Trader Joe's job application?

January 17, 2006 11:12 AM

Has anyone applied for a job at Trader Joe's? Please help me with the application...

The cashier told me that there was a math section on the application and that I can't take the application home with me. (Thus, no Googling and no calculator.) I am fairly awful at math. Should I be worried? What types of math questions should I expect? How can I best prepare myself? Is there anything else I might do to best ensure that I get hired?

And also, I'm curious to hear about positive or negative work experiences at Trader Joe's.

posted by crapulent to Work & Money (20 answers total)

I have long wodneered about this great store. I go there often and with each visit, I seldom see the same people working there. The turnover is big. I have wondered why this should be so.
posted by Postroad at 11:20 AM on January 17, 2006

how about a watch with a calculator, they might not notice it.
posted by poppo at 11:21 AM on January 17, 2006

I would epect basic addition and subtraction, perhaps some multiplication and division. Nothing you didn't know how to do by sixth grade.
posted by kindall at 11:21 AM on January 17, 2006

No, you shouldn't be worried (unless you never finished grade school). Expect adding and subtracting, simple math you'd need to know to make change. You don't need to prepare yourself (unless you don't know how to add and subtract). Dress nicely, act polite, and express your enthusiasm for their wonderful company. Don't tell them that you freaked out over basic math enough to post to AskMe.

The turnover isn't big at my local Trader Joe's. I've seen the same people working there for the past few years. I don't work there, but I've heard good things.
posted by booknerd at 11:26 AM on January 17, 2006

It's just going to be making change math, the point of which is to use the fewest coins possible, which means using the largest denomination coins.

So if you have to give X cents in change, you keep subtracting 25 from X until X is less than 25. For each subtraction, you give a quarter in change.

Then you do the same for dimes: subtract 10 from the remainder until the remainder is less than 10....
posted by orthogonality at 11:31 AM on January 17, 2006

From the impression I've gathered from some friends of friends who work at TJ's, it's a roiling web of intra-worker flings and crushes.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:37 AM on January 17, 2006

had a friend who worked at tj's, the two things he mentioned to me were:

* the discount kicks ass. that's the biggest perk, seeing as how tj's is already pretty cheap.
* everyone does everything. You will be stocking and cashiering and unloading and bagging and whatever the hell else needs to get done in a grocery store.

he liked working there but couldn't get enough hours to make it worth it. i know it's attractive to a lot of young folks because their dress code is fairly loose (you do have to wear a tj's logo shirt of some sort, I believe, but besides that it seems like they don't care about facial piercings or visible tattoos, etc etc).
posted by fishfucker at 11:43 AM on January 17, 2006

In my limited experience shopping at Trader Joe's, I haven't been impressed with the cashiers' intelligence (or their ability to make change, for that matter). I wouldn't worry about surviving their "screening process."

Generally speaking, retail jobs are the bottom rung of the pay scale. There's a reason for that. They're low-hanging fruit.
posted by cribcage at 11:45 AM on January 17, 2006

When I applied for Kinko's oh so long ago, I had to do percentage discounts and questions like If color copies are X cents and b&w copies are Y cents, how much would 14 copies of a document that had Z pages in b&w... etc.

Review percentages. Otherwise, it shouldn't be too challenging.
posted by Gucky at 11:50 AM on January 17, 2006

I wouldn't worry about them asking you any trig or algebra questions, so you can breath easy. Even office jobs which ask for mathematical skills don't go into that sort of territory. Long division is about as hard as it can get.

It's basically just to prove that if the power goes out, you can work some stuff out.. and no-one except scientists and engineers use anything beyond arithmetic.
posted by wackybrit at 11:52 AM on January 17, 2006

I applied a few years ago. The math portion is eight or ten simple math questions, division and multiplication of two three-digit numbers; maybe a percentage problem.
posted by duende at 12:43 PM on January 17, 2006

My neighbor has worked at our local TJs since it opened some 2 or 3 years ago. She loves it. She didn't say anything about the application being overly stressful. Like the others here said, it's probably just your basic math so they can weed out those that likely can't make change.

Have fun and Good Luck!
posted by SoftSummerBreeze at 12:52 PM on January 17, 2006

wackybrit - the admin jobs at our office require algebra and percentages. ( I think there's some overlap there.) We give a 5 question easy test at the interview (and provide a calculator) and 9 out of 10 applicants can't do it.

It's scary. They don't even seem to know if their answer can't logically be right. For instance, 25% of 120 can't be 150, and yet...

And these are people who have good enough looking resumes and good enough phone interviews that they get in the door.

/derail
posted by small_ruminant at 12:54 PM on January 17, 2006

My local TJ's has almost no turnover and I can't imagine that the math on the application is much more complicated than balancing a checkbook. As in, I doubt they'll want you to be able to calculate tax in your head.

Not like an application for a waitstaff job that was (no joke) 12 pages long and included two pages of cheese knowledge in addition to a seriously whacked wine test. I did not complete it.

Good luck!
posted by fenriq at 1:19 PM on January 17, 2006

I am friends with an engaged couple who both work at TJ. They seem to like it. A perk is that they get health insurance as full-time employees (not sure if they have it for pt). My friend is kind of artsy and she makes the hand-made signs, which she enjoys. Her shift starts at 5 am but then she's done by 2, so she's gotten to like the early schedule (though she goes to bed at 9 pm). I don't imagine the math is too hard since neither of my friends is a math wiz.
posted by bananafish at 1:22 PM on January 17, 2006

My friend has worked at Trader Joes for about a year and a half, and I was looking over her shoulder when she filled out the application. I remeber there being some word problems, something like if they sell 15 cans of an item per day and it takes 2 days for the order to arrive and there are 40 on the shelf on a monday morning, how many should you order. something like that.

She has an account on metafilter. I will tell her about this thread and she can probably give you more tips. Good luck
posted by harrigton at 1:23 PM on January 17, 2006

TJ's can be a great employer. My wife and a whole string of our friends work/worked there. I don't know much about the application (I can't recall anybody making a big deal about it), but it's a decent workplace with great advancement potential. They treat their "full timers" (the folks in the Hawaiian shirts) especially well in terms of pay and benefits, the scheduling is flexible and the work isn't too hard (hefting boxes on delivery day for a few hours and staying late on inventory nights being the worst of it). My wife was very tempted by the paycheck to stay with the job for the long-term, but in the end decided she needed something a little more mentally challenging...

If she has anything to add, I'll post a follow-up.
posted by maniactown at 3:18 PM on January 17, 2006

wackybrit: Ack! That math comment couldn't be farther from the truth!

Actuaries, accountants, businessmen, daytraders, and all sorts of other money grubbing folk use math all the time, the really good ones need to have a grasp of calculus.

Not to mention machinists and all sorts of other blue collar folks who often need algerbra and trig to do what they do.
posted by phrontist at 3:36 PM on January 17, 2006

I worked for Trader Joes for three and a half years. The math test was very, very easy.
One of the questions is "What is 10% of $100?" Come on. Great company, great workplace, and I was very sad when I quit.
posted by thesiameseffect at 4:47 PM on January 17, 2006

I currently have been working at Trader Joe's for over a year and absolutely love the job. First off, the math part of the application is about ten questions. It is all addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, as well as one word problem. Unless they have changed it, it gives you the amount of product you sell in one day, and asks you how many cases you would need to order for so many days.

~The one thing on the application that is the most important is availability. That is what they look at first. So you could get a few problems wrong on the math test but have good availability and you'll be all set.

~They are not like most stores. They are a unique store with positive and passionate people working there from the crew members (anyone working 40 hours or less) to the President of the company.
~You will do everything in the store including cashiering, bagging, stocking shelves, sometimes cleaning (sweeping the store before opening & bathrooms).
~They are a big customer service store, and generally I think you'll find most people are happy to be there which raises the mood and overall feeling in the store. Most people that weren't happy there didn't last.
~Discount is 10%, off already low prices which is great
~Trader Joe's pays well for a retail store, especially if you become a "Full Timer" which is a manager. Everyone else is a part timer, but as long as you work over 20 hours a week, you get benefits.
What store are you applying to?
If you have any questions, please email me [e-mail]
posted by Andrea2880 at 11:59 AM on January 18, 2006