They would rather hire outside people without knowledge/experience than promote hard workers - Petcare Specialist PetSmart Employee Review

2.0
May 29, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The primary reason I still work at PetSmart is the animals. I do have a lot of regular customers that ask for me personally and I do enjoy helping most of the customers that come in the store.

Cons

If you are hired in at a low level, you will never be promoted higher than maybe a lead position. Pet Care there is a lot to do every day, all day. It is a lot of hard work with very little assistance from other departments, yet they are expected to cover other areas in the store making it very difficult to complete daily duties and provide proper customer service. The down side to others helping in Pet Care is lack of training and knowledge which can result in improper information given to customers which can have bad results when they purchase live animals without clear understanding of their needs and care. Training for all areas and positions are minimal at best. Most of the managers have very little experience, if any, and most are outside hires, very rare to find a manager that was promoted to the position. Pay is low and so are the raises.

Explore other reviews about PetSmart

5.0
May 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good job and location nice

Cons

None that I can think of

4.0
Jun 14, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

15% off whole store 50% proprietary brands Petting animals Friendly customers Almost never declines requested days off

Cons

Must have min one weekend day available No room for growth very hard to become full time Must make requests a month in advance even thought the schedule come out Thurs/fri for the following week, shifts can be unpredictable Coworkers with seniority have “better” shifts Scrubbing tanks may have you armpit deep They say everyone is equal and gets paid the same but not everyone put in the same effort, ex: some people don’t do pet care at all or never close or never work truck days

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