Perspective

Let's see if we can get this image in here ...



Took more effort than it should, but there it is.

Long time ago now, I submitted an application online for Wal-mart. First I should mention, there are actually 2 Wal-marts here in town, one on the east side and one on the west (closer to where I live). How we rate two in a town this size? Well, actually, they were building a new shopping center on this side of town (everything else is on the east side) and the major chain they had been talking to (Target) changed their minds. Someone at Wal-mart decides they like the location overlooking the freeway, so now we have two. (And of course being new construction, the one on this side of town has a few things the other doesn't, like an auto service center and a drive-through pharmacy.) But enough on that already ...

Wal-mart always seems to be looking for people, so even if they wouldn't exactly be my first choice - well, anything in retail wouldn't be my first choice - I had to give them a try. What seemed like about a month later, I got a call from the eastside store about a cashier position ... I went in for an interview, but it didn't work out. Not like I've had to do too many job interviews in the past - most stuff I've done didn't really require an interview. (Not that I'm certain why being a cashier or stocker requires an interview, but they wanted one anyway.)

Something like 10 days later, the other store calls for an interview as a stocker. "ICS associate" they call it, just means unloading trucks and putting items on the shelf and stuff. Having been through one interview already I had a better idea what I wanted to say this time, and they accepted me. Conditional on the drug test everyone seems to require of course, and background check. They require that you take the drug test within 24 hours (more on that later), then you wait ...

I understand that normally it's only about a week or so before you start your training (yes, they have training to be a stocker), but unfortunately this ended up at a bad time ... it was another 4 weeks before they called me, they told me later it was because they were in the middle of inventory and couldn't hire any new people until they finished it, but you know ... would have been nice if they told me or something.

There was an orientation which took about 2 hours the first day, then the next 3 days were set aside for the training. Everything's done on computer using some program based on IE and Flash, with some skills questions after each lesson - pretty easy. Well, for me anyway. The computers were down for updates for half a day, but a lot of the material for my position was pretty common if you've ever worked in a warehouse before, so I was done after only the second day. (I'm also a whiz at tests, I'll have to tell you that story sometime ...)

So where was I ... oh yeah, I guess a timeline would help. Orientation was at the end of July, I started on my regular schedule at the beginning of August. I was actually expecting to know where everything in the store was within a couple of weeks (I have commented on my memory before), but it's not quite that simple - stuff gets moved around on a regular basis, and even someone with my memory can't quite remember the whole store - knowing the right aisle is pretty good though.

I should make some comments here ... Wal-mart has a reputation as a big faceless corporation that only cares about selling cheap products at a profit. Well, not particularly. Obviously making a profit has to be a big thing - you can't lose money and stay in business for long - but they sell the same major brands as everyone else. Okay, they try to get deals so that they can make more money. That's the nature of the retail game. And being the biggest retailer in the world puts them at an advantage in that regard, things like albums by major artists which are exclusive to Wal-mart, or just the whole volume thing ... if your supplier knows that you're going to order 20 million of his product, he'll give you a slightly better price than the guy who is only ordering 20 thousand. Not that I'm involved in any of that end of the business of course.

But there is sort of a duality to the whole thing. Okay, my store is definitely not "faceless", I know the manager and many of the other employees. But things like scheduling and all that are done at Wal-mart headquarters, so sometimes you feel like no one local is involved. I don't know ... there ought to be a better way. Hasn't really been an issue for me personally, except those times when we get a larger shipment in on a day when only half the people are there ... I don't mind working weekends and don't really have outside activities where I'd need to ask for a specific day off, but obviously some people do.

In theory we should have more people on the shift I'm on, but sometimes it's not that simple. I mean, take for example the situation with "cart pushers". Pretty basic job, main thing is to get the carts from the collection points back to the doors but also helping people who may have heavy items or disabilities with carry out. Okay, definitely not an easy job, especially in bad weather, but anyone in decent physical condition could handle it. Want to know what the real problem is? While we have plenty of applicants, too many can't pass the drug test. I heard about one person who found out about the test (while you know there is going to be one, they don't tell you it has to be within 24 hours of the interview until you complete the interview), made some excuse about going home to help her mother and then was never heard from again. I presume they don't really count her among those who "failed" the drug test in that she didn't get the test, but we do have lots of applicants who did fail the test as well.

So what's it like? It's a lot of hard work, but generally good people. And yes, there is an employee discount. It doesn't apply to food or gas :ah: but you know, every little bit helps.

Of course, I'm not looking forward to this coming Friday, aka "Black Friday". I'm one of those people who previously the only way I'd be caught in a store on the day after American Thanksgiving was if it was 3 AM (and yes, I have done that several times). Maybe it'll be different being on the other side, but even so I'm sure it'll still be a "madhouse".