The Kroger by me is hiring for night stocking job and I am interested in applying. How difficult is the job ? They are looking for people to work 9pm to 6am. I know there would be hard labor unloading the trucks but I have done that before in previous jobs. Is there a quota for how much you have to get done per hour ? With no one in the store will management leave you alone to do your job ? I am looking to work 3 nights per week on weekends. Any advice please.
well it's not that it's difficult really. And technically you don't have to stock "x" amount of cases in an hour, at least not in the Delta Div.
What they try to go by is the TSG sheet. This tells the stocker the amount of time to stock aisle Y onto shelf and how much time is for conditioning that aisle. Each aisle is broken down separately. It also tells you how much time to unload it off truck and break each pallet down. Most "grocery" trucks don't have to be broken down by aisle, cause they pretty much are palletized by aisle, so they can be taken straight out to aisle in most cases. It's the "other" truck, call "KMP" that is so difficult and soooo very time consuming to break down, and TSG NEVER gives you enough time, NEVER. Who ever set the times for breaking down KMP, well they don't have a CLUE, and probably have never done it in their life. I know what I'm talking about cause I've been doing this for 12 yrs.
Unloading truck isn't difficult, just time consuming, especially when you have a pallet or two that "falls", mostly because of warehouse stupidity.
Remember - use two hands in stocking and conditioning (that's one reason why you have two hands), work effectively, efficiently and smart, and you shouldn't have any problems.
A lot depends on what aisle they put you in. I tried stocking and the first night they put me in the aisle with all the canned soups. I never realized there were that many kinds of soup. I spent most of the time just searching for where the items went. The second night they put in the same aisle. That was the end of my night stocking career.
I know there would be hard labor unloading the trucks but I have done that before in previous jobs. Is there a quota for how much you have to get done per hour ? With no one in the store will management leave you alone to do your job ?
Hard labor unloading the truck? Are you serious! Don't worry about that. It's pretty much all done for you by the truck driver with an electric pallet jack. Even breaking them down isn'y 'hard labor'.
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I am no longer part of the oppressed, evil workforce of Kroger! Can you say "Hallelujah"
lol our truck drivers don't unload sh*t. Unloading them isn't hard to thedude's point though. The hard labor comes when you are out on the floor throwing up stock. Yes you are timed, they give you a worthless piece of paper called a team stocking guide in which you have to write down the times spent putting up stock and conditioning your aisles. It isn't backbreaking if your store is properly staffed, but ours is so understaffed its laughable.
It's pretty tough to get used to at first if you aren't used to any type of physical labor, but after a while it just becomes SOP. Once you get into a routine on how you open each type of box, and stock different types of items it gets quick. Don't kill yourself though, it really isn't worth it. Just do what you can do, and if the crew doesn't get done that simply means they need to allocate more hours, and if they don't then things will continue not to get done. You never want to work yourself to death, just to get done because then management will assume you(as a crew) are able to accomplish this inflated amount on a nightly basis and assign fewer hours.
Try Melatonin supplements. There is documented evidence of mental disturbances of those working over night shifts---partICULARLy those working swing shifts, where your body and brain cannot get used to any routine. I've heard from good friends that Melatonin helps.
Yeah the sleep thing can be an issue especially if you live in a loud area. When I first started I had moved into a subdivision that was under construction, so every morning around 8 you'd start hearing the hammers, saws, and various other loud noises from outside that made sleeping very difficult. I had to take supplements for about the first 3 months before I could get used to it. I think it's important that when you sleep you black out your windows, and try to use some sort of white noise, like a fan to help eliminate various day time sounds. At least this has helped for me tremendously.
If you are having trouble finishing up everything before your shift is over, stay for overtime! That's how they roll in my store. They come in whenever they want and stay as long as they want. Our non-perishable manager is such a cool guy! /end sarcasm
Yeah, funny how the "absolutely no overtime" rule only affects the workers, department heads each get at least 3-5 hours a week of overtime for doing nothing at all, while the rest of us struggle to get done. Guess that's just how the world works. Hah.
Try Melatonin supplements. There is documented evidence of mental disturbances of those working over night shifts---partICULARLy those working swing shifts, where your body and brain cannot get used to any routine. I've heard from good friends that Melatonin helps.
melatonin works pretty good, but remember once you star taking it regular, your brain cuts back on natural production, so you have to keep taking it, but considering its cheap, it's not a big deal.
i tried taking melatonin when i first started and it messed me up. It was almost like taking nyquil. i would take a 5mg melatonin tablet, go to sleep relatively fast, and wake up feeling like constipated butthole. It was like having a nyquil or benadryll hangover. Idk why it did that to me, but i am sleeping alot better now on my own.
working night shift was the biggest mistake i ever made. After working nights gor 3 1/2 years I cant sleep right at all, I have all kinds of pain including chest, back, abdomen, legs and Im only 28. Plus Im depressed and stressed out because we are understaffed and I know this is a go nowhere job. I have no life whatsoever.
I'm trying to ditch kroger all together but this economy sucks and finding a job elsewhere with full time and benefits.....good luck with that.
Our department head gets 10 hours overtime a week and barely works on trucks. Some nights he just disappears. Doesn't hassle us on the TSG, though. Our truck drivers do not unload the trailers. Aisle friendly is a joke and we also have to restack at least two pallets aweek since the warehouse are idiots. Some poor idiot will get hurt trying to stop a pallet from falling over one of these days. We just let them drop and clean up after.
How difficult is night stalking? Well, you just better be ready to work very hard. I've been on the night crew for a few years. The store that I work at is the only one for about thirty miles. It cranks out some serious groceries. Its a major tourist and rafting town. I have seen about thirteen people get hired on as night crew, and only myself and one other has made it longer than three months. Three months is usually the average time before a person quits. I have even seen people only make it one night. Its alot of work, at least at the store Im at. We have to break down pallets of groceries, stock them, pick up all the trash, and pull everything forward on the shelves so that it looks as nice and full as possible. After that, we have to pull out pallets of frozen and do the same thing.
Everything you do has an allocated time which you are expected to meet. Ours is seventy cases an hour. Most people have a hard time meeting these standards when they first start. Alot of people never are able to meet these expectations. They usually don't last very long. But if you do, thats great. I would have to say that stocking groceries is by far the fatstest pace job that I have ever had. Everyone things that working nights is easy and laid back. IT'S NOT. It is a very physical job. There is not enough time in a night to get everything done. Your almost always short staffed too. Its the biggest department with the least amount of people to do the work. Thats just the way it is when you are part of a night crew. Its usually evryones last choice to work nights. Alot of people think they want to until they try it. Almost everyone losses a few pounds due to how hard and fast you have to work. Usually within the first month or two. I lost four pounds! One guy lost about thirteen in two months. Great way to stay in shape though.
So If you are thinking of working on the night crew, Just make sure that you know what your getting youself into. I had no clue until I tried it. I have had to work up sixty seven hours in a single week. So if your the type thats just wants to put in their eight hour night and go home, I would not recommend this shift. But if you like to work, and challenge yourself, then go for it. It can be a great job and a good way to move up in the company that you work for.
It's very easy, mainly because of no customers. All you do is try to work the whole grocery truck that comes in a few hours prior to 3rd shift. Most of the lazy employees prevent the truck from being completed, but you can get everything done if you move very quickly. Anyone who thinks it's hard is messed up.
Nightstocking jobs aren't all that difficult. What is difficult is maintaining your daily life. You sleep during the day and feel like a zombie until it's time to go to work, unless you sleep the later part of the day. In my case, my girlfriend and I just starting living together and working 3rd shift has taken a toll on our relationship. I'm moody from the stress of the job, drama/understaffed/etc, I'm tired all the time, I have to work every freakin' weekend and when you ask for just 1 day off during the weekend you get **** on. The lack of energy has changed my mood in a very bad way to the point where I don't know who I am anymore, but I recognize I am not being myself. If you're single or have a girlfriend/wife that doesn't mind you working 3rd shift, then it's for you. But it's not for me, which is why I want to try for Kroger Corporate. I feel my talents are being wasted working nightstock. I just wish I didn't have to do an Acknowledgement Form for every job I'm interested in and I can't even find it to print out online, the HR lady does it, who's dumber than a box of rocks. Okay, rant over lol.
dude that sounds exactly like me..i spent a year on the night crew and just like you say, the work isn't actually all that difficult but the schedule makes it more or less impossible to maintain a social life and stay healthy, etc. some people can do it and some can't. i got lucky and moved to a daytime shift in another department
Dont do it. Do not be an overnight stocker for kroger please. dont even think about applging for an overnight stocker its so difficult and stressfu, especially for a college student. we go im at 12am-8am but they order so much **** we cant even finish the truck on time and we can NOT do overtime at all. It they see us overnight stockers in the store when its past 8, we will get a warning or get yelled at. The employment is ass, the higher ups do not want to hire more people for overnight because they dont have enough hours. It is the biggest department and there is only 6 of us. Every night there will always be 4 people but on payton days, which is the hardest days there is only 3 people. We dont get respected at kroger so please do not apply for this job. I am a college student and it is very difficult to maintain both things because i have to go to school right after work and i leave school around 5:30pm. I sleep at 8pm wakd up at 12am and trust me it is not worth it, you will be sleep deprived a lot and your mental health will get worse.
Also facing is such a pain in the ass. If you do not face your isles meaning if you do not face everything forward and make your isle look hella nice as if the president is coming then you will get a warning or yelled at. The higher ups are one of the laziest people i have ever met. They dont care about anyone only about themselves. You stock groceries but you have to organize and make your isle look clean and it takes so much time to do this because you still have an isle left to do. I do 2 isles by myself. Its tiring, i am going to quit soon or maybe change to the afternoon because my next semester classes are mainly in the afternoon and i wont have time to continue this job. The hourly pay is $12 and after 6 months they will raise 50cents only. Its not worth it trust me ive only been working here for 5 months now
General stocking is relatively easy. There is a "minimum speed" of 55 cases an hour that literally no one cares about. We also "used to" have to sign a log of how many cases we work in an aisle, but I'm not enforcing that. My lead is kind of useless when it comes to the "secretary" stuff anyway.
In my store, myself and one of my long time workers come in early (9 pm) to break the grocery truck and sort out the Peyton totes.
Nowadays we have a couple of people per aisle work on bulk at the start of the night. Soda, water, paper, pet, and soap, that kind of stuff. As they finish, they go off into the center store, which I and my early guy spot out for most of them.
Toward the end of the night, my lead and I will walk aisles, order, and help our people condition if they need help.
I can only speak for my store, but as long as you work quickly and keep your aisle looking nice, you'd be fine.
Dont do it. Do not be an overnight stocker for kroger please. dont even think about applging for an overnight stocker its so difficult and stressfu, especially for a college student. we go im at 12am-8am but they order so much **** we cant even finish the truck on time and we can NOT do overtime at all. It they see us overnight stockers in the store when its past 8, we will get a warning or get yelled at. The employment is ass, the higher ups do not want to hire more people for overnight because they dont have enough hours. It is the biggest department and there is only 6 of us. Every night there will always be 4 people but on payton days, which is the hardest days there is only 3 people. We dont get respected at kroger so please do not apply for this job. I am a college student and it is very difficult to maintain both things because i have to go to school right after work and i leave school around 5:30pm. I sleep at 8pm wakd up at 12am and trust me it is not worth it, you will be sleep deprived a lot and your mental health will get worse.
Its not stressful at all. If youre a normal employee then its simple go in do what you can and clock out when its 8. Stuff not done? Oh well managements problem.
General stocking is relatively easy. There is a "minimum speed" of 55 cases an hour that literally no one cares about. We also "used to" have to sign a log of how many cases we work in an aisle, but I'm not enforcing that. My lead is kind of useless when it comes to the "secretary" stuff anyway.
In my store, myself and one of my long time workers come in early (9 pm) to break the grocery truck and sort out the Peyton totes.
Nowadays we have a couple of people per aisle work on bulk at the start of the night. Soda, water, paper, pet, and soap, that kind of stuff. As they finish, they go off into the center store, which I and my early guy spot out for most of them.
Toward the end of the night, my lead and I will walk aisles, order, and help our people condition if they need help.
I can only speak for my store, but as long as you work quickly and keep your aisle looking nice, you'd be fine.
There are too many employees that do nothing but text on the phone, social media on the phone, watch videos, mess around with their music, take 15 smoke breaks, take four 10 minute bathroom breaks, take an extra 5 maybe even 10 minutes on breaks and come in late. then they wonder why they are getting written up for job performance.
Is it a smaller store, by any chance? I work in a marketplace and on top of having scheduled break times, we lock the door and set security alarms for most of the night.
I'm really surprised they still face the aisle, in reality its a waste of time. Yes, I do understand some items get "trapped in the back", but how long does a facing actually last fast customer start shopping? If your stocking and organizing the shelf, that is all that matters. Most customer will find the item even if its toward the back of the shelf (excluding lower shelfs).
I'm really surprised they still face the aisle, in reality its a waste of time. Yes, I do understand some items get "trapped in the back", but how long does a facing actually last fast customer start shopping? If your stocking and organizing the shelf, that is all that matters. Most customer will find the item even if its toward the back of the shelf (excluding lower shelfs).
