http://careers.petsmart.com

PetSmart

Pet Retail Associate

August 2022 • North Brunswick, NJ

What I liked

Spending time with the animals. Getting to bond with them inbetween or during tasks helps me get to know them, creating a short-term bond since they're not at the store forever. Also learning about the maintenance behind each species, getting to learn with my coworkers, and assist customers enlightens the environment I'm in. My bosses and coworkers are nice people, and support you for anything you need. Most importantly, I'm in an environment that's productive and task-driven to keep motivation up and boredom down.

What I wish was different

One is to hire more employees of color and college aged (18-22). When I started my job last year, two of my former coworkers were also in college where there, having someone I could relate to personally. One of them was black. When both left, I became one of two black employees at the location and one black associate in the retail department. To state, my bosses aren't prejudice at all; they were the ones who hired me based on established connections when I was just a customer. They liked my personality and happy to hear my pursuit in the animal science field, already a candidate in hiring. It used to bother me at first, but now I'm happy about representation in the field; maybe inspiring others to join the company once of age. I hope to see more POC employees in the future, continuing to promote the company's message of inclusivity and diversity.

Advice

Take your time in each learning experience; don't think you have to know it all in a day.
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Associate

November 2020 - July 2021 • Manalapan Township, NJ

What I liked

The coworkers and pets

What I wish was different

Not being exclusively a cashier

Advice

Make it known what you want to do at a job early on
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Check Out Cashier

June - August 2019 • California, MD

What I liked

The animals and friendly associates

What I wish was different

Opportunities to work different areas of the store

Advice

To learn quickly
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Sales Associate

October 2021 - January 2022 • Lexington, KY

What I liked

Works great with your schedule if you’re a student.

What I wish was different

Pay is not great if you’re trying to make a living on your own.

Advice

Be ready to learn a lot about animals if you don’t know much.
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Customer Service Representative

July - September 2022 • Flagstaff, AZ

What I liked

flexible hours amd scheduling

What I wish was different

management! there were so many different times i asked one of the supervisors for help and they would ignore my messages and since it’s a remote job theres not many other ways to reach out

Advice

stay away from petsmart call center at all costs! it is completely different and way worse than the hiring team describe it.
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Pet Care Associate

August 2022 • North Brunswick, NJ

What I liked

I enjoy working with the animals and assisting customers with their needs.

What I wish was different

Having stubborn customers cooperate and be nicer.

Advice

Have patience and don't get angry with customers; be reasonable with them.
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Sales Associate

May 2022 • Mount Pleasant, SC

What I liked

The animals, the company & store policies, the staff.

What I wish was different

Nothing.

Advice

Prepare to be on your feet a bunch. Also, multi-tasking is a must.
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Petcare Associate

June - August 2022 • Lutherville Timonium, MD

What I liked

Working with the animals and helping people find what they were looking for. I made connections with a few coworkers and enjoyed my overall job duties.

What I wish was different

The two main managers of this PetSmart leave a lot to be desired. The store constantly has errors with shipments, the animals, when left to the managers care, are always left mistreated/not fed or ignored, they attempt to keep you working overtime or when you are not available on your schedule and then guilt-trip you once you set boundaries, they yell, scream, argue, and have even fought with customers as well as with staff, they have dead-named employees who are trans and been openly transphobic, they discourage us from taking breaks, and they are ableist. An example of this behavior: one gentleman who was known to be on the autistic spectrum was talking loudly when asking where to find dog crates. One of the managers proceeded to yell on the walkie in our ears to quote "get him out of here, he's causing a scene." Nobody else was in the store (customer-wise) but this gentleman, and it was "bothering" the manager even though he was minding his own business/not even close to the gentleman. Eventually it got so bad that as the gentleman was shopping around, this same manager made snarky comments such as "what an idiot," on the walkie before yelling at us that we didn't get him out sooner once he had left. They lose employees often and kept asking us "why are so many people leaving?" It's very apparent they lack the managerial and professional skills necessary for the job as well as basic morality, empathy, and compassion for their coworkers. There have been numerous reports to HR that have not been investigated or even considered, despite the growing number of them as the 2022 year continued. However, there are another set of two managers who are nothing but kind, supportive, respectful, and actually care about their jobs. They made the work bearable until it became so toxic myself and other fellow coworkers at the time all quit at once. And I was only there for around 2 months, meaning my old coworkers had faced years of this behavior and watched it progressively get worse. They also had been paying some of my old coworkers (who had been there for years) significantly less than me (the most I observed was a $2 difference in hourly pay), even though I had less pet-care experience and was new to the store. It turned out to be that nobody was being paid the same hourly wage, whether someone was getting paid $.25 more or $2 whole dollars more. This was another big contribution in choosing to leave this job, and I don't regret my decision.

Advice

I advise everyone seeking a job (part-time or full-time) to reconsider working at the Timonium PetSmart, or rather, never even consider it in the first place.
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MP&A

June - August 2022 • Phoenix, AZ

What I liked

I loved the culture of the work place. I also liked how flexible they were, allowing you to work from home twice a week.

What I wish was different

Not much.

Advice

Try to find a job you like, not one that pays a lot.
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Dog Bather

December 2019 - August 2020 • Roanoke, TX

What I liked

I enjoy the environment and the work, as someone who is wanting to pursue a career in grooming in addition to their degree, it was a great learning experience.

What I wish was different

I wish COVID hadn't shut things down, as if it had not happened I would've already received training to be a groomer.

Advice

I think it's an enriching field and great job opportunity to explore if you have interest in working with animals but aren't sure what you wish to do exactly.
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Petcare Specialist

June 2021 • Monroe, NC

What I liked

Flexible schedule, independent tasks

What I wish was different

more hours offered

Advice

front load your work and help others during closing
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Pets Hotel Associate

July - September 2021 • San Jose, CA

What I liked

Everyone was very friendly and the on-the-job training was very helpful. Supervisors were understanding with new employees and walked you through each new task.

What I wish was different

Advice

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Cashier

October 2020 • Burbank, IL

What I liked

Everyone working there has a great understanding on pet care, and has done their own research on how to care for animals. The management allows students to have a flexible schedule and seems to care for their employees.

What I wish was different

Nothing

Advice

Always ask for advice if you don't know the answer.
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Cashier

May - August 2018 • Ithaca, NY

What I liked

I loved meeting new pets and helping people every day.

What I wish was different

Some of the management and scheduling.

Advice

Be prepared not to know when you're going to work in a week until two days before.
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Cashier

November 2017 • West Covina, CA

What I liked

I loved my coworkers and managers. Everyone was very friendly and helpful when I had questions. My favorite part was meeting new families who adopted a pet. Helping them find the right food and necessities made me fell like I was making a difference in their lives.

What I wish was different

I wish their scholarship requirements weren’t very demanding. In order to be eligible for it, you have to work at least and average of 20 hours a week within the past year. It gets difficult working that much during the week while also going to school full time. I also wish more workers could work during our open hours. There is usually only 4 people working at a time, so it can be very stressful when many customers are asking for help at the same time.

Advice

I would say this experience prepares you for the different types of personalities you will come across in life. Customer service is a skill I learned while doing this job. It is important to know how to talk to different types of people and communicate effectively with them. You will have to multitask during this job as well because as cashier, you are in charge of ringing customers up, answering phone calls, organizing your area, and answering questions from customers.
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Cashier

August 2019 • Fontana, CA

What I liked

Coworkers are nice and the environment is very friendly.

What I wish was different

Pay is low and very little hours so it’s hard to pay bills and schooling.

Advice

Patience is key. Time is essential. A smile can go a long way.
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Summer Experience Intern

May - August 2020 • Phoenix, AZ

What I liked

Informative about the processes and role of IT and Engineering in the retail market.

What I wish was different

Advice

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Animal Daycare Provider

May - August 2020 • Willow Grove, PA

What I liked

All the dogs I got to meet and play with. I loved caring for them

What I wish was different

The pay. I felt we weren’t paid as well as other places for the amount of work we did.

Advice

If you want to work with animals, this is the perfect beginning job. If your field does not involve animal care, this can be super overwhelming
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Retail

October 2017 • San Antonio, TX

What I liked

I learned a lot about different animals, and what kind of care they receive.

What I wish was different

Nothing.

Advice

Get to learn every aspect of the job, even information about different departments.
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Pet care associate

August 2020 • Eau Claire, WI

What I liked

I like learning new things about different animals and I especially enjoy caring for them as I cannot get any more animals at the moment. I enjoy teaching others about the proper care to the animals in my care and I love learning as much as I can from customers.

What I wish was different

I wish the communication was better especially with upcoming events in the store and changes in how we open and close, and although I do have one manager who does this well I feel she is the only one who communicates on a regular basis.

Advice

While I think that this experience has taught me valuable communication skills not only with the public but with my team as well, I will always recommend to advocate for yourself and the animals in your care. In my experience (I have worked here before) I am a hard worker and I found myself picking up work that my coworkers didn't do and to this day I have found many of my coworkers not doing their best with recovery or checking on food and water levels for the animals. Please don't let others take advantage of you, do your best at your job and if someone is slacking call them out on it that's the best advice I can give.
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