jobbite
People treated like indentured servants. Quotas that seem to make no sense. Total lack of organization. First day of work was asked to clean bathrooms and stay late.
Did not care about the salary but there is no amount of money that would make me go back there.
Working for Goodwill was always something I thought about trying because I love shopping there- I'm a thrift addict. I was so excited when I got the call and was offered a position as a cashier, but overall my experience was just okay.
Job Positions: In the Denver area of Goodwill stores there are Cashiers, Lead Cashiers, Sales Floor Associates (basically stocking), Processors (sort and hang clothing and other items), Donation Attendants, Backroom Leads, Night Supervisors, Leads, Assistant Managers, and the Store Manager.
Job Pace/Difficulty: When I was hired on we were opening a new location so the first two weeks were spent training in another area store, then the next two weeks we set up the store. Setting up the store was labor intensive, putting racks together, processing items, and stocking shelves. I didn't mind the work but was disappointed by the way some management treated the older people on staff. They frequently complained if they went "too slow" because of health issues or mental issues.
All associates were expected to be constantly working- we would be prostrated if we were caught having a personal conversation with another employee, even if we were just small talking while putting items away. We were responsible for putting all the racks out that got pushed to the floor and sometimes tag and size them. The work is really not bad as long as you can be on your feet constantly, and the work gets done if you are responsible about it. When I was a cashier lead and would close the store and be the "manager on duty" I would just make a list of what needed to be done and my cashiers just checked it off as they went- they knew what was expected and that we couldn't be get out too late. But other managers would constantly be on you to get things done even if you had to ring up customers for big chunks of time.
In the other store that I worked in the managers were nicer about it and would just check on you a few times a shift to make sure you were getting everything done and give you more tasks. That didn't give as much of the "working to the bone" feeling.
If you work on the floor you're expected to cashier, put items away, clean out dressing rooms, keep the floor free of items, rearrange and sort through items that have been out too long and not sold, and in some stores color code the clothing. Because of the "family friendly" atmosphere of the store we cleaned up toys and items from children a lot.
Co Workers: As in any retail it's all about who you work with- I loved the store manager of the store I trained in, she was very respectful and I even saw her give free items to homeless people that came in on a regular basis. My store manager was a lot different, very blunt and to the point. She would tell you to your face if you were doing something she didn't like. I understand not beating around the bush but she was outright mean at times. My assistant manager was very disrespectful towards those below him and would say disrespectful things about us (for example, he would talk about people being lazy and stupid). I remember being surprised when he actually said something personal to me after I had been there for about two months (he said his hobby was stained glass LOL) With the management it was all about numbers and getting your work done, they were not personable at all.
Pay/Benefits: Cashiers, Processors, etc made 8.25/hr (I think) As a lead cashier I think I made 8.75/hr? I can't remember for sure but it was a little above minimum wage. Most workers were full time, only a few part timers. Benefits were available and if you chose, the premium was taken out of your paycheck. There were different levels available and they weren't the greatest but they were pretty good.
Shift flexibility: Full time workers usually either worked a 9-5 shift or a 1:30-9:30 shift, and sometimes if you had the availability, odd shifts like 12-8. When they hired you on the times you would normally work were agreed upon (mornings or nights) but the days you worked usually fluctuated so they could have coverage on Saturdays which is their busiest day in sales.
Discount: We got a 30% discount on full priced items except blue tickets which was brand new merchandise Goodwill buys from Target (usually out of season items or returned items), and if your store makes the monthly sales plan you got 4 50% off coupons you could use the next month on 4 whole orders. I thought the discount was great and bought a ton of stuff from clothes to household items.
Policies: Generally the managers are very strict about following rules. There were a lot of things we were forbidden to do (like hold something we wanted to purchase till we could buy it on our break or after work). But at the same time, it depended on the manager. I had one supervisor that allowed us to pick out pants and t shirts to wear to work (we had to wear khaki pants and dark blue shirts). I think I ended up with about four pairs of free pants and 3 or 4 free shirts which was helpful because you do get dirty and your clothes wear out fast.
Pros: I loved being able to find all the "good stuff" to buy, like brand new clothing with tags still attached, or cute decorative items at cheap prices. I liked my co workers, my fellow cashiers, etc. Most of them were friendly and I got to know them. Workers are sometimes allowed to move throughout the store if they are having trouble with something (like if your not comfortable on the cash register you could move to the back with your store managers approval). The hours were good and if the person who writes the schedule is inclined, you can usually work the same days each week with weekend trade-offs. The customers were generally nice and it was easy to convince them to buy things because they were cheap. They were GREAT about giving breaks- 30 minutes for lunch and two 15 minute breaks if you worked 8 hour shifts. They provided lunch a few times while we set up the store which was nice. The grand opening was a lot of fun with special promos, radio station guests, etc.
Cons: Most of management in my home store was awful, very disrespectful and often treated the mentally or physically handicapped like they were lazy or stupid. I was very disappointed seeing as that's a main mission of the company. There was a lot of internal dishonesty and gossip between managers. I eventually left the position because of these main issues:
1) The constant negative and disrespectful attitude of the management.
2) Odd things were starting to happen with missing money out of the safe, noticing managers buy product for super dirt cheap (having friends in the back price items they wanted cheap). Since I was the lowest on the totem pole, I felt the blame always come down on me (managers saying "oh the lead cashier must have counted wrong")
3) I was a Cashier Lead and closed the store by myself most nights, had keys to store and alarm/safe code, but they would not allow me other manager "privileges" like ringing up other cashiers who wanted to buy stuff. I was not treated as a "manager" even though I was acting and working like one (closing by myself).
4)For at least two weeks before I left I was in daily contact with our district manager about all these issues and nothing was being done about them. The DM was sympathetic towards me and other co workers and ensured things would change but nothing did.
The bottom line was, I knew if something big happened (like say $200 missing from safe instead of just $20) I could possibly end up with a police report because it would SOMEHOW end up my fault even though the room the safe is in has security cameras and I was VERY vigilant in the last couple weeks about keeping my hands away from my body and in clear view of the camera while doing anything with cash.
I wrote a two page typed complaint upon leaving and nobody even bothered to call me or get a hold of me in someway to see if anything was resolved... very disappointed in the company's lack of interest in the people they employ when they are supposed to be "empowering the individual" and "giving people chances". I would have loved to continue working for the company had I felt safe doing so.
The mission of the organization is overall great. They set out to really help people and make a change in the community .
They expect you to kiss everyone's ***, and make it be know that you are kissing ass. There is a lot of backdoor dealing where individuals are fearful of you coming for their jobs, because you come to work to do your job and not socialize
Work with a lot of high risk people
Pay is bad
Hours are bad
Too many unprofessional management team
Back room is dirty and dusty
High Stress to meet production numbers
Pay is bad
Starting $6.25
Ending ( 11 years later) $ 8.05
Pros:
I honestly can't think of any pros other than employees are very close! Discount.... I never used it and it was only 15%!
Cons:
A lot of donations come in and managers don't like to throw away anything. It was a lot of work putting clothes on the racks ALL day. I had bruises on my hand and arm from the hangers. A lot of nasty things come in. One time I found a PJ bottom in a rack with blood stains on the butt area! Other times my arms would get itchy with things that I had to put on shelves.
They wouldn't let us leave until everything was put away on the racks or shelves even if it was almost 11pm.
I'm not saying that all the managers are horrible but there was a lot of drama with my managers. One was a pot head, another was secretly dating an employee, and the other priced things that she liked very cheap and then she would buy them. Oh and I can't forget the one that was lazy and would tell us that we did a shi**y job.
One of my co-workers had a daughter that had surgery in her intestines and she missed work for a couple of days to care for her since se is a single mom. When she went back to work a manager was very angry and insulted her so much that my coworker started to cry uncontrollably and had to be taken to the hospital from the store! To this day she has the unpaid hospital bills. That is when I started to lose respect for Goodwill. How did they allow that manager to keep working there.
Overall my experience was pretty bad but it always depends on the store, mangers and employees.
Starting pay is $8.25 per hour and after a year you get a $0.25 raise.