Fun, energetic and always something different at Trader Joe's - Crew Member Trader Joe's Employee Review

4.0
Sep 17, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great pay and amazing benefits for working at a supermarket. You need to maintain 20 hrs/week to keep them, so even if this is a part-time/second job, you can get dental, vision, medical and prescription quite affordably. Eligible for two raises per year (every 6 months) If you enjoy talking with people and have a fun, energetic, customer service oriented personailty, you'll be a great fit here. Despite dealing with some customers who are not the best, most of well educated, know and udnerstand product and aspects of the store and are not like shoppers in your normal grocery store. Always doing something different: there are no departments so you get to do a little of everything. Working to floor and putting up product, running a cash register, collecting shopping carts and baskets, etc. You're not stuck doing the same thing for a 6 or 8 hour shift every day. Don't need to have food knowledge, but helpful to know about the store and products. Always opportunities to try ned things and learn about the products.

Cons

There is lack of structure to the company on a store level. Generally when hired, you are just thrown at tasks and not always throughly trained. There is no training program outside of reading the handbook and some paperwork and watching a couple of quick safety videos. Can become quite stressfull the first couple weeks to months. The "managers" are called merchants and mates and can be people who are immature, inexperinced, younger than you and overly bossy/act as if they own the place, even when the company stresses "No Beauracracy." In any store, there can be a lot of additional rules added in that are not company standards that make things awkward or difficult and quite frustrating. Reviews, though 2x/year can become vague and only give moderate feedback, with the review being broken down into sections where either a crew member "Met Satisfaction" or "Did Not Meet Satisfaction", therefore leaving you without a gray area in which many people fall for certain sections.

Explore other reviews about Trader Joe's

5.0
Jul 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great place to work all around

Cons

Nothing really bad to say

4.0
May 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Great way to meet people, socialize, and learn customer service -Always tasked with different things every hour -Friendly crew who will always help you to learn and get better at your job -Get a slight pay raise every 6 months -No outside commitments and amazing benefits if you work full time (about 28 hours a week for every 6 months) -Will take time, but find your friend group, stay with them and have fun, you can't please everybody -Care for your body, do not overdo it with physical labor, its a retail job and you only have one fragile body for yourself, get help or insist about your pains

Cons

-Not many, unless you are stuck in a bad store with bad management -I had some good luck of working in 3 great stores, so YMMV -Sometimes can get cliquey like you are back in high school -Getting promoted up to store management may involve buttering up and being a "yes-person" -Care for your body, do not overdo it with physical labor, its a retail job and you only have one fragile body for yourself, get help or insist about your pains

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