guest service agent

learning specialist

facilitator

learning and development facilitator

animal care specialist

Shedd Aquarium

A typical day at the Shedd Aquarium was a brief meeting with the boss letting the team know what type of day was ahead of us, getting prepared for customers and a busy/calm day. Interacting with people from all over the world and country was the excitement of the job. On game days you see the fans of both the Bears and whoever they are playing, the interaction between the fans and the workers are priceless you would think we all know each other and are getting snacks to go watch the game together. Some days are jam packed and you have to work at a fast pace but that's what i like; working at a fast pace keeps me on my toes and not worrying about what time it is. My coworkers have taught me a lot without knowing, they were my family and if i needed anything they were there to help vice versa. Could never come to work in a bad mood because the people i work with will do something to make you smile and/or laugh so your can have a better day. The managers where hands on and cool, they did their jobs and if we were swamped with customers they would even come help out. The most enjoyable part of the job was interacting with my customers especially those who are visiting the city i would refer them to my favorite places, and restaurants in the city and they would tell me something about them and there culture.

I sincerely loved every day I worked here. However, with the location, it is hard to keep up with the cost of living. It is a non profit, and although you have AMAZING health benefits and retirement/ FREE tickets, it would be hard to live in the city without relying on another source of income. It is not very close to many eating establishments, so you would eat in the concessions priced cafeteria or bring your own food. they have a great view of the city so it is awesome to eat outside! You learn a lot about the care of the animals and learn to love sea life if you don't already. The managers I had are now gone, but they were the best part of working here. 

As far as tasks go, it is easy to learn the systems and they are willing to take the time to train you. There are few opportunities for advancement but they do annual raises. You spend a majority of the time on phones in a small call center-like environment and you really get to know your team. Your team is very diverse as far as backgrounds and ages, etc. Loved everyone I worked with!

a typical day at work is very exciting and fun , no one day is ever the same . there is always things to get done and things to do . the thing is to make the best of the little time you have to do things and make it into a very educational day one that the guests have fun and they learn things about the animals they see at Shedd Aquarium . My co-works are all great to work with and if we get a new one i get to train them and teach them things they need to know about the deffrient posts they are posted at . The hardest part of the job is to read the guest , what kind of day theyare having if its a good one then i know i am doing my job well . if not well then i have time to make their day better by helping them to find something they would like to see and do . Helping each and every guest have the best day they ever had and this makes me feel great about the job i do at Shedd Aquarium

A typical day at the warehouse was anything but slow, you would get there in the morning and start receiving for the stores scanning and pricing, sorting and counting. In about an hour of arriving you were called downstairs to get the deliveries for the stores which meant sometimes 110 boxes of merchandise loading it by hand sometimes alone with a hand pallet jack. The hardest part was sometimes you and the manager were the only ones there and if there weren't over 50 boxes you were downstairs alone loading it up on pallets and bringing them up in the elevator all by yourself. The most enjoyable part was the management at the time was very approachable you never felt insuperior, and she was always willing to train you how to do all aspects of the job including the management parts.

working at the shedd aquarium was by far one of my favorite jobs . . . the animals, the people i worked with ,the trainers, the experiences i learned and was able to share with guests was amazing. . .the guest were not always apperciative , and when they complained ,we got wrote up. . . even when we were doing our job. .typical day  morning meeting, informed of the days agenda .  everyone on the same page..i learned something everyday, all day  from the guest the trainers and imformation passed on by fellow associates . .typical day during peak was exciting from the minute we opened at 9am till we closed ,  fast pace ,sometimes overwelming , 8 to 10 thousand people a day. . .never the same day different posts, different people you work with

A typical work day consist of having a morning meeting where you are told where you are scheduled for the day. Most of the time you will be scheduled what your original post says online. The work is easy and the environment is really upbeat BUT don't expect to work the full day you are scheduled. Most of the time they will send you home after 4/5 hours, so even if you are scheduled 30 hours a week, chances are you'll end up working only 17 or 18. 
Management is ehh. You will mostly only see them in the morning during the meeting, and talk to them when they send you home or have you move post. So you will more than likely have to look to your coworkers for help when needed. 
Overall pretty good place to work if you are just looking to work a few hours a week.

It’s hard with these guest service type jobs in museum spaces. Large institutions like Shedd Aquarium are often hard to move up in. The pay was poor. The soft benefits were nice (free admission to a lot of the museums in Chicago). Immediate co-workers were overall kind and supportive. Management was okay, it really depended on who you were working with that day. The job could be extremely stressful on busy days (I believe the max capacity of the building is 30,000 people). It’s a really cool place, but at the end of the day a job’s a job. The benefits might outweigh the negatives for some, they might not for others. Definitely not a job for people who don’t work well in high-stress environments. Unless you work upstairs in administration, but that’s a whole other story.

Shedd Aquarium is a great place to work if you enjoy a public entertainment setting, there are often days where you are excited to greet and talk to guests around the building, coworkers are often fun to talk to and work together with, and management can be very helpful.

However, there are days where the complete opposite is true, guests are rude, coworkers can be stoic and unwelcoming, and managers can give you a hard time over the smaller issues, and while it's not difficult to shrug off these qualms, it can wear you down if you are not prepared for it.

Highly recommend if you would like to educate the public on such amazing animals, but be prepared to tread thin waters when it comes to the hard things, enjoy the times when it is pleasant and endure when it is trying.


Either very fast or  slow days depending on the day, sometimes if it's too slow you'll be sent home with 3 - 4 hours in your shift and may have no chance to make up hours. Depending on which side of the week you work, managers might want different ways of carrying your job and enforce different policies. To get days off is basically impossible, one either has to call off, switch days, or drop a shift. Underpaid for the amount of work one deals with. Very stressful and if there's an issue most managers don't listen and will just give anything to the guest and make the employee look like they don't know how to do their job and if we don't enforce a policy because they don't you may also get in trouble.

They wanted so much out of you. You couldn't sit down or lean against walls. You had to radio in to take bathroom breaks. You had to radio in about everything. Very strict dress code. You couldn't even be seen drinking out of a personal drinking container you had to hide those away from the customers. They wanted you to walk customers to where they were trying to go instead of just telling them all the time. The old people that are there are constantly trying to tell you what to do even if it's a stupid way to do it. You never seemed to stay in the same work area twice in one week.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Guest service agent 1 salary reported	$17.00 per hour
Learning specialist 3 salaries reported	$47,333 per year
Facilitator 5 salaries reported	$20.60 per hour
Learning and development facilitator 2 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Animal care specialist 4 salaries reported	$21.88 per hour

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