the life out of you. They expect you to work like a dog all day, but there is no career advancement, bonuses, or even basic gratitude. It doesn't matter if you worked hard and went above and beyond; if you make the tiniest slip up, your job is on the line regardless of your successes. Essentially, they don't care about their employees. You are simply a means to money and that's all you'll ever be. Special shoutout to HR for consistently failing to lookout for their employees. In fact,  HR serves as a tool for management to make sure that you are on the job at all times and don't take a minute extra to yourself. Most of the people working here peaked in high school and it shows. Promotions and such operate like a high school clique, if you make it in with "popular kids" of management, you're set. However, if you don't, it doesn't matter how qualified you are, you're not getting the job. Because of this many are underqualified for their positions to say the least. There are many other organizations with better benefits who actually care about their employees. Run from here.

After an eventful day of work from lifting, operating and greeting it does in fact apply a tough strain to the muscles. Working from Goodwill teaches you how to have an understanding of mass amounts of expensive merchandise being handled, understanding the difference from retail and donations, does in fact provide a educational motive toward expectations of a million dollar corporation and in-depth shows you exactly why merchandise is sent to Goodwill and no where else.   The work duties are quick. Management is fast paced. Management also provides a nice place to eat as there is a break room and refrigerator welcome to all/most employees on and off duty. After a workday or workweek you tend to notice which parts of the duties are hardest and most enjoyable. The hardest part of the job is unloading the production trailer because the production trailer is in fact tightly squeezed with watermelon boxes. The most enjoyable part of the job is being completely able to function in a median paced environment with extracurricular activity moving around my work area.

A typical day at work begins with cordial conversation in the breakroom while waiting to punch in using the time clock. Also, greeting customers at the door where we received quality donations and issued receipts used for tax purposes. We further prepped pallet for the trucks alongside placing goods for sale in bins for placement on the floor. I learned that my position maintains skills that are transferable to accounting. Management turnover was noteworthy; while a foreign supervisory manager brought the work ethic and culture to our store that ultimately was not a good fit.  Workplace culture was cordial and responsible; contrary to the "Lord over you" micromanagement style of 1 supervisor. Her oppressive value system capture the hardest part of the job. Promotion and helping out wherever and whenever necessary added value to flow of work which I found to be the most enjoyable part of the job.

The day would start by clocking in at 8a.m., checking and responding to emails and checking voicemail. Then I would meet with a case manager and take notes about any specific tasks needed to be accomplished, time frames, scheduled meetings to attend, clients to transport,etc. I learned that there is no one size fits all sales approach when dealing with the veteran population. We are all individuals and Goodwill does an excellent job with individual job placement.
   The management of Goodwill Veteran & Rentry Programs are very professional, supportive and effective. The office environment was positive, but I felt somewhat insulted by coworkers interrupting me before I was done speaking.
   The hardest part of that job for me was having to listen to a coworkers non stop preaching, lack of listening and communication skills and prison politic gangster mentality.
   The most enjoyable part of the job was seeing smiles on the veterans that we assisted.

Goodwill isn't a terrible place to work as a local truck driver. Most of the work is drop and hook and shifts are around 8 hours a day. You rarely work later than 5pm with two paid 15 minute breaks and an unpaid 35 minute lunch. There is occasional overtime but nothing too crazy. Trucks are relatively new but the trailers are very old. If newer equipment means a lot to you, then this might not be the place for you.

The employee benefits suck and there is no retirement plan, so again, this might not be the place for you unless you plan on staying here short term. Pay is low but it's Goodwill so what do you expect? Lol  

Truck drivers are probably treated better than most other positions here at Goodwill so I don't have anything negative to say about management. Do your job, don't get into accidents and everyone leaves you alone. Other than that, if you can handle multiple drop and hooks a day, dealing with crammed and tight stores and old equipment, you'll have a great time here.

A typical day of work consists of putting clothes out on the racks, pulling clothes off the racks that are old, putting production out on the shelves, organizing the merchandise so it looks nice and keeping the store clean.
 One thing that I learned while working at the store is how to tell what clothing is still good and which is bad as well as how to price products according to their value.
 At the Goodwill there are co-workers who catch on quickly to the work and are there to help pick up the work load when it gets heavy. Everyone there at the Goodwill is respectable and have great personalities.
 The hardest part of the job is when I didn't understand a certain job duty and I had to learn it within a certain time frame, and when it gets very busy at the store and I have  tasks to handle and it doesn't slow down till closing time which is tiring. Then i have a half an hour to close.
 The most enjoyable part of the job is staying busy, learning more and knowing I earned my check!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail supervisor 23 salaries reported	$20.98 per hour
Customer service representative 67 salaries reported	$18.42 per hour
Greeter 48 salaries reported	$18.43 per hour
Production specialist 43 salaries reported	$17.96 per hour
Store team leader 1 salary reported	$68,640 per year

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