Possibly a good 1st job for some management exp. But, make sure you do have a well thought and planned out exit strategy
Pros
- Great benefit - Job Security - Good discounts - No need to relocate and somewhat flexible in terms of work location - Meeting and working with some great people - Opportunity to gain some good management experience - Decent Training
Cons
- It's RETAIL, so don't expect any weekends or holiday off, unless you are on vacation (keep in mind, you won't get any vacation during holiday seasons). That being said, forget about any kind of personal/family activities. The work/life balance that they talk so much about is practically non-existent. Extremely long hours. On average, 50-55 on a good week and 60-70+ when all hell break loose and the latter will happen more often than you think. Scheduling is really random, it's nothing like I was expected when I was getting into this business and right now, it's not working for me at all and I can't imagine it working for anybody else. - Salary/Wage is supposedly based on a 45 hour work week. Here's the thing, you never work 45 hours. The week you do, I seriously hoped you enjoyed it because it might not happen again. Also, the pay is not competitive, it is nowhere near enough considering the amount of stuff and crap you have to deal and put up with. People working for you are probably and most likely getting paid more than you. Granted, their experience and specific skills play a big part in that but it gets seriously ridiculous when even the backup or lead make more than you, sometimes a lot more. - Nothing you do is never enough. Under appreciated and sometimes forgotten. You will however, be remembered as soon as something goes wrong. If you think that nothing went wrong and everything is fine, then don't expect too much praise because once you hear "but" you better brace yourself to hear how bad you've messed up somewhere else and how many more "opportunities" you've got to fix. - If you do want to make a career at Kroger starting as a Co-Manager, your first store assignment can make or break you. On that note, some stores are on a level of their own when it comes to the customers that frequent the store and/or employees who work the store. It can be an overwhelming challenge to the point where you'll be affected physically, mentally and emotionally. I have seen some of the happiest, pleasant, nice, always smiling people break down in tears and becoming the complete opposite of themselves just because they have to go to work at certain stores. - A lot of changes in the company, things can change overnight, and higher ups can come back the next morning to check to see if that change has been implemented. Sometimes, they come up with some unrealistic goals, without even taking into account the location of the stores. (Different store, different market and different competition). - The UNION can make it really difficult to deal with certain employees, especially the bad apples who think they can do whatever the hell they want and get away with it, and sometimes sadly, they do. - Not much glamour for a "management" position "I'm a manager at Kroger" just doesn't mean anything. Most feedback you'll get from people is probably "Oh yeah!!....OK" and that's about it. - Getting promoted is not as easy as they made it sound during training. After a while, you will start to feel like you are stuck with no real chance or opportunities to move up, at least not until you get to take one of those level-up classes that only come around once every blue moon, or you suck up to the right people. - Lastly, dealing with some arrogant, selfish, ungrateful and disrespectful customers who feel like they are entitled and want to get anything and everything for free just because Kroger is a fortune 500 company
