Unless you want to become a Pharmacist or your life's ambition is being a Pharmacy Tech.....STAY AWAY!!
I worked at Kroger’s Harpers Point Marketplace location for 6.5 years.
Having never worked in retail (restaurants in high school and then corporate during and after graduating college), I thought I would like to work for a store that I have spent thousands of dollars in most of my life and have always liked their services and selections. OMG....was that a huge mistake! I came from corporate life and that was probably my first disillusionment. Thinking that the caliber/quality of management and professionalism would be anywhere NEAR the same is improbable to say the least. The moment I stepped into the Pharmacy where I was assigned, it was unsupportive (except for a few coworkers and ONE Pharmacist out of 4), impatient, stressful, and such low pay it was shocking ($7.70/hr in 2012, at that time I was unemployed and was DESPARATE to get "some" income, hoping that this would only be temporary, since I was laid off at my corporate job in 2009 and unemployment checks had run out a few months before and I did side/odd jobs till 2012 and those type of jobs had dried up!).
I don't believe that is truly their expectations of any new hire with no background. I do believe that the Lead Tech (who had the personality of a brick wall and was of Russian decent AND has been employed by Kroger since the 90’s….as of 2019 is NO LONGER the Lead Tech, just a regular tech at this time…ONE intelligent move by Kroger) just didn't want me in there or ANY male that was not a Pharmacist or a male g
I worked for this company for a number of years many years ago. Went back for a time while I was between jobs a while back. The company had changed a great deal over the years. I recently resigned.
First the positives - it's almost impossible to lose your job unless you're stealing or you stop going to work. Most jobs at the stores are indoors. Dress code is casual - as it should be for people doing lots of intense physical labor - compared to the more dressy dress code that was in effect many years ago. Pay is direct deposited once a week.
As for the negatives, there are many. Pay is low. Company micromanages store management from corporate headquarters, and store management micromanages employees. Store management is terrible overall - it seems as though these days the company hires and promotes people into store management positions based upon factors OTHER THAN qualifications, competence, work ethic, integrity, character, people skills, etc.
I worked overnight in a small department, and the small number of coworkers I worked with in my department during that time struck me as the types of people who worked there because they are largely unemployable for any length of time anywhere else. One of my coworkers was a very hard worker who could do physical labor faster and longer than just about anyone I'd ever seen, but seemed to have severe psych/personality issues that made him extremely difficult to get along with. Another coworker had much better people skills, b
If you need a job for health insurance this job works great. However if you need a full time career I would look else where. Having four years with the company; I have compiled a long list of pro's and con's:
Pro's:
• The balance between work and life is wonderful.
• Excellent health insurance.
• Time off is generally honored but is based on seniority. (Just say "appointment" on your request and they have to give you the day off.)
• Reimbursed college tuition.
• Hours are not set and you can usually pick up more.
• Open door policy when dealing with issues. (You have to be very open if it's your manager.)
• Certain stores allow Thanksgiving and Christmas off. Other stores force you to work Thanksgiving.
• Many locations to transfer to around the country. (If you move to another location there's no need to worry about starting at the bottom. Your seniority transfers to the new store.)
Con's:
• College education, disabilities and prior work experience do not allow faster promotion. Being female does not allow faster promotion. I feel this company is very gender-bias despite what they say. For example:
I have a disability and successfully completed collage. I have an AA in Business, enough training to be an entry level book keeper, strong data entry and five years cashiering. I strongly believe this company is gender bias because it took them 3.5 years to make me a checker. They promptly promoted all quick learning males with less than 6 mont
Kroger is a great first job! You can get hired on at 16(15 is mentioned but our location never does) to work on the front end but you technically have to be 18 for all other departments.
You'll generally start out making $7.35/hr with 10 cent raises every 6 months but our store is planning to up the base pay soon.
The hiring process is as follows:
1. You apply online at their jobs site.
2. You wait about a 5 - 10 days for a phone call.
3. You'll go in for an interview then wait again for a second call.
4. Once you get called back to sign papers and get a background check, you're basically hired.
5. Time for your THIRD phone call!!!
6. You go back for a store walk through and basic orientation(paid).
7. You'll be asked to come back a few days and take ACTs(computer training tests) [also paid].
8. You'll be thrown into the job with fellow co-workers training you for about 3 days but you'll always be learning more and taking more tests for quite awhile longer.
Sometimes, they'll hold job fairs at the store in which you'd go to after submitting an application online on which you may get an email about to go in for a quick interview.
I went to one but didn't get hired till the next time I applied online without a job fair.
You'd pretty much be expected to work every Sunday.
Probation is 3 months and it's hard to get fired(especially with union but I never joined it) but I'd just be careful.
Upper management is very nice most of the time unless you somehow do s
Typical day at work - Came in at 6PM on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (hours were limited due to schooling) and immediately began cleaning the room where the meat was ground and cut. This consisted of breaking down all the machines in the room and in the cooler, spraying it down with water, covering the room in soap and letting it sit for 20-30 minutes, and spraying it off again. After this, I would wash all the dishes and tools that were used throughout the work day. When 8pm rolled around, we had a service counter where we served pre-portioned slices of meat and fish. If a customer wanted an item, I would serve them with a sense of urgency and professionalism. Once these counters were broken down, they were properly stored in the cooler. The last thing I did at night was to break down the delivery truck. We had 2, sometimes 3, pallets of boxes of meat, lunch meat, potatoes, etc. come in that had to be sorted by brand, type of meat, etc. before the night was up.
What I learned - I really learned what it took to work with people. When I started at Krogers back in June, I was on the shy side. I wasnt very talkative, I was in my own shell so to speak. But being around customers and interacting with new people day in and day out really opened my eyes. It taught me what it took to keep the customer happy, and how to diffuse a potential volatile situation with an enraged customer. It also showed me life in a bigger picture. There would be times that people would walk to Kro
ProsEmployee Benefits
ConsLack of hours, minimum wage, lack of advancement
Absolutely terrible place to work. Do not waste your time here.
While Kroger may be a good place for people to shop, the exact opposite can be said for how the place is run. The management, whether it be top level management or supervisors is poor at best. They treat their employees as though they are below them and do not offer any positive feedback for any good work performed. Instead, they berate employees over simple, miniscule things that any other normal person would either overlook or not prioritize. Everything Kroger employees do is based on customer satisfaction, which management takes to extreme and unreasonable levels. If a customer comes into a store and starts getting frustrated about something that an employee may not have done, management will always believe what the customer says and will not give the employees any opportunity to defend themselves. Also, if you do a great job there, expects management and supervisors to asks you to perform other people’s jobs for them. As a bagger, I would often have to move between five plus checkout lanes by myself as well as clean up empty cart garages by myself.
My department heads did not have any understanding of just how busy my store was. The store that I was employed at, in Centerville, Ohio, is one of the largest in the whole nation, and therefore one of the busiest. Yet instead of giving hours to plenty of people, my supervisors would cut them and give people as little as 8 hour weeks. There were times in which my checks were a “whopping” $80 or less. That kind of money is ON
ProsFlexible schedules, employee discounts, easy to be hired.
ConsPoor management, low wages, extreme favoritism towards customers.
Fred Meyer Jewelers Corp Office is the WORST place to work!
I wrote a lengthy and detailed review of Fred Meyer Jewelers Corp. Office in Portland, Oregon, and so did many current and former employees, only to find that they've removed their "Indeed" profile and linked it to the larger Kroger profile. It's just like them. Hide behind the walls of the big brother and pretend like they're not the worst in the industry. If you just delete it, they'll go away. Likely due to the large amount of negative reviews and employees calling out the insane amount firings, fear culture and abuse at the FMJ corporate offices. Under pressure to quite the truth?
You can try and hide from the reality of your poor management and terrible treatment of your staff but cheaters never win.
A typical day at Fred Meyer Jewelers' corporate office consisted of fear. Everyone was afraid to exist here. You worried about getting written up for anything and everything. Being scolded for being a human. People would be running from the parking lot to the time clock because you were required to be -on-the-dot- no excuses. Portland traffic, you should have left 2 hours early. Sick kids, you shouldn't have had them. Punch in early, written up. Punched in 2 mins late, written up. They had zero work life balance. If you couldn't get it done in 8 hours, or 40 hours a week... no matter what you failed. Don't be late, but don't dare work over. Every person paid the same, no matter your responsibility level - one single pay scale across all hourly employees. And very few
ProsZero.
ConsFear Culture. Poor pay. Lacks innovation. No growth from within. No accountability by Management.
I started around 2 years ago as a Courtesy Clerk (bagger, cart collector, trash, bathrooms, various chores in the front end), and promoted to Grocery (stocking shelves, keeping the backroom clean and organized, handling deliveries) after around a year. When I was hired, base pay was state minimum wage. About 8 months in we had a new contract that reset the base pay to $11 for clicklist, meat/seafood, and pharmacy, and $10 for everyone else. There is a 30c raise every six or so months that is automatically put into your wages until you reach a cap at $14 or so and hour unless you're promoted to a management position.
They are willing to work with your hours unless there's nobody else available on a certain day, which I found out when I tried to change my availability to swap my day off from Thursday to Saturday.
If you're a student, especially still in High School, they will definitely work with your schedule, considering half of my school's marching band worked there and their schedule was very hectic in the fall. They offer a education leave for those pursuing higher education as well, and offer tuition assistance for those majoring in a field that would help the company.
Customers aren't *that* terrible, most of the time they just need directed to an isle. Though there are the few who come in these days to yell at a manager for the mask requirement that is currently store policy or the fact that the customer service desk closes at 9pm.
Every employee receives one fifte
ProsUp to two paid 15 min breaks for an 8 hour shift, employee discount, willing to work with your schedule/availability.
A very hectic and negative working experience overall!
A typical day at work was always dealing with chronic under staffing and faulty equipment. As a manager, I willingly and did shuffle my personal life to accommodate the needs of my department. I came in early even overnight after working all day. I went in on days off. I was available to my staff for inquiries even on my days off. I put off vacation time for months The staff was usually very demoralized, overworked, and stressed out.I was sent to different assignments to fix issues and they were always the same issues. As soon as progress was made I was sent to a new more challenging situation.Although, this did teach me a whole new level of multi tasking it also taught me how important developing a team is. Even skilled labor was brought in at minimum wage at least till their experience was verified. As my original Merchandiser used to say, "You get what you pay for!" Although corporate training was a long arduous computer based marathon it had nothing to do with specialized departments.As a department head, I was given only a 4 hour,"on-boarding",training shift with little if any notice. Usually, I was so under staffed there was very little opportunity to give the new hires the attention and support they would need to be successful. I was given very little "training", it was much more sink or swim. That is fine for me but is not optimal for most associates success.Having moved to variety of situations my most dependable and productive staff would always show such appreciat
Proslearning a variety of skills
Conspay and benefits were NOT competitive, the same variety of skills I learned were simply from my initiative not Kroger
Great Employees, Improved Leaderships skills, Availability Problems, Poor Management
A typical day at work consists of readying our products for the store floor by stocking the shelves, cutting, or baking some the products. The bulk of this must be done by a certain time (Ready by Time). Usually my shift is to come in and bake/pack/stock cookies for the first half of my shift. After that comes time to do all the prep work for our night baker (Doing the Breakout). This is done by first scanning a computer assisted production sheet (CAP). This is typically a department manager duty. However, the employees at our store are trained to scan their own sheet into the system. Next, all the product must be laid out on the proper surfaces depending on what is to be done with that particular item or subset of items. Finally, after the completion of breakout the department must be properly cleaned to meet the requirements put in place by health regulations.
The job itself has helped to enhance several of my leadership skills in that I have learned what my coworkers need, taken the lead in my department when my manager is inaccessible, and made decisions for the department that have received praised from members of middle management. My understanding of customer service and employee interaction have also increased as a result of my current position. I have helped customers find products they desire anywhere in the store regardless of the department, taken orders for customers with special needs, and have navigated difficult situations to help create a more positive out
ProsGreat Employees, Company Picnic, Holiday Dinners, Paid Vacation, Personal Days
I’m under eighteen at the moment and currently in Highschool, they had me working four out of five nights of the week from 3 or 4 pm to 11, which is actually illegal in Texas considering minors aren’t allowed to work past 10 on school nights or any night that precedes school. Furthermore I would usually end up being the last courtesy clerk in the store and would be responsible for completely clearing out the parking lot. Something I was never told about beforehand, they would basically just dump it on me.
Answered Sep 2, 2021
Abysmal pay for increasing responsibility. If you're competent they'll hand you more work without the pay. Their business plan isn't to retain employees but to get the next person in at base pay and low to no benefits.
I liked my management team but could see the constant visits from corporate were having them scared for their livelihood. These people are working 12 plus hours a day for probably $55000 and untold hours of stress. Our management team did what they could but I know they're worried for their jobs.
Answered Mar 6, 2021
What is a typical day like for you at Kroger?
Asked Mar 15, 2020
Some days heavier then others !!
Answered Jun 8, 2022
Stressful, constantly aware of the time, worried you won't get breaks, tiring
Answered Jun 8, 2022
What questions did they ask during your interview at Kroger?
Asked Mar 25, 2017
Basic questions
Answered Jun 18, 2022
Questions based around leadership structures
Answered May 26, 2022
What is the interview process like at Kroger?
Asked Aug 8, 2016
It was super simple and easy, the standards didn’t seem high at all so it didn’t take much.
