food service supervisor

medical representative

concession manager

life support systems technician

installation technician

Zootampa-At-Lowry-Park

I had a lot of fun here, my coworkers were great. However I did observe a level of favoritism in the retail department. A small but important example would be some larger women getting dress coded for length of shorts while two of the smaller retail management employees have worn and continue to wear shorts that end just below the butt. They will also write some people up for allegations even when you have proof of innocence to, as the retail management team put it, ensure that you won’t do it in the future (as if you were planning on doing that). Unrelated to favoritism their attendance policy is unrealistic. They work on a point system that allows for 7 points in the entire year, calling out is one point, arriving late is half a point. There is nothing you can do to excuse a point (I.e. doctors notes, reports of crashes, familial emergencies). So they basically expect their employees to not get sick or be late enough to fill that 7 point margin. One time I had strep and still had to go to work at their mini melts location due to this policy. When I pointed out to HR that it is a risk to guest health and safety to have people work with food or work in general while sick rather than altering their attendance policy to account for sickness, they stuck by their policy and asked if I would like to review it to resolve ‘confusion’. You are also not allowed to sit at any location without a doctors note or disability, even in the 100 degree weather, if you do you are at risk for being written up. Overall while it is fun to work their this company operates as an animal sanctuary and not a legitimate company meaning they do not prioritize or understand a functional work environment as much as they prioritize and understand the animals.

ZooTampa as a whole is a great company. They do a lot in the community, nationally, and internationally to help with conservation. They are great about educating guests and helping people leave the zoo more knowledgable than when they came in. There are some defining points, however, that need to be addressed. The big hitter is that animal staff are very underpaid. A lot of their staff are in all actuality. A lot of the habitats and barns need a lot of love. Everyone trauma bonds because you are overworked and expected to do more and more and more. Everything is so guest focused that half the time you can't focus on training because you have to stop to do an encounter. Or you have to choose to either clean the habitat or train a behavior. Really, the time isn't there for you to train-you have to make time to train. It's rewarding that you're working with such amazing animals, but you're underpaid for a lot of the stuff you do. Teams aren't always staffed enough, therefore interns are relied upon entirely too much to do what you don't have time for-and they are unpaid at that. All-in-all, it's a great place to get a foot in the door and learn a lot as a zookeeper, but don't expect to make all of your bills with just this job alone. And definitely expect to be exhausted when you get off most days. On the bright side, you become very efficient and great at multitasking.

While working at the zoo you do get to learn a lot about conservation, ways/programs of how to help animals and all that Zoos and Aquariums are doing to help preserve animal species. However, while there is talk about being able to advance within your own department and even throughout the zoo that is rarely the case. The zoo seems to enjoy hiring outside of the company more so then from within, even when those within the company have either more experience work-wise or would be a better fit for the team. 

Management rarely listens to or even meets with the employees under them before making drastic changes that affect all involved. Leading to a disgruntled and unhappy workforce and workplace, and causing a high turnover rate, which in this department is not ideal since training takes many workdays to complete. 

The upside is, of course, all of the animals that are amazing to watch and look at and the zoo takes great care of them, other teams throughout the zoo are also super friendly. Coworkers are friendly with each other, and there's no hostility between departments, it really is just a giant lack of communication and respect from managers to their employees that cause a toxic work environment.

Being in retail and working at the zoo has changed my perspective in life and has helped me develop new skills. 
Working here is actually pretty fun and everyone is literally so nice and understanding. Even if they are not in your department. 
The managers and co-workers for retail are outstanding and wonderful. The managers are VERY laid back and work with you on your schedule. I see retail as a hard-working family, for the most part, nothing bad. 

I believe the hardest part of the job is the events. Especially the Halloween event, which is our most popular. It gets really crazy and there is typically a lot of rushing and venting. But this goes for all departments. It feels like Black Friday when it's October. 
It's pretty slow and chill during the weekdays but very fast paced during the weekends. 

Sometimes you do work outside and that sucks because it's Florida. We get rain, excessive heat, and because of that, sometimes we don't work so we lose hours.

A typical day in retail starts anywhere from 8:30 to 11 and ends usually from 4:30 to 5:30. You work in a gift shop or game stand and may or may not be working with other people. Your duties are mainly to clean and maintain the shop and interact with guests which can be good or challenging solely based on the attitudes and amount of guests. The management is wonderful and laid back- best bosses I may ever have. They are willing to work with you and want to put you places you actually enjoy being at. Most of the coworkers are very nice too, though being retail, there is a pretty high turnover rate for employees. The hardest part of the job is definitely the guests and the heat- sometimes you work outside in the Florida summer heat. The best part is definitely the bosses, coworkers, and the fact that you are able to get people into the zoo for free.

The retail management team is the best management I have ever had. They try their best to work around your schedule, and are incredibly welcoming and friendly. However, I will say that (at least for me), there was no formal training since I had already done retail before at other companies. I was just kinda thrown into cashiering at the zoo.
Also, this job is perfect for high schoolers/college students because it is fun and easy, but there really is no room for advancement and the pay does not support monthly expenses after finishing school.
My biggest negative is that most of the gift shops dont have set closing times, so it can lead to an uncertain schedule. Lastly, I really hate that we have to stand our whole shift, even when there are no guests at the zoo. 

During my time here, I genuinely looked forward to coming into work everyday! It’s a fun atmosphere and chatting with the occasional zookeeper is a daily highlight. However, I will say that the pay isn’t immense and is probably better suited for a high schooler or early college student. As an adult, I was unable to pay rent on my hourly wages here, unfortunately. But if the pay was much better, I would’ve happily worked here for many more years. I will say that one issue I experienced was the absolute lack of opportunity to take part in their animal care internships AND hold a retail job there. The time requirements make it impossible, and this is ultimately why I left.

Overall, a fun place to work for a person new to the job market.

When I first started, the management team was amazing. Now, they are bad. This (in my opinion) is due to the new supervisor (who was promoted due to favoritism). If you decide to work retail, you will either 
1. Quit 
2. Be fired or 
3. Change departments before you see the true nature of management. 
If you go in thinking you can trust management, you better think again because you CANNOT!!! Majority of the team has no compassion. Plus, if you think you talk to another manager about a problem you have with a different manager, you are sadly mistaken. They will not take anything you say to heart because they are all friends. To end this I will say, if you decide to work in retail here, do it only to get your toes wet. Don't stay for the long haul. 

This is a great place to work. Yes they have ups and downs but what place doesn't. The zoo has a purpose and a mission to help connect guest to these beautiful and endangered animals. One downside is the customers. They are rude and disrespectful. There is some room for advancement but only goes to people who really show they want to be here. You can tell which employees care and ones are there to pass the time. The Florida sun can be brutal and exhausting. The benefit are great but currently some do not work due to Covid. Employees get along great and rarely have any issues come up. Management work with you on schedules and trys to be fair to everyone. 

This job is great in that you can be close to wildlife and experience the zoo setting. However, the heat can be unbearable and you are usually outside all day if you are not in one of the gift shops. Retail management is great and willing to work with you which was probably one of the best parts of the job. For the most part they value their employees and don’t let guests completely disrespect them. Coworkers were also super helpful and welcoming which I appreciated. The only downsides besides the heat would be that it can get boring when it’s slow. Also, the events can be stressful but rewarding at the same time.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Food service supervisor 1 salary reported	$15.75 per hour
Medical representative 2 salaries reported	$18.00 per hour
Concession manager 1 salary reported	$15.75 per hour
Life support systems technician 2 salaries reported	$18.25 per hour
Installation technician 1 salary reported	$15.00 per hour

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