Pros
None. To work there? Absolutely, positively, NONE.
Cons
Within the location I am in, HR is a joke. Sarcastic, crude, unprofessional towards the employees 90percent, and seemingly always has something to say just to ruin your day. Store manager is either too busy, or outside smoking with another manager, but they're at least considerate enough to say hi. There is little to no REAL training done. I was hired during a holiday season, and literally had almost no idea to what I was doing because I was thrown onto the register and told "push this for this to happen, push that for that to happen... I won’t teach you about anything else until you encounter It." that was it. That was my training on the register. I had to figure out what I was doing by myself from then on because everyone was too busy dealing with impatient customers. Then there’s the whole mess with shop your way rewards (SYWR). Yes, I won’t lie, SOMETIMES they are really helpful. But honestly, you’d literally have to spend hundreds of dollars every single day just to accumulate enough points to use. but then if the customers don’t read the fine print, or something with the SYWR system messes up, the customers are blaming you and the store for screwing up and causing a scene calling that the store is a horrible place or that (I) the cashier(s) are too dumb and don’t know how to do their job. Sorry... but I do NOT need to be ridiculed by rude people who obviously need to find a new store so shop in, and need to Stop coming into the same store every day when they know they’re not going to get any benefit from it. SYWR... dear god how much I cannot STAND the consist yakking from all the managers about getting our percentage up and sign everyone up for SYWR. ALL cashiers get heat from managers and leads if they don’t sign up enough reward cards, or if no one wants to use their rewards cards during a transactions. Every. Transaction. Needs. A. Rewards. Card. otherwise, you risk losing your job. There are customers who are from out of town, or they’re just stopping into the store to pick up a few things before/after their jobs (from different s cities that don’t have a local Kmart), or they’re just buying a snack for the road, or they just flat out Do. Not. Want. A. Rewards card. These people just was to buy their stuff and leave. But of course, we (cashiers) get hounded if we don’t sign enough people up and keep our daily percentage above the corporate’s goal of 75percent. Oh. And let me say this, the “corporate goal” is nearly impossible to reach or pass because about 80percent of the customers don’t care about their rewards cards. Especially when the system keeps messing up. Here’s how the systems math on percentages work. If you have a customer come up into your line and they spend about an average of 30-50 without a rewards card, your percentage takes a huge his a drops drastically. Then the next person who comes in and uses their rewards card, regardless of how much they spend, the percentage is only bumped up about 1 to 3percent. By the end of the day, you usually don’t reach the corporate goal of 75percent or higher, and your score is recorded for the manager’s daily statistics. The categories include: opportunities, rewards used, and rewards missed. If there are too many missed opportunities to sign people up, on a regular basis, you’re not worth the time, to the company, and well… that’s that. It doesn’t matter if you have bills to pay or mouths to feed. It’s the same thing with “smart plans”. A smart plan is just extra coverage on a product that qualifies for it. It’s a onetime payment for 1, 2, sometimes 3 years of either replacement services or repair/maintenance services from the company. It isn’t that bad, but no one wants to play extra money for those warranties, regardless of how much the cashier attempts to advertise it as truthfully and helpfully as possible. Smart plans are bigger than rewards cards, and the sears credit card is the biggest deal to offer. Anyway, if you don’t sell enough smart plans, or if no enough people use their rewards cards/sign up for one, the store discards the employees. Another thing, they change some rules without informing you. You’d literally find out from other associates. And if you were never informed because you’re not like by any of your coworkers, well you’ll get an earful of sarcasm, mistaken assumptions, and disrespect from HR. if you attempt to defend yourself, regardless if its respectful and professional or not, HR will still have something to say that will make you feel 100x more regretful about your decision on applying to that job. There isn’t organization in this place, and no manager really cares about anything that happens until it affects their store’s ratings and paychecks. You worked 15-20 hours a week average, for minimum wage. The only compensation your giving is an extra 25 cents to a dollar for every person you sign up for rewards and every customer you sell a smart plan too. There is favoritism in some/most of the leads and supervisors. Any little thing wrong you do, that isn’t major or even noticeable if no one pointed it out, you’d get snitched on. There’s lack in proper training, proper employee respect and assistance, little to no benefits of working there, and a big headache by the end of the day. The only time I actually enjoy my job is when there are no supervisors or managers on schedule to scream in my ears for “customer invitation”, “customer feedback” “rewards cards” and “smart plans”. This store is horrible. You’re co-workers either loathing their job more than you, or just don’t DO their job period. The customers that shop there hate the place yet still come there daily, and make the job 80x stressful. And HR will make you feel like crap, or at least anger you off to the point where you question every decision you’ve ever made. I will be resigning very soon a moving on to somewhere better. Honestly, for someone like me to have numerous work experiences, this one was the worst of them all. I DO NOT recommend this job unless you don’t value yourself whatsoever. I wouldn’t even recommend this job to my worst enemy. The only reason they're always hiring is because a handful of people quit every month, just fyi. I really HATE Kmart. I should've known to just reject the job after my interview. I knew I'd hate this job the moment HR said I wasn’t going to be hired on first sight because I "looked like a straight up [bad word]".