And there’s also answering the phone while letting people in and out of the dressing rooms and trying to catch the shoplifters who hide stuff in a pile of clothes they’re taking in there and sorting returns…yeah, I would not recommend that job to, oh, anybody. Unless I didn’t like them. I once had a women open the door and ask me if I thought the bra she was trying on fit properly. Seriously.
I don’t want to turn this into a bash Walmart thread. Sorry. I do hope she finds something better where she’s treated well.
Oh yeah, I forgot the instant verbal abuse that you get to suffer. It’s just not a “normal” work environment in any sense of the word. They really only attract employees who have no other option. The only training available has to do keeping the store from getting sued…it’s nothing that will ever be applicable anywhere else.
I know it’s not a bash Walmart thread, but I still think it’s legitimate to mention that a) they are jerks for turning her down, and b) she would be better to avoid the place at all costs.
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Is drug testing par for the course now? I’ve never encountered it before. If they drug tested in the film industry (where I work) nobody would have a job!
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I used to work at Wal-Mart so I can’t agree with all the people that consider it a bad place to work. It was one of my favorite jobs.
She could apply for another position there, since they considered her for one already she has a good chance of getting another one in something else. Just not cashier, that one really sucks.
Drug testing is pretty common in a lot of jobs. Where I work now it’s random, but I haven’t gotten tapped yet. I was surprised they didn’t make me do it when I got hired. Walmart certainly did.
ETA: Tijuana_Golds, you must have been lucker in your managers than I was.
Yeah, pretty much. I think they (companies) have to drug-test for the “Drug Free Workplace” certification that gets 'em a break on their Workman’s Comp insurance premiums.
First of all, who’s to say that it will be just a “few hours a week?” When I was a senior in high school, I worked over 20 hours a week during the school year, as did many of my coworkers. (My school workload was light.)
Also, you and others seem to assume that this will be a very short term job for her and have no relevance to her future career. I worked in the local Genovese drug store for 2 years when I was in high school, and have spent most of my adult working years in retail.* I gained a lot from that job, both in terms of experience and in terms of self-esteem because it wasn’t a crappy working environment. Which brings me to my next point…
KnitWit brings up the negative lessons that can be learned working in a bad job. But there are also a lot of positive lessons to be learned from a good environment and/or a good manager. I learned so much from my manager at the drug store–about hard work and toughness and how to use your resources and how to earn people’s respect. I’m guessing that there are plenty of lousy managers at Publix, but I think you’d have a better chance of finding a good one there than at Wal-Mart.
Look, I’ve worked a lot of crappy retail and food service jobs in my time on this planet. And in one sense, yes, all retail jobs suck. But some of them suck a LOT worse than others. And Wal-Mart sounds far far worse than any place I’ve ever worked. So even if it is just a short-term job for a few hours a week, it’s worth seeking a better option for her.
*Which may not be a good thing, of course!
Thanks! Drug fee workplace designations, eh? Huh. I suppose if you’re operating heavy machinery that’d be a good thing…
Interesting, I haven’t put enough thought on it to have an opinion on it. The only place I’ve ever even heard of drug testing at work was in various sitcoms.
In Wal-Mart and in other jobs that drug test they only test you the day before your orientation.
Some managers have told me that its not really random, that would take too much effort to keep track of hundreds or thousands of employee’s drug tests to make sure one wasn’t being overdone.
The ‘random’ is only there so they can test you whenever they want or feel they need to, like after an accident, a serious complaint or before being considered for a promotion.
That sucks. When I was looking for my first job, I went to two interviews at McDonald’s, and they turned me down. Still have no idea why. I ended up getting hired at Harveys, another hamburger chain, and they treated me horribly. To be fair, I was a horrible employee, but I tried my best. I felt like it was a good learning experience for a summer; like KnitWit said about WalMart, the only permanent employees were people who had no other options. I remember being shown how to “change” the mustard in the back (so that the mustard always looks fresh and yellow and never crusty, you have to periodically pour it into a new bowl and stir), and two middle-aged immigrant women ended up screaming at each other, over my head, “You treat me like SHIT! No, you treat me like SHIT!” I got out after one summer.
While students in some areas can definitely set their sites higher than retail (not so much where I grew up, and probably not in the current situation), it’s also kind of a rite of passage. If you can’t share your stories of stupid managers and insane customers with other teenagers, you’re a little out of the loop.
I also think it’s strange that WalMart hires for specific jobs. I would have thought they’d just take applications for general sales/cash jobs, and keep the applications on file. Seems like a lot of trouble to advertise each position separately.
The week I took my Walmart drug test SIX people failed theirs. Unless Walmart is hiring 100 people a week, that is an outrageous percentage.
I have only had two drug tests in my 20 year career as a writer and I do find it a bit intrusive, not to mention just a big pain in the neck. I was annoyed that I had to drive around, find a place, park, walk, wait in the waiting room for my test, all for $7.45/hr. But if they have THAT big a chance of hiring people who are routinely on illegal drugs, I can see why they do it to protect peoples’ safety on the job.
My only aside is that maybe they should give I.Q. tests as well. Or (my suggestion in another thread) hand out helmets instead of carts at the door.
They do offer scholarships and, of course, Sundays off. I worked for one and my brother worked for an different one and we were both treated with great respect. The one I was at even went so far as to teach English to some of kitchen workers that spoke mostly Spanish. I believe they are individually owned though so I can’t guarantee they all are this way, but from what I saw the company seems to have a good culture. However, they are pretty overtly religious, but that is not an issue for me.
And like I said, it’s not random at all. They only say that as an excuse to test one whenever they want. They really don’t care if someone is being tested too often or not at all as long as the people they want tested are.