Pros
-positive & happy work environment / everyday that I go to work, everyone is in a good mood and that bounces off to the customers which makes for a great day. Our new store director makes it a point to greet you first, which makes others comfortable to say hello to everyone, it's all a bounce effect starting from the top! Everyone has their own personalities to bring to the table, so be aware some employees may not be happy people to begin with. -caters to school & family schedules / I started as a student and was able to get some hours around my schedule. I've noticed at my store many upper management and full time employees can work their schedule so they can be at appointments and family events. -great benefits / health insurance, vision, dental, 401k, life, short & long term are just some of the great things I have because of HyVee. In Illinois I carry with Blue Cross. Full time, regular and part can get bonus checks. The amount pends on your pay and how much you work. Hyvee throws a company party, at my location we close the store down and go bowling! Once a month, there is a week that you have one shopping day count towards a Christmas fund. It's 10% of one shopping trip that accumulates over the year. Other stores just get 10% off any purchases. -opportunities for advancement / in my personal journey I started in 2011 and am now a regular time employee. I've been in many departments, did one round of HyVee university, have had 4 raises, learned how to make a schedule, been in charge of a small department, been trusted with important tasks. In most positions at least in the retail locations, you do not need college experience. The more experience you have with the company the better your chances are at getting the position you're after. BUT each situation and employee is different, so never be afraid to put your name in for a position, even if you don't think you can land it. -other employment options / HyVee has many subsidiaries, so options are many. If you find that retail is not for you, you can choose to go a different route. We have a construction company, a bank, a few distributions choices, truck driving, corporate. -growing fast / I don't see in my lifetime HyVee not existing, it's nice to know I chose a lasting company for my career.
Cons
-only located in the Midwest / there are 8 states to choose for work. -management not trained throughly / as stated previously, if you put your years in and work hard you can get promoted to management. The issue I've experienced with this is that we have managers that know how to work their department but not handle customer and employee relationship very well. This would be one of the few reasons I have a bad day. -not many women in management / there is a photo of the company officers in our break room, more than half of the group is men. Just look at the top 5 officers of HyVee, only one is a woman When I stand at customer service and consider our customers, one word really comes to mind, mothers. There are the majority of the customers I help, and they are the ones making the buying decision. It is my personal experience that I feel women are held back at HyVee. Not all stores are run the same, and each store director has the ability to set the tone of their store. At my store we have one women in upper management. Five women that are managers of. One woman assistant manager. I have been at the store for three years. I am a hard worker with amazing organizational skills. I have the ability to think ahead of time of any problems that may arise and how to handle them. I had applied to be an assistant manager twice. The first time, the position went to guy who had been at the store less than a year. The second time it went to a guy who had been at the store less than eight months. The first time I was not given an opportunity to interview. The second time I interviewed I was given regular time at customer service. I had been very disappointed that I was never considered to be an assistant, also it should be noted both times I never received feedback or what I could work on to be considered. I talked to the manager of store operations and asked why I was not considered, only to be told it was not a good fit. I responded by stating I had done the same duties at my last retail job, only to be responded with the fact he didn't know that about me. It made me sad to figure he didn't even think to look at my application that is kept on file. Two more assistant managers were hired, both times I didn't even bother to apply because word was going around that they were already picked to be assistants. Both those assistants are men.