Pros
Trader Joe's really treats their crew members well. There was always lots of free food. Demo make breakfast and dinner for the crew everyday, plus wine & beer tastings at least once a week. Pay is higher than any any other retail store for crew and they offer about $1.00 a year in raises. Good benefits for 30 hours of more per week. Company gives employees a chance to voice their opinion with yearly surveys. Great atmosphere. Fun. Co-workers are really great people. Captains can be really cool. They like to hire easy going people that match the vibe at TJ's. Some stores work with your schedule while others do not. It just depends on the management. I really enjoyed this job and my co-workers were great! Met some awesome people.
Cons
It's retail. Customers were generally very nice, but once in awhile you have to deal with the crazy customers. Hours are all over the place, especially for management who work at least one turn around shift a week (close at 10:00 at night only to be back early morning 4-6:00 am). I think those types of schedules should be illegal. Seriously messes with your body. IT"S AN INCREDIBLY PHYSICAL JOB! If you work the morning shifts your body, especially your back gets worked. Loads of back injuries from young to old people. I am nursing a back injury now. Breaking down pallets day after day can really take it's toll. Plus you have to do it quickly in order to have the store ready for customers. When the store cuts back hours, there are fewer workers but the work load is the same. Injuries are way too common because you have to do things very quickly with fewer workers, leaving less time to lift things the right way. Management is kind of a mess right now. Mates that are hired from the outside make close to 2 times the amount as those who are promoted from within the company. So those who have proven themselves to be exceptional workers by working their way up the ladder end up making far, far less money than those who are hired from Walmart and Target. It causes a lot of turn over in the management positions. Lots of Mates step down to crew members or go on to higher paying management jobs elsewhere. This problem could go away if TJ's would pay all incoming managers the same and be more transparent reguarding pay. Why not pay all starting Mates the same and at least start them at the top of the crew member scale? Seriously pay them enough so they don't have to have another job to survive. It's hard enough to work that crazy 50 hour a week schedule with the crazy hours. At least pay them for it!