Collaborative and relaxed work environment, but job security varies
Working at Sam's Club is a great source of introductory retail experience, with plentiful opportunities for advancement and intra-club position mobility.
**Note: Since the period of my employment, the Walton corporation has rolled out a standard $10.00-$11.00/hour minimum wage, so you should expect to be paid this salary or your state-mandated minimum wage; whichever is greater.**
However, I would encourage any prospective applicant to exercise caution if they elect to apply to be a cashier. As is standard within most sales-based positions in the U.S., you will spend a lot of time on your feet, and you will likely not be allowed to sit/lean while at the register unless you have a legitimate medical reason for needing to do so. Pressure-absorbing pads are provided at each register, but owning a pair of comfortable shoes (optionally with in-soles) is a must. However, unlike many retail positions, Sam's Club hasn't a mandated uniform policy - aside from wearing your Sam's Club vest and any task-appropriate PPE, you can be assured that you will be able to wear clothes that you find to be comfortable.
By far, though, the hardest part of the position was the rigid (and arguably unrealistic) sales requirements. My club required that each cashier achieved two member promotions (from a "basic" membership to a "Plus" membership) and two credits (two lines of in-store credit opened with your referral) per day that you worked, no matter for how many hours you were scheduled or d
ProsFree Club membership, Employee discounts, Decent benefits, Relaxed atmosphere, relaxed dress code, opportunities for advancement and intra-club position mobility, recognition of successes and efforts by management
ConsWorking at the front end (cashier) is stressful, low job security (based on sales performance which may be beyond your control), highly regulated and inconsistently-timed short breaks, long hours standing upright (not allowed to sit as a cashier)
When I first got hired, I was simply happy to end my year-long work hibernation; or simply put I was excited to finally have a pay-check, after spending day after day on various job posting sites. So for the first few months, I was content on pushing carts for 4-8 hours a day, and more so now that I had money rolling in. However, once I made the mistake of actually trying to move inside the store, I saw the flaws that, are currently, bringing down the store I work at more and more.
I stuck through my job for three months, trying desperately to ignore the fact that I, a cart pusher at the time, made the same as the women who sit at the door and look at cards/receipts. Completely ignoring the fact that my position, one that was the physically the hardest within the building, was grossly underpaid compared to everyone else, I pushed through (pun intended) and became a dependable worker. Through hot and cold temperatures, and being called in every week to work full time hours, I kept on slogging through.
After my "Ninety Day Evaluation", I was told my various bosses that they loved my work ethic and would be brought in the store ASAP.
After waiting another three months, despite being told every day that I would move into the stores by different bosses, I went onto our computers and saw that there was never a "rec" open for any of the positions I was promised. Not one. Although I knew I was being lied to the moment they opened their mouths, it still was a tad bit annoyi
ProsNORMALLY a friendly work environment....when people are happy anyway.
ConsConstantly cut hours, in-competent co-workers, bosses that desperately need their work evaluated by higher-ups.
This is the worst low-paying job that I have ever had. I knew that I was and never would be anything but a number going in, so my expectations were completely fulfilled.
I was originally hired to perform in a special area and was given a higher pay rate because of it. I was given the same training that all cashiers receive and was never given any training or even any information about the specialty before being told to open it up on my first day after training. There were forms and regulations that I knew nothing about and I had NO training whatsoever before being thrown in to the lions. While Sam's is very big on training their employees about things that they are never going to encounter, they don't give them information or tools to actually perform the work that they actually do. Why is a guy who sells and installs tires being trained about the proper temperature of roasted chickens? Seriously?
My primary duties were as a cashier. We are operating in the hottest part of the store, especially in the winter. There are overhead heaters that I heard one cashier call 'Cashier Cookers.' She was right. Those things bring the temperature up to the upper eighties in the winter. After moving several 50 pound bags of salt for customers, you are ready to die. The sweat is just rolling off and the ice cream is melting. Then the next guy with more salt rolls up...
The cashier's primary job is to force people to spend an extra $60 on a little scam they call the Plus Membership. It's w
Prosthe club that i worked in hired people with higher than average i.q.s - for the most part, forced breaks, no overtime, better than average retail wages
Consno regular day off, one month's notice required for a day off, vacations are nearly impossible to get approved
A typical day: you clock in, there may or not be a radio available. You do need one and if there isn't one its your fault, as far as management is concerned. You go outside to collect carts, unless you're being asked to help a member load their stuff, or being called in to get an order, or being told to give gas station their break/lunch which they will be very late coming back from it. If the gods favor you today, which they won't, there will be plenty of carts in the vestibule or in the checkpoints outside. Since the gods don't care though, most of the time the vestibule is near empty and if its particularly busy all the carts are inside being used. Management does not find this answer acceptable and will yell at you repeatedly for your failure. If the gods smile upon you and I will be generous they sometimes do in this instance, few members will need help loading things and you can focus entirely on carts. If instead you have angered the gods, several members will need help. Probably back-to-back. And because of this, you will fall behind and be yelled at by your super or management. Your one respite is both are inattentive and may not notice for awhile, giving you a chance. However, you've yet to take your break, you might be yelled at for this depending on the mercurial whims of your superiors. In case you do decide to take your break when busy, you will likely be yelled at for doing so; barring one of the supervisors telling you to take it while busy. If you managed to
For 25+ years this poor club has been trying to make the best out of a bad situation. Ive only worked for the last 2 of these years
The club was suppose to be some where else but they messed up the paper work and have been stuck at there current location.
Home office refuses to upgrade us even thou we are the top 20 clubs out of 2-300 clubs in the US They just barely granted us a new roof this year that was 8+ years out of date and leaked like a cive when it rained.
All of our equipment is overly out of date but as of right now the current GM is getting things slowly but surly up to date. But with a cost. Our numbers have gone up in sales but employee haplessness has gone down quite a bit (alof of that is a mix of home office and new GM's idea that he owns the place and can do what ever he wants). If your going for a job here, apply at the night shift or floor jobs. There you have the most freedom and less problems to deal with. Where as being a cashier or even a door greeter you will be forced and challenged to work a commission job with out commission pay. You will loose hours if you do not sell enough memberships with in a week and meetings normally end up having one crying person. (over what im not sure i have never gone to them)
Its sad to see Sams club over all just going down hill, its getting to the point you can actually see it and cant ignore it anymore. Im not sure if its just my store or club wide? Im sure its club wide.
When i started in 2012 it was the b
ProsRandom lunches, prizes, a bit of freedom in how you go about your day, place is being referbished slowly
Conslack of direction no ones willing to teach unless you prod them alot to do so, alot of equipment is vary old, confusing and inconstant management with there directions and wants
Honolulu Sam's Club is one of the highest grossing clubs in the nation. This can be contributed to the club's central location on the third floor above Walmart and by being in a major tourist area by the popular Ala Moana mall and Waikiki. What helps as well is competent management but probably what helps the most is a team of very long time employees, from team leaders, coaches, to other merchandisers and associates who've been employed at the same club for more than fourteen years. They actively support new workers and even new coaches and new club managers. They work together but also keep each other in line.
I've been employed here as a merchandising associate for the duration of the corona virus pandemic. During this time the attendance and points infraction system has been suspended. Much of management is in some disarray and there's no real HR department to orient members as much is actually needed. Also training is not much at all, but fortunately the work is simple enough to be learn on the go, and coworkers are helpful.
A plus side of being hands off is there's not much in the way of micromanaging. Workers are able to take their breaks (two 15 min paid) and lunches (30 min unpaid) at will and even all together.
However workers must keep watch on their overtime or be asked to take longer lunches or arrive or leave early or late to compensate for the extra minutes. This does become discouraging because of the amount of work and the lack of workers, and the
Horrible place to work.. Please do not take this lightly!
The Club manager is very rude and curses at the associates; it doesn't matter if members are present. He is not approachable and all of his responses are offensive. In the beginning, he says if there is a problem, you can go to him about it and he will do anything he can to help, YET any problem that was brought (from me and other associates) he criticizes you instead of asking the problem. The ENTIRE Fresh Department sucks. The managers are in competition on who can give the most write ups and they want to make your life hard to see if you last. The team lead over HMS/Rotisserie/Cafe is horrible. She does not help her associates, and she says she is always busy, BUT somehow she has time to pump her breast milk in the fresh office for office. Yes this is a place of business. You read that correctly. She just walks around all day. So be careful when you consider this job. All of the managers say she is not meant to be in production but all other team leaders are. So, clearly something fishy is going on there. She has lost over 15 associates in her 5 months as a team lead. That should tell you something. Many concerns have been brought to managers about her behavior, but she is still there. They over work you and do not give you PTO that you work for. You can work 13 days straight and request off for one day and they will decline it. So if you like to go on vacation or simply have a doctors appointment, you might as well cancel all of those before you apply. If you do get a day
With the changes and remodeling of this club you will be questioned on where things are in the warehouse, so best to learn where things are if you're new. I would highly suggest that only stay here temporarily since there is favoritism from the store manager to the team leads; which can and will most likely make or break your views in this work force. Learning is a huge factor in this store since the training doesn't help you with the most simplest of things. (Ex: how to operate a pallet jack to not jack it up on the wrong side and break it. To how to make a cardboard bale.) Most of these experiences are on the job and learning from another associate 99% of the time.
Because of the recent change to there being only 2 shifts of opening and closing... the feeling of a team effort is of nonexistence. I get the feelings of us being groups from an Opener to a Closer. Leading to Openers are the only safe havens while Closers are the back- breaking-sweating-workers for the success of what? There is also the lack of associates meaning that one department covers two to three departments when closing. Then there is the Management problem with favoritism leading to us not having HR when HR is the managers. but hey it's just how this place works I guess...
Being here for more than a year I can see that there is no communication or understanding from a leader to a follower. It’s “do this or you're soon to be replaced.” Leaders need to actually show that they do care for their associates
A typical day at work I had to constantly juggle whether or not I was going to have a good day and ignore the rest of Sam's Club, or if I was going to allow myself to be sucked into the negativity there. By working at Sam's Club i definitely learned what I should and should not put up with in a workplace. I work at the Sam's Club in Pooler, Ga, and that is definitely a poor excuse of a business. Yeah on the outside looking in they're making great money, but on the inside working there I quickly learned that this company and its management does not care about their employees. The part that was most frustrating was that no one ever smiled there, everyone walked around there looking so mad. I can speak for most and say that the workers there hate the way they are treated by higher up, and feel stuck but do not how to get out. Personally I have incidences where I have felt the need to contact Ethics, and surprising ,i say not, nothing was done. There have been times that I have had to leave from medical reasons or family reasons unexpectedly, and these people had the audacity to guilt trip and make me feel bad for needing to leave. In Sam's Club if you did anything they felt as 'wrong' they would write you up. So let's just say when I had these emergencies my team lead would threaten me saying if I left that I was putting my team in a bad position and that I would be held accountable for my actions...(write up). However if my team lead ever had an emergency or if her daughter had
If you're used to working big box retailers, Sam's Club will be a work environment that you will adapt to more easily. It will challenge you more than other big box retail jobs. Sam's Club is owned by Walmart, Inc. which that alone should either be a good or bad sign depending on what kind of job you're truly looking for. Due to the sheer volume and size of the corporation, I found my time at Sam's Club to be extremely overwhelming. Most of the Managers have a LOT on their plate and are unable to actually get to know you as an employee. Like you or hate you, you're still just a number to them.
The Member Specialist position was recently created to hold many different type of positions and still get payed for one. For a non-management position, the pay is higher than most retail jobs. If you have extensive retail experience, you will be offered a little more. That being said, Sam's Club makes sure that they get ever single dollar out of you to where it just isn't worth it in the long run.
Your main focus will be upgrading memberships as well as selling the credit card. You are required to get at least ONE of EACH per SHIFT. Your job will depend on it. On top of that, you will also be utilized to be a self checkout associate, cashier, greeter, and pretty much any non management position you can fill. It makes the position truly stressful, overwhelming, and hard to adapt to when you feel thrown into so many other different roles. No two days are ever the same in this position.
ProsPay, Benefits, Full Time Opportunities
ConsFast pace, high stress, communication, direction, management
4.0
Prefer not to say due to repercussions | Tocantins | Apr 7, 2014
hidden benefit is schedule flexibility
A retail job provides for flexible hours considering you are will to change job titles with large corporations such as target, sams club, etc. The work is semi-skilled and can be tedious at times. The customers can range from tolerant and friendly, to rude and impatient. The management style is different from person to person. The late policy is lenient for a retail environment. The expectations are mainly controlled by your team lead or manager with corporate always playing the top fiddle as to what really needs to be done when. Meaning that the expectations can be simple or overbearing depending on what kind of supervisors you have. Along these lines, you may have a team lead who works along with you or a lead who delegates and leaves to do other things. The task related training is very minimal.
Things to expect: a healthy balance of lazy coworkers and hard working coworkers. Another balanced dose of rude managers coupled with understanding managers. POLICIES THAT FAVOR THE CORPORATION OVER THE INDIVIDUAL. If a manager is unprofessional then you may need to speak with his/her manager to have the issue resolved. Use the distrust throughout the chain of command to your advantage. Also be aware that only the negative aspects of your job performance are written for the record. ANY NON-MONETARY ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE RECEIVED WITH VERBAL PRAISE ONLY. Be aware of this should you change managers. They are looking for documentation on ways to fire you, not promote you. High turnove
ProsNot as physically demanding as other sectors of employment, Caters to people-persons, Great training for future job opportunities in retail
Cons"Attitude reflects leadership" Julius, Remember the Titans.
Questions And Answers about Sam's Club
What is the best part of working at Sam's Club?
Asked Nov 23, 2019
The associates
Answered May 26, 2022
Going home
Answered May 26, 2022
How long does it take to get hired from start to finish at Sam's Club? What are the steps along the way?
Asked Jun 15, 2016
2 months after you get first email congratulating you on your job offer
Answered Sep 2, 2021
Got an interview. Then 4 days later they emailed at 2 am same day interview they had filled position I was going to interview for. Not happy! If I wouldn't have checked my email I would've gone to the store to go to the interview. That's b sh#t. 2 am?
Answered Sep 1, 2021
Can I work full time at Sam's Club?
Asked Feb 10, 2016
I was "promoted" to full time in the tire and battery center 9 months ago. It still shows me as part time on workday. Still earning my pto at the part timer rate. I tell management about it and they keep saying they'll fix it but nothing ever changes.
Answered Sep 8, 2020
Yes if you work hard you can definitely move up to full time
Answered Jul 19, 2020
If you were to leave Sam's Club, what would be the reason?
Asked Mar 15, 2017
All reviews on management and my team lead are correct working here is so stressed and unpleasant atmosphere
