Good Short-Term Job - Sales Associate/Cashier PetSmart Employee Review

4.0
Dec 1, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

My coworkers, the customers, and the pets make this job worth it. My coworkers all genuinely care about pets, which is nice. Getting to see a ton of pets is one of the best things about the job. I've seen tons of different kinds of dogs, cats on leashes, and even bearded dragons while working here. It's very rewarding. My manager is great at giving me time off when I need it. I also make a decent amount of money for this being a part-time job, as I was given an ample amount of hours. I've learned a lot about customer service and it's very rewarding to help out pet parents. My store also recently got head sets, which significantly makes communication easier. Our break room is also really nice (despite the fact that the vending machine is ancient)!

Cons

I applied for a Pet Care position. I was asked if I minded doing some cashier work, which I didn't. But I never switched over to Pet Care, and I was told by a coworker that I would have to become the best cashier first in order to rise to Pet Care. I found this really misleading, especially when a new hire was sent straight to Pet Care a couple months later. Additionally, you hardly get any training. This was my first cashier job, and it was a lot to learn. After being on a computer for 6 hours, you shadow a cashier for maybe 45 minutes before getting put on the register. And as a cashier, you do a ton of work. I had to learn a lot on my own. It didn't help that when I would ask my manager questions, he would act like I should already know how to do it. This is also true for when the store has new promotions going on, but no one ever bothers to tell me. I also never had a set weekly schedule. My shifts would be all over the place. It didn't help that my store really needed to hire some more cashiers, and I was working a lot of 7-8 hour shifts.

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5.0
Jul 3, 2026
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Pros

good pay benefits PTO always approved

Cons

sometimes pet health and care is overlooked

1.0
Jun 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company pushes for more and more from the bottom level employees without better pay. I worked there before the restructuring and; not much can make me cry, but working here sure did, even back then. I can’t imagine how anxiety inducing it must be to work there now. Animal welfare is a complete non-concern. The only thing that’s pushed is sell, sell, sell. It’s borderline dystopian. Bad management seems to be a common issue, not only from my experience, but many others’ as well. I worked until I was an exhausted sweaty mess to make sure everything in pet care or, when I groomed, the salon, was cleaned to perfection as expected of me (and I reiterate: “me,” because these standards were not expected of my co-workers, just me) and overall felt very unseen. The only times I did feel “seen,” was when mistakes were made. Work was treated like boot camp. A co-worker that was subtley targeting/bullying me, and even started rumors accusing me of racist remarks(!!!), was promoted and anything I reported was downplayed because they were friends with the assistant manager. Working here was an overall traumatizing experience.

Cons

Employees are expected to be work-robots

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PetSmart Response
3w
We’re disappointed to hear that your experience didn’t reflect what we aim to create for our associates, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. We invite you to contact the CareSmart line at 1-800-738-4693 so we can learn more and see how we can support you. Thank you.
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