I have been working in one of the smaller branches of Waitrose for about a year and a half now. I work on the tills and was also given the opportunity to train to work on the customer services desk. This was a benefit for me because I sometimes get bored working on the tills, so transferring ... Read review
Advantages: Bonus scheme, working for a more 'environmentally friendly' supermarket. Disadvantages: Can be repetitive.
...of the smaller branches of Waitrose for about a year and a half now. I work on the tills and was also given the opportunity to train to work on the customer services desk. This was a benefit for me because I sometimes get bored working on the tills, so transferring to the customer service desk meant more contact with the customers and a greater variety of work to do, meaning less repetition. This is one of the benefits that Waitrose has to offer. ... ...When I first started at Waitrose I was welcomed by all the people I came into contact with. The training before you begin work is a little tedious, filling in various booklets and watching all the videos about the store. I was a little disappointed with my initial training though as I never got the chance to practice on the training till, I was just thrown in head first which was a little daunting, this being my first job. I was unfortunately even ... more
I have been working in one of the smaller branches of Waitrose for about a year and a half now. I work on the tills and was also given the opportunity to train to work on the customer services desk. This was a benefit for me because I sometimes get bored working on the tills, so transferring to the customer service desk meant more contact with the customers and a greater variety of work to do, meaning less repetition. This is one of the benefits that Waitrose has to offer. They do offer a good training scheme with basic training done every three months or so via cd roms on the computer. They also seem to regularly offer partners the chance to train on either customer service or the cigarette kiosk, or even to help run the checkout line. (This is applicable to checkout employees, I'm not sure about the shop floor workers.)
When I first started at Waitrose I was welcomed by all the people I came into contact with. The training before you begin work is a little tedious, filling in various booklets and watching all the videos about the store. I was a little disappointed with my initial training though as I never got the chance to practice on the training till, I was just thrown in head first which was a little daunting, this being my first job. I was unfortunately even more disappointed when I was trained on customer services. The company went to the bother of training me and yet I do not work on the desk very regularly anymore which means I have forgotten what I learnt in the first place as I never got a proper chance to get to grips with it!
As I said before, all the staff are very friendly and if you are looking to work full time at Waitrose then I think it is a good choice for people who are people orientated. Waitrose partners have opportunites for days and evenings out, more frequent than the one off christmas party you may expect with other employers! Chiropodist appointments and the like are also available, although I think it is the older partners who tend to use this service.
Waitrose also offers partners the 12% discount (25% in John Lewis stores.) You get this card a mere three months after starting work and it comes in handy for many partners. The discount card is definitely a bonus if you use Waitrose for your weekly shop, but it doesn't seem much of a discount for small purchases only.
In addition to the card discount for instore there are also a wide variety of discounts you can get for out of store things. These include discounted prices for attractions such as Madame Tussauds, Leeds Castle, English Heritage properties, Alton Towers and Chessington. I believe the offers change every once in a while. I also recently found out that Waitrose as a company owns five sailing boats and discounted sailing lessons are available to partners! Other useful discounted things are childcare, a scheme to loan a new car, and money off a first set of driving lessons - useful for the younger partners in particular?!
As I said in advantages, a very important part of working for Waitrose for me personally is the fact that they appear to be a more 'environmentally sound' supermarket as far as I can determine. They offer the bag for life scheme, and recycle all cardboard boxes, which as you can imagine is an awful lot! Although their prices are sometimes more expensive than other supermarkets I believe this is well and truly reflected in the quality of the goods for sale. I don't personally eat meat anyway, but if I did, the first choice supermarket for purchasing it would definitely be Waitrose. They have a very wide range of free range foods and apparently their fruit and vegetables were found to have the lowest amount of pesticides out of all the major supermarkets. They also don't sell eggs from battery hens which is an important issue to many people these days.
The only real disadvantage I can think of working at Waitrose is the repetitive nature of the work. I can only speak for the checkouts myself as I have never worked on the shop floor, but sometimes it can be a bit boring, but then at other times the time can fly by. Working all day on a Saturday for example used to fly by because it was so busy, but working on a Friday night can be tedious when there are few customers and little work to do! It all depends on if you like to be kept busy I suppose.
The final thing I have to say about Waitrose is about the end of year bonus. At my annual review with the manager last year, he told me that Waitrose partners may earn slightly less than people working at other supermarkets but I believe this is more than made up for by the Christmas bonus, and the fact that this supermarket stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of quality of goods for sale :)
Advantages: Good benefits Disadvantages: Boring if you don't do many jobs
...work for the Partnership (which Waitrose is included in for those who don't know).
As I was a bit depressed and lost it wasn't in my interest to find work, so I remember my mum taking me to our local Waitrose to get an application form. It was a Friday afternoon and seeing the big queues was very daunting, I think i had tears in my eyes! I was definitely not very happy..
'''As a Partner'''
'''Interview'''
I had an interview in a tiny office, ... ...whether this applies to all Waitrose branches, but I feel mine is quite bad at communication, lots of my colleagues would agree on this one, it's hard not to feel unnoticed sometimes. I guess it's what you make of it though.
For the past two years I've been asking to be trained on the Home Delivery section, only to be told a different reason each time why I couldn't. I went on and on about it, I was trained for about an hour, a year ago or more ...
fg4f 27.08.2008 (29.08.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Waitrose
Advantages: Great Working Atmosphere, Many Benefits Disadvantages: None That I Can Really Think Of
I've worked at my local Waitrose branch for just under a year now, and in this time I have discovered that this job is unlike many others.
Having friends who work at Tesco's, Sainsbury's, ASDA and even M&S, I can safely say that this job is the perfect prospect for a student looking for some rewarding part-time work.
-The Recruitment and Training Process-
Applying is very easy at Waitrose, simply go into a store and ask any partner to get a form ... ...having their names learnt. At Waitrose it's a different story though. My section managers learnt my name withion a week, even other section managers and the branch manager know me on first name terms. As far as respect goes, all the senior staff are willing to listen to you, and don't simply bark orders like many others would. The overall environment is a very pleasant working one.
-Payment and Benefits-
My starting rate was £4 per hour, which ...
Squall_0 07.06.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Waitrose
Advantages: Steady, competitive pay & many partner benefits Disadvantages: As a part time, I am rarely recognised
...now worked at my local Waitrose for just shy of two years, and will be leaving, fingers crossed, to go to university in September this year.
Although my job was quite literally the part time student job that we all have at some time or another, and it's not a job I would wish for full time, or to make a career of, it certainly gave me an insight into the world of business.
Training to begin with is extensive, as one would expect with a large company ... ...there requiring part time work, Waitrose could be an ideal port of call. Full time work I'm obviously unsure of, although I could never cope with having to work all day, every day in a supermarket, although I guess some people can. But even for part-timers, the benefits and knowledge gained from working there can be extremely handy later on in life!!
And just off the cuff here - reviewing working at Waitrose?!? only Ciao could think of reviewing ...
CarlMcQ 06.06.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Waitrose
Advantages: Work a good laugh Disadvantages: politics
...there over the years, as Waitrose is part of the John Lewis Partnership, which means worker are treated equally. What I found over time is that it wasn't much different to anywhere else, if your manager liked you, you would get a disproportiant pay increase, over-time would be assigned in dubious ways, and there was a whole load of internal politics.
The company has a proactive management training scheme, which I turned down serveral offers to be ... ...new skills (sorry Waitrose for this)
Despite this I still have amny friend who I see regularly from there and I learnt a lot about life and companys. Even so I still seems like I had it good when I talk to people who worked in Tescos or Asda. ...
si_gk 30.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Waitrose
Advantages: Good pay & bonus, excellent training & benifits Disadvantages: You're still working for a large company
I've worked at Waitrose for just over 2 years before leaving for university, however i do return in the holidays.
During my time there i was given very good training right from day 1 to the day i left (yes i still learnt things on my last day!). The managers there are friendly & helpful, especially those higher up like the branch manager.
Working for them gave me an insight into how a supermarket works, dealing with customers, checkout training ... ...uniform (unlike Tesco), a discount card after 3months (and a larger discount after 3 years), great training and they are such friendly people to work with, always interested in "you" rather than "profits". The other staff there, especially the full timers, seem to know a lot about what they sell, and are keen for new starters to learn too. They have a weekly staff newsleter, in which they have any new products and product reviews etc... - also a ...
premier407 23.02.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Waitrose
Advantages: Partnership benefits, yearly bonus. Disadvantages: Hierachy within the company and often patronising attitude of department managers as a result.
After being a member of the John Lewis partnership for almost 2 years I though it was about time I set the record straight about what exactly working for this company is like and told all you Ciao-ers exactly how is it...
I actually work part-time in a Waitrose Food and Home store which simply means that downstairs is the usual Waitrose fare whilst upstairs, a mini 'John Lewis' department store can be found complete with obsequious, over-zealous sales assistants. lol
I have also recently transferred departments and now work within the 'Kitchenware' department which comes under the 'Department Store' umbrella within the store and means that rather than simply sitting at a till, I'm more involved in selling products to customers ( as in the normal John Lewis stores).
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Why you should join the John Lewis ...
Advantages: Quality of teaching and facilities Disadvantages: Lack of accomodation
minutes to the south of the University and near the arts campus.
Away from this area the towncentre and the Leisureworld complex offer further choices for nightlife. Leisureworld is composed of 3 clubs a cinema and a number of bars while just north of the town centre are located two student clubs Rhinos and Academy as well as a number of student pubs notably Avondale House.
----Shopping----
To do that all essential student shopping use Portswood High Street. It contains a wide range of shops including Boots, Iceland, Safeway and Woolworths. From both Portswood and the University frequent bus services run to the town centre (cost around £2 return). The town centre itself contains many specialist shops and chain stores. The massive new West Quay complex contains John Lewis, Waitrose and Marks & Spencers as well as a wide range ...
Advantages: Modern, clean, attractive city, good university Disadvantages: Quite quiet, poor train network, small university
, including, River Island, Topshop, Oasis, Dorothy Perkins, Boots, Monsoon, etc. so shopping is brill! (I am from the Isle of Wight, so humour me!)
Morrisons supermarket is literally next door to the halls of residence, so the majority of first years shop ther,e. Monday evenings were popualr when I was a first year - you could always spot the students walking back with thier bags of shopping!!
There is a small and a large Tesco not too far away, and a Safeway up the north of the city (where I used to work!) but this has been sold off to Waitrose recently, so gonna be expensive I imagine! There is also a refurbished Co-op in the town centre, where students at the uni can get dividend points on their SU card - like a Boots Advantage card! (Although be warned, you have to spend hundreds to end up with any useful amount - in a year, I have only ...
