I had applied online as a pet care specialist (I am a reptile hobbyist) and a manager called the next day to set up an interview time for me. I came in that following day; I dressed office casual: a simple black dress over black stockings and a light cardigan with flat boots.
The store's appearance was very tidy. The products and shelves were organized in a neat floor plan and the aisles were easily navigable. The live animals appeared to be well-taken care of and lived in clean environments. Each of the animal's food bowls were near full or full, bedding and soil was clean, and all the animals were active and alert.
I greeted the same manager who had called and we stepped into a very small office room. She began the 1:1 interview with a few questions about myself; I kept my responses quite short because she seemed rather hasty or she may have been anxious about meeting a deadline. Besides that, she seemed like a very nice woman and legit about her position and her views of the company: she explained to me even on her worst days, seeing a cute puppy walk in always made things better. I was surprised that she seemed to really like her job.
The questions consisted of a few of the very common employee assessment questions like those I had answered online, ie: Describe how you would handle a disgruntled customer, what are you strengths and weaknesses, why I want to work at PetSmart, etc. She also talked about some of the great benefits for full-time and part-time associates (I will be a FT). The benefits include medical, dental, vision, 401(k), and so many more. Petsmart offers benefits for an individual college kid like me, a married couple, same-sex partners, single parents, and couples with children.
After questions, she asked me was I comfortable working all types of animals. I explained to her how I have owned several types of pets in the past and my strong interest in herpetology. Then we walked to the reptile section and I was asked if I was comfortable around snakes (in the past, potential employees had lied about their comfort levels around snakes). I enjoy snakes, so the "test" was simple. I held the 7" coiled baby python in the palm of my hand. I also had a chance to meet my potential supervisor, the acting Pet Care manager.
We then went back to the small office room so that I could sign and initial papers (I honestly don't know what they were for), discussed my potential hours, my school hours, and then she handed me a form for pre-employment drug testing at LabCorp. She informed me to take the test as soon as possible so that I could start the following week (interview Friday). And then call her to confirm that I taken the urinalysis.
I decided to take the test that Monday instead of Friday, she received the results Tuesday, and I will begin Wednesday.
Overall, the interview went well and my potential coworkers seem very legit and honestly enjoy their work. I plan on staying with them throughout my college career (and maybe even longer) and I know that I am really going to enjoy working with them.
Oh and I'm not sure about the pay rate (I never bothered to ask), but I know you get paid every Friday.