Interview at PetSmart for a grooming trainee, what should I expect? [x-posted from r/dogs]

[rochelle]

Hi guys! First off, sorry for formatting I'm on my phone, secondly I just got a phone call from PetSmart letting me know they want me for an interview for the grooming trainee position!

I'm over the moon about this as I've always wanted to pursue grooming.

I've owned tons of different breeds from poodles to Airedales to labs to hounds and Pomeranians! Currently I own 2 Irish Wolfhounds, 2 Wolfhounds x Coonhound, and 3 Pomeranians. I also own 3 horses and 2 cats if that means anything.

I've groomed and bathed all of them, the only thing I haven't done is clipped any of the dogs or cats, but I have clipped the horses.

I'm not sure at all what to expect or what questions I'm going to be asked, I was wondering if you guys could kind of "prep" me for it. Ask me questions or tell me your experiences.
Oh also, the interview is on Wednesday.
Thank you in advance

 

[timberwallace]

@rochelle Run.

I am not joking. I worker for PetSmart for 6 years, I was a salon manager for a year and a half. The company was bought out at the beginning of this year and went private. The only thing they care about is money.

I ran a salon with 8 groomers, they are down to 3 now. Two of them are shitty employees who know they can't get a job elsewhere and they won't get let go from PetSmart because they need the warm bodies. The other groomer has been grooming a little over a year and is doing 7 grooms a day to offset the laziness of the other groomers. Instead of congratulating her on her insane speed, quality and drive, they say, "so when will you be able to do 8 dogs a day?" She gets 60% add on sales every week and they tell her to do better. She is by FAR the most productive employee, and the store manager threatened to come after her about her contract if she quit before her two years is up. He didn't tell her what a good job she does, he fucking threatened her.

Nothing you ever do will be good enough there. They won't teach you how to groom well, they'll tell you to groom faster.

Seriously, stay far, FAR away from PetSmart.

 

[mamba]

@timberwallace I cannot emphasize this enough. Listen up op.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@timberwallace I wish I could upvote this more.

 

[rochelle]

@timberwallace I do understand your concern, and I know that each store is slightly different, but.. I think I'm going to take a "trail run" just to kind of see what its like.

But I will have your wisdom in the back of my head.

 

[timberwallace]

@rochelle I do wish you the best of luck, and I really hope it works out for you. Just make sure you have a back up plan if shit hits the fan!

 

[rochelle]

@timberwallace Haha thankfully I always have a back up plan

 

[shikyo792]

@rochelle Are you going in as a bather?

I dont want to ruin your fun, but Petsmart has lost a quarter of its groomers lately, and for good reason. I did it though and would love to talk!

 

[rochelle]

@shikyo792 The position I applied for was literately "grooming trainee", it said that you would do things like prep the dogs before their groomings, answer calls, book in appointments, clean up, stuff like that.

What do you mean but they lost a quarter of its groomers?

 

[shikyo792]

@rochelle Sounds like a bather position, but with the intentions of sending you to school quick.

They quit. My old salon went from like 13 to 6. Next one over went from like 15 to 9 in the past 6 months or so. Ill write you up something tomorrow morning.

 

[rochelle]

@shikyo792 Oh wow, I anticipate the story! Thats a pretty crazy drop in employees.

 

[compassion4humanity]

@rochelle It's happening everywhere. I loved working there...and then it got really bad. I've never felt so relieved leaving a place for the last time (about three months ago). I'll forever be thankful for the training I recieved though.

I've never heard of the position you were offered, but they've been changing a lot within the past year. I'm guessing you'll be fast tracked to a groomer, but basically start as a bather for a month while they teach you the basics. Just make sure you listen to everything they say even if you think you know what you're doing. Grooming your personal pets and then going professional is very different. It's a fun job, but it can be very stressful too.

 

[rochelle]

@compassion4humanity I'm starting to understand how demanding, both physically and mentally this job will be. But on the other hand, I have a strong passion to be with animals and I believe that out weighs the demands.

I'm one of those people who even though I might know something pretty well, I'll always take new ideas and suggestions.

 

[peterblom30]

@compassion4humanity A few years ago they changed the title from bather brusher to groomer trainee. The position is the same though, she would have bath - brush dogs, and do walk in nail trims and do phones/appointments.

 

[lookingforjchrist]

@rochelle It's everywhere. Groomer trainees (aka bathers) are being hired and sent to grooming school super fast. I did it. in my salon I was a bath over a year while finishing school, in roughly 2 years in that salon I saw a complete turn over of our 9 groomers. If you'd like my honest suggestion, consider talking to a local grooming shop about an apprenticeship

 

[rochelle]

@lookingforjchrist So the grooming school, is it like "PetSmarts grooming school"? Do they send you there for free?

The thing about being a groomer, I kind of wanted to try it out a couple years back and then forgot about it when I found another career. But when I got this call, it spiked my interest again, its sort of a "trial" for me to see if I'd like it.

 

[heavenward7]

@rochelle Grooming for PetSmart 4 years now. The "Groom school" is more of a month long boot camp. You get the basics of the shave down and doing it safely. Your really training will come from your fellow groomers with experience. I'm just recently able to groom 8 dogs a day. I'm very fortunate to be at the store I'm at an definitely don't plan on leaving anytime soon. There have been some big changed recently to the company as a whole that made people want to leave. Look at it this way. Take the experience if you want to turn it into a career and want to work for yourself. A well established mobile groomer for example can easily make $70,000 a year. Be ready to work your but off. If you want some straight forward answers to anything regarding Pet Smart feel free to ask.

 

[lookingforjchrist]

@rochelle So the whole process - you'll be a bather for 3 months. then be sent to petsmart academy - all expenses paid. the thing you need to keep in mind is you will sign a 2 year contract. it's not very strict, lots of people leave early. it's not bad for developing an interest but you will need to buy your own tools - which will be roughly $1000. Then you'll do academy for a month then apprentice under managers supervision for 2 months. then you'll be fully certified

 

[rochelle]

@lookingforjchrist Oh ok, I get how it works now. That's actually kind of neat that they invest in their employees like that.

 

[shanewp1988]

@rochelle Good luck. Working there fucking sucked and I've heard it's gotten worse.

Edit: word