For those that missed the original post, I quit my IT career for a part-time job at Lowe’s, for 1/4 the pay. Can’t afford the low pay ATM, but I think my wife and I can muddle though until I go full-time, get promoted, whatever. I want to thank ALL of you who encouraged me! Cannot say how much more sane you all made me feel.
First thing our trainer did was give me a 10% discount card and program it. “Are you married?” Made another account for my wife. No lie, first thing we did.
I worked closely with HR on my last two jobs to build and improve our onboarding process. Lowe’s made me feel amateur. Let’s just say it was about as slick as such a complex legal and logistical process can be. (Yes, there’s far more than most people see or think about.)
The person that got us going did the job I’ve done in my last two roles, got new people on the right foot. Yes, even working IT, I was the first person they met and got settled with. She did pretty damned well. Got stuck watching a recorded onboarding meeting, loathed the presenter. Ever known one of those women who are all smiling teeth, while frowning at the same time, and totally fake? “Oh my gosh! What GREAT input!” Fuck me. I started first and the other 3 guys finished first because they skipped some video. Cheating bastards. :)
LOL, they had the exact rig I built for one company. Some flavor of Debian, locked in kiosk mode, Firefox, on a crappy PC. Perfect for onboarding, training and as a time clock.
They seem pretty cool. The CEO was nice to listen to, seems a solid leader. Black guy, and they talked about DEI initiatives a good deal, doubt they’re backing out, I’m sold. The store manager chatted with us for 30-minutes. Hell, my last CEO was an excellent leader, with half the staff, and he didn’t take 30 to talk to 4 low-paid beginners.
The main thread I picked up, from my interview, to the CEO talk, to the manager, was that you can move up fast if you come in, do a good job and take care of customers. Well hell, that’s what I’m best at. Everyone I’ve met in leadership started on the floor for shit pay, CEO as well.
Turns out my direct super is the British dude that’s helped me before, love that guy! Be sweating my ass off in the outdoor area soon enough, the position I asked for, but I think having that man on my side will get me through.
So, be honest, am I fooling myself here? This ain’t my first rodeo and I got very positive vibes, but it’s a monster retailer so there’s that.
EDIT: Forgot some of the meat of the story. Time and attendance policy seems lenient enough, though I’m not used to even thinking about it. PTO is crap compared to what I’m used to, which taking about every Friday off. Can’t say about health, 401K, all that, but they offer it to part timers. Not great, more than I expected, who knows. All in all, no threatening crap like I expected for $15/hr. “You toe the line or you’re fired!”, kinda bullshit. Turnover is a metric they take seriously, and call out management on it. I’ll drill into it more tomorrow when training is more 1-on-1.
I would be very hesitant about anyone saying it’s quick and easy to move up if you just put in time. Big box stores seem to have pipelines into management through business schools. The highest I’ve ever seen someone get into without specific education was a department manager. Assistant managers always came from other stores into training roles, or out of a school business program. Across multiple retail stores, general and specialized, and currently work in employment services helping people find employment. They just rarely do this, and the pyramid gets very narrow once you get past the store level.
And maybe I’m jaded by the retail industry in general, but every CEO is slick talking and confidence inspiring. You don’t get there without it. The work-life balance will also be gone once the holidays come around, and you find out the store is perpetually understaffed, and you will get an instant termination for missing a scheduled shift on Black Friday, Xmas Eve, or New Years Eve.
The highest I’ve ever seen someone get into without specific education was a department manager.
I’ve seen people do it when I worked at Whole Foods fairly often, but the work conditions worsened as you went up in some pretty big ways. Once you hit the level of department manager, you could be swapped into working at any store within a 50 mile radius of your home store, without any option to refuse if you wanted to keep the position, so having a car was basically mandatory, though they didn’t swap them around that much if you were doing a good job where you were. If you went one level up to assistant store manager, swaps got way more frequent, and you were salaried. Store managers seemed pretty stable in their locations, provided they were putting up good numbers, but them and their assistant managers both had to work some pretty crazy hours. On the plus side, they did get pretty sweet bonuses. My store manager at one location would sometimes earn more in bonuses than he would in his salary. This was all pre-Amazon takeover, though, so I’m sure things have gotten worse in the interim. Heck, they started making it more shit while I was still there in the bid to get Amazon to buy them.
Point is, even in companies where it is possible to go from the shop floor to upper management, there’s always a catch to it.
CEO made it very clear that what, if any, degree you have hanging on the wall means jack shit. And from the people I’ve talked to, it’s true. You start at rock bottom and go. Don’t know of any leadership that snuck in sideways. It’s all very odd and refreshing.
Idk. All my personal experience in retail says they always preach about fluidity in position, benefits of working there, and how freeing it is to have a job where you just show up, do work, and leave.
In college, I was demanded to work 60 hours a week (I was part-time) with any call offs without prior approval a fireable offense (at-will state) While college classes started, which is why we were so busy. And then I got fired anyway; I’d worked for 2 1/2 years there. I bought jumper cables to jump start another employees car; I was told to do this by a manager. So I did. But I was the only one working customer service; for 2 days, I couldn’t return them. I was a broke college student, I needed my $20. So another employee came through at some point, and I had them return it. They kept the money, so I didn’t pocket cash out of the register, and then I got the money after my shift. Then I got fired, because I scanned my receipt while I was logged into the computer. Didn’t matter that I was on camera, not returning it to myself. The printout said I did it, so I was fired. They did invite me to re-apply in 90 days when I was taken off the blacklist. I worked in retail for another maybe 6 or 7 years, so I wasn’t jaded against retail just against that company. Retail is just that soulless.
I expect you’ll are in a short staffed store with unrealistic expectations and people over you in similar positions, with greater demands on them, also trying to move up. I’ve had people work at Lowes and it’s the same retail story; It’s lobsters in a pot pulling each other down to get out.
I hope it works out though, I really do. It’s a publicly traded company though; it demands more profits and quarterly growth. At the end of the day, what is going to matter? Employees getting out of the rat race and being comfortable, or shareholder profits?
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You will hate this too
You have my upvote, but it will be a different kind of hate.
OP sounds like they’re coming from corporate America, where office politics and short sighted decisions reign supreme. To make matters worse, they work in IT and maybe even do some software development, where many companies continue to accumulate more and more technical debt.
I think that I wouldn’t really enjoy going back to a retail job. My corporate job has much lower lows than what I used to experience in retail, but it does offer the possibility of higher highs with big/strategic/impactful decisions. But man, I’ve been chasing that carrot for a while now. It’s almost like it’s on the end of a stick that’s attached to my back.
I don’t get it at all, personally. Or at least I don’t get going into big box retail anyway. No shot I ever want to go back to that.
The main thread I picked up, from my interview, to the CEO talk, to the manager, was that you can move up fast if you come in, do a good job and take care of customers.
If that’s honestly your goal, do yourself a favor and look it up. Lowes is huge and this information is no doubt out there. But if your goal is to make it into their management program or something, working from entry level retail position is usually not the play.
Haven’t met a soul who didn’t start out on the bottom, all the way up to district manager. CEO claims there are guys on the board who started on the floor. Vets clearly get preference though, and that ain’t me.
Keeping a close eye on how things are done, how happy the employees are, all that, ready to bail the second I smell bullshit. I got nothing so far. Hell, just got my schedule after saying I wanted Saturdays and nights off. Fine, got every other Saturday, or less, and most nights off. She put me on a few nights so I can learn how to close. They’re very intent on getting everyone on the same page.
Spent 4 hours watching training videos. Well, you know that sucked, but still, best corporate training I’ve engaged. Well focused too! They guy next to me who will work lumber got much different tasks.
Sounds like an unbelievable strategy in today’s big-box world, but it’s hard to argue with success.
Yup, my buddy got her MBA from UT Austin and her first gig was an assistant manager for Target. You aren’t running a 10-100 million dollar a year store woking up from a stock position.
It’s definitely a risky move, for the reasons you already called out. But sane? Yeah, probably. I’ve known a few people over the years that have done similar moves: dropping out of high-pay/prestige positions due to the stresses and general unhappiness. They’ve almost always ended up generally happier for the change. Just don’t be afraid to acknowledge if the move isn’t working. Don’t talk yourself into staying in a bad situation because you don’t want to admit that the move isn’t working.
(but also: drop an update in a few weeks. I’m now curious to see how this goes for you.)
Thanks! I’m scared shitless about $15/hr. though, part-time no less. But I’ve always knocked it out the park in jobs where there’s opportunity to move.
I used to feel defeated when I walked away from a high-pressure prestige job and took something on a lower rung. Then I realized that I don’t have to prove anything to anyone and if I want the job that doesn’t ask me to work late or work on weekends that’s my fucking call. I’ve been much happier since. Good luck!
Lowes is infinitely than Home Depot. Its the kind of place that actually hires old arthritic contractors who genuinely know which end of a hammer to be swinging, or cheeky old garden department department types that flirt with both me and my partner at the checkout when we’re coming in after on a Saturday soil run. Also its the kind of place that actually has shit in stock, which means its shit stacked floor to ceiling. Watch your head and don’t fuck around when it comes to heavy shit high up. Don’t make out with too many customers, or if you/ they insist on it, at have them step out of line so the rest of the customers can check out.
All in all, I rate Lowes a 10/10 store and both my partner and I would make out with Deborah again. Obviously I can’t speak to your personal experience so ymmv, but if we see you at check out, don’t be surprised if we shoot our shot.
Damn, I’m 54 and feel kinda young around there. Weird. But yeah, those old folks know their shit. That’s the main reason I hit the local, old-school, hardware store (other than keeping my money local!).
Hoping to be that guy in the outdoor/garden area! Surprisingly, much of my training today (corporate video, bland) was on specific stuff like grasses and related chemicals. Did not expect to learn stuff like that from beginner corpo training.
Hoping to be that guy in the outdoor/garden area
I would recommend a shaggy, slightly provocative hair cut then.
I think this really depends on the store. Our local Lowe’s is very poorly run and organized. Good luck finding a flatbed cart that’s not piled high with returns, fixtures, etc. There is stock waiting to on shelves piled in aisles gathering dust. Employees are few and far between. Our local home cheapo is the exact opposite.
Seems the company has the right philosophy, but there’s much to be said about local and district leadership. Mine seems tight. We shall see.
99% of the reason I go to homedepot is because they are the closest, and because they have milwaukee
you should meet Deb
I left an $84k/yr IT job and I currently work as an ER Tech making $19/hr. I won’t say I’m happier but there is less stress.
Young people need to hear our stories! Some many seem to feel they’re trapped by cApiTAliSm. Nah, fuck the man, they don’t own your soul.
Damn, less stress as an er tech doesn’t sound like something anyone should ever have to say
I suspect it’s a different kind of stress. I waited tables for 5 years when I was younger. It took me nearly a decade before I stopped having the hopelessly in the weeds with a single table and now I’m suddenly naked dream.
I’ve worked corporate jobs ever since. I do not have reoccurring dreams about them, but the stress/frustration is a lot higher because it’s less transactional in nature.
