zookeeper

guest service agent

security guard

intern

technician

Nashville Zoo

Working for the Nashville Zoo was great in many ways. The pay wasn't anything to brag about but it was more than minimum wage. There were no employee benefits. The owners are foreigners who don't always treat their employees fairly as though they are disposable and indeed having a lot of turnover in staff seems to suit them just fine. They really enjoyed the extra sales I brought in and how I cleaned up and organized their gift shop operations but were very insecure and controlling which severely limited the sales they COULD have been making were they more willing to trust and let someone else take the reigns a bit more. I often felt that my ability to hire competent people was undermined by others who worked in a different division at the front gate who were keeping the best applicants for themselves and throwing me the leftovers to chose from resulting in what I felt was a shadow on my hiring abilities by making sure I got the worst talent to work with.

This Zoo has been growing significantly over the past several years but the only focus is on the exhibits, or the overall appeal of the grounds.  The employees here are underpaid, unappreciated and work in fear of getting fired if they don't "mesh" with a few executives.  We finally had a great HR department who improved our benefits and wages,  listened and coached us but they quit last month for reasons no one will disclose. 

Unfortunately I would have to change my career if I left or move to a city with another Zoo so I am stuck here.  The animals in my care make my job tolerable but this place could be so much more if they hired better upper management.  

Most of us need to work a second job just to make ends meet but our love for these amazing creatures outweigh the exhaustion, stress and lack of a personal life.

Working as a Guest Services Associate at the Nashville Zoo has been a truly rewarding experience. Every day presents new opportunities to interact with visitors from all walks of life and is a great job for people who enjoy engaging with the public. Daily tasks range from assisting with ticket sales, to greeting guests, answering questions and running the rides like the carousel and 4D Adventure Theatre. Our guest services leaders are supportive and make sure we have the tools we need to do the job. The hardest part of the job is being outside all day, especially on hot, humid days. The best part of the job is that every day is new and different, never a dull moment. If you like interacting with the public and enjoy doing something different every day, the Nashville Zoo might be the place for you! 

Most days you walk around, provide customer service, learn about the animals they house.  Occasionally you have to respond to emergency calls for first-aid or missing children.  The one draw back is you are in the weather most of the day.  Great on a nice spring or summer day, but crummy when its cold and rainy.  Only 3 days per year do they close, but of course security is expected to work. Pay was decent when I worked there, not sure if they have upped their payscale  Benefits were solid.  I'm not one to bring drama to the workplace, but there were some employees that would bring drama to their respective departments.  Upper management was fair and halfway friendly.  There were some employees in certain departments that may look down on you because of their job title or because they had a college degree in their particular field.

Arrived at work at 12 pm and then clocked in found a utility vehicle to use as transportation through the park. Checked all zones for trash during the next few hours then had an hour lunch break (unpaid). After lunch, unless it was a 6000+ visitor day, it was time to work on extra projects given by supervisor. Otherwise it was general park cleaning. At 6 pm park is closed and more detailed cleaning of the park ensues. After all zones and parking lot is cleaned then extra projects can be worked on for park maintenance. At 9 pm is clock out time, unless an after hours event is taking place then depending on how long the event lasts you could be there from anywhere between 10 pm to 2 am.

Greet customers, answer questions and tell guests about upcoming events and promotions. Help clean up when the gift shop closes. Help with inventory., restock the shelves.  Learned to be patient when it comes to having the gift shop in top shape during a typical day when the gift shop is opened.  Everyone there was enjoyable to work with. Everyone was a teamplayer especially when you need help in answering a question that a guest might have when I don't know or not sure on how to answer the guest's question.  The hardest part is when the season ended. The best part of the job was when I get to meet and help various people at the zoo every day.

i only worked here for a short amount of time. The interview process was easy but there was little communication for what the actual job would be. You work at different stations around the zoo (petting zoo, jungle gym, zipline, etc.) and deal with a huge amount of customers constantly. Most of the job was babysitting children (or adults) and enforcing the rules. 
The shifts are 9 and 1/2 hours (being on your feet all day) with only one 30 minute break. 
Overall the job was not for me but i would recommend if you really love children or interacting with customers. 

It is a great "first time" job. You get to deal with guest first hand and get to work with some animals (i.e.-petting zoo). But if you're wanting to do this to get your foot in the door to become a keeper or anything like that, stay away! It will not happen. I knew that coming in it would be hard, but having gone to school for agriculture for a bit I though it might be easier. But no. Also, it is basically impossible to switch departments in general once your in one. if you're ther, you're there. Plus, you WILL be working overtime for events weither you like it or not. 

They have a good membership benefits package for those who work here, but their actual benefits for employees are poor. Only three holiday days off a year, takes forever to get PTO, and the introductory periods last forever. 

Most of us are either looking for new jobs or completely different positions in the Zoo. Coworkers are rude and don't do work themselves but encourage you to do something, lots of weird drama between people for no reason, and most days are loud in the Zoo.

To top it all off, the pay is low.

In the winter, there were frequently days where no one came into the building for help for the entire shift. In the summer, there were days where there was never an end to the lines of loud adults and screaming children. Everyone was drained because there was no mobility and poor compensation,  staff in the sister-department was a constantly rotating group of high-school students who were bullied by their head manager. No tattoos showing it 'unnatural' hair colors. 

Fun to feed the birds and ride the zip line during slow days. 

Not a good jumping off point for another job.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Zookeeper 8 salaries reported	$17.87 per hour
Guest service agent 12 salaries reported	$15.28 per hour
Security guard 14 salaries reported	$17.50 per hour
Intern 4 salaries reported	$12.50 per hour
Technician 11 salaries reported	$16.79 per hour

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