Petland Careers – When we come across the name ”Petland” the first thought that comes to our mind is cute pets. As per a survey conducted in the year 2019-2020 by APPA (American Pet Products Association), 67% of U.S. households, i.e., about 85 million families, own a pet. Adopting and taking care of a pet gives one a sense of responsibility and acts as a stress buster. In addition, pets are loyal and loving companions. The above points highlight the importance of having a pet. If you are an animal lover and want to do a part-time or full-time job in any pet store, then working in Petland is a bonus!
Before proceeding towards the hiring process, let us have a glance at the company’s history.
Petland History – Petland Careers
Petland is a privately owned operator and franchiser of pet stores founded 54 years ago by Ed Kunzelman in 1967. Its first store was opened in Chillicothe, Ohio, U.S.A, which is also Petland headquarters. Petland began expanding its enterprise in Canada in the early 1980s. By 2008, it has become a $50 million company with about 230 stores and sales worth $300,000,000 in the U.S, South Africa, Canada, Japan, and Mexico. Drastically affected by The 2008 financial Crisis and public relations issues, Petland currently operates in 84 domestic locations, down from over 140 stores. Aquarium Adventure is a subordinate of Petland, which Ed Kunzelman founded, and a marine biologist and Petland franchisee, Bill Wymard. They developed this “aquatics only” store, which deals only with aquatic animals. A charitable program like “Pets in the Classroom” and “Adopt-a-pet” was also started by Petland, keeping the benefits of the animals in mind.
Hiring Process
Eligibility
Even though no previous experience is necessary to apply for a job in Petland, candidates with previous experience with animal care do get a preference. Likewise, a candidate having experience in sales, volunteering, or having paid work experience in a clinic or shelter has a higher chance of getting selected for in-store positions. In addition, candidates having deep knowledge about animal care often receive further review during application processing. However, career-oriented people may directly apply for a manager or supervisory position or start as store associates. For applying to the store manager position directly, one needs to have a minimum of one year of work experience in a similar role.
Hiring Age
- One needs to be at least 16 years or more to apply for entry-level positions.
- You must have a high school diploma or currently working towards it.
Note: If you are under 18 and want to apply, then, depending on state laws, you may need a work permit to work at Petland.
Application Process
The Petland job application is available in both online and PDF offline form. The company does not hire directly through its communal website. Instead, you need to find the link to the local store on the website. You will be able to find a copy of the printable application in most of the local stores, whereas some sites will allow you to upload your resume directly. They will also provide you a fax no. or address to send the application. You can also take out a printout of an application and submit it to your local store directly. The steps listed below will give you a basic idea of filling the application form.
- STEP 1 -> Open Petland’s main employment page. To visit the page directly click here- https://petland.com/job-opportunities/
- STEP 2-> A new page stating Job Opportunities appears, below you will find underlined “store locator” link. Click over it.
- STEP 3-> In the input field enter a Zip code, city, or state and click the submit button.
- STEP 4->A new page is loaded. A list is provided on the left side of the page, use it to review the results. If the particular location you want to apply to has a website then, click on its link to open its employment/career page and fill out the application.
Note: Every location’s hiring process will be different, the reason being, numerous locations are owned or handled independently. And not every location has a website.
- STEP 5-> At the top of the page you will find the ‘download link’, click here and download the form.
- STEP 6->On page (1) of the document fill the data correctly for required fields like:
- Cell phone number
- Main phone number
- Last name
- First name
- Middle name
- Street address
- City
- State
- Zipcode
- Are you a U.S citizen/have the right to work in the country?
- Are you at least 18 years of age?
- Can you produce the required documentation proving you can work?
- Position desired
- Hours you are available to work
- The date you can start
- Desired pay
- Full/part-time
- Training background (education information)
- STEP 7-> On the second page of the form, fill the required field like-
- Employment history information
- Reference
- Date/signature
One should always fill the application with accuracy and neat handwriting and then submit it in the store of one’s choice. In addition, it is advised to bring an up-to-date resume and dress appropriately on the foretaste of on-the-spot interviews. Finally, if it has been more than two weeks without any response from the store, then the candidate may visit, call or send an e-mail to the store inquiring about one’s application status.
Note: It is better to dress formally and visit during slow business hours so that the manager is free and can give you enough time.
Interview and Hiring
After filling out and submitting the application form, you have to wait for few days. If management likes your resume, they will contact you for an interview shortly. A staff member conducts a pre-screening and passes it along to the manager for review. The interview takes about 14 days, and it usually depends on the availability of the post you had applied for. People find Petland interviews easy and direct. For an entry-level position like sales associate, the company’s manager takes candidates through brief personal interview sessions for 20-30 minutes discussing topics regarding personality and professional motives. After that, the manager either hires right on the spot or may ask the candidate to wait for a phone call regarding the final decision. In other job positions like manager or pet counselor, the interview process may be rigorous. So candidates must be prepared for multiple interview rounds. Each interview round may always have different personnel like store manager, district manager, state manager, assistant store manager, etc. Candidates applying for the manager post may also have to face a mix of panel interviews and one-to-one interviews before hiring. It has to be noted that regardless of the job position, the average time candidates spend in the job interview is between a few days and two weeks. Additional time taken may be due to an increase in eligible workers trying for the same position.
Potential Interview Questions
There are many sets of questions that an interviewer may ask. It may either be related to a) personal interest, b)questions revolving around a particular scenario c) they may even ask any general questions regarding animals, previous work experience, or about the store you have applied to.
Some of the generally asked questions (as mentioned by former candidates and website) are listed below to give you a better idea:
- What do you think your position will entail?
- Talk about a conflict you’ve had faced in the past with a boss/co-worker.
- Tell me about yourself
- Salary expectations
- Why Petland?
- Are you generally punctual?
- How would you describe the interview and application process?
- Are there any animals that scare you or make you anxious?
- What is your favorite part of working with animals?
- What are some ways to ensure the customer leaves the store happy?
- If you couldn’t help a customer find an item, what would you do?
Job Description
Before filling application and applying for a post in Petland, its better to consider few important points like:
- Flexibility and good physical strength. Many times employees need to stand, bend and walk for a long time. Employees also do stocking work which includes minimum weight lifting of 35 pounds. So one needs to be physically very fit always and be ready to work overtime too.
- Most store employees comes in contact with different types of animals regularly, few of them may be aggressive too so one needs to be very patient and calm while dealing with animals.
- One of the important points to take into consideration is taking care of one or two pets is very different from dealing with varieties of animals. One also should ensure that he is not allergic to any animals, if that’s the case one should point it out to the manager at the beginning.
- Wearing the uniform is a must in Petland as it helps customers to easily distinguish the workers and directly approaching them for help. Many times workers come in contact with animal waste so maintaining self cleanliness as well as keeping the store’s environment clean is also vital.
Now let us have a look and discuss few important job posts at Petland.
- Retail Associate: No prior experience is needed as such to apply for this post and salary is minimum. As a retail associate, your work is to assist the customers shopping in the store and maintaining the register. You would also need to keep the sales floor, backroom clean and tidy and stock the shelves.
- Kennel Technician: Kennel technicians play one of the major roles in Petland. As pet adoption forms one of the vital components in Petland business, the company needs devoted individuals to take care of the animals. Kennel technician’s duties are exercising animals, feeding them according to their diet, supervision of pet and customer interaction, aiding help in pet selection, etc. As Kennel Technician needs to be in contact with various animals daily they need to be patient and compassionate. Generally, they receive a minimum hourly salary at the beginning.
- Pet Counselor: Pet Counselors are much needed in any pet store. They act as a medium between you and the pets. A Pet Counselor’s job is to initiate a conversation about the customer to get a basic idea about their lifestyles and preferences helping them to find the right pet which not only benefits the customer but the pet too. Though starting wage is minimum, employee salary may increase with experience.
- Assistant Manager: An Assistant Manager’s work is to help the General Manager in everyday duties. You would need to ensure the smooth running of the store, tracking sales, making bank deposits, supervise the staff and handle any complaints, etc.
- Sales Associate: Sales Associate is usually a part-time job. The primary job of a Sales associate is to provide excellent customer service, by guiding them through pets, different products, and answering their questions. Few skills a Sales associate must have are:
- Team leadership skill
- Communication and problem-solving skills
- Organized skills and time management skills.
Some of the other job posts available in Petland are- Cashier, Head Pet Care Technicians, Control Manager, Groomer, Department Manager, Fish Department Manager, Tropical Fish Care Specialist, etc.
Working Hours
General working hours on weekdays, i.e., Monday-Saturday is 10.00 Am to 9.00 pm. Sunday working hour is from 11.00 am to 7.00 pm. Sometimes employees may need to report and begin their work about two or more hours before the store opens, and sometimes employees need to work even after the store’s closing. Petland is open almost every day of the year. If the store is closed on the eve of Christmas, Easter, or any other holiday, few employees are needed to feed and take care of the animals. Work hour is high during weeknights and on weekends as most customers prefer that time to visit the store and every employee needs to be available at the time. Every employee has their share of work in each department, so you need not be worried about being burdened with extra work. If due to some reason you want to take time off or change your work timing, then you need to give them prior notice.
Salary
As per the Glassdoor website, the average salary of some of the job positions are mentioned below:
- Kennel Technician gets a total base salary of $10/hour with no additional pay.
- Pet Counselor gets a total wage of $10/hour which includes a base salary of $9/hour and additional pay of $2/hour.
- Sales associate gets a total wage of $10/hour where base pay is $9/hour and additional pay being $6/hour.
- Animal Technician makes the total amount of $12/hour with no additional wage.
- Sales Manager gets a total salary of $16/hour which includes 16/hr base pay and additional pay of $5/hr.
- Counselor makes a total amount of $18/hour base pay and no additional income.
- General Manager gets a total amount of $51,466/year. Where $47,687/year is base pay and additional wage is $10,800/year.
- A Manager makes a total amount of $32,369/year which includes a base salary of $29,255/year and additional pay being $10,943/year.
- Cashier gets a total wage of $9/hour with no additional pay.
Benefits and Conclusion
Employees working at Petland enjoy generous work benefits packages. Full-time employees may also qualify for 401k retirements along with additional vacation and medical insurance. Whereas both full-time and part-time receive employment discounts and commissions on bi-ticket sales. Including good payment and numerous job positions available, additional perks employees get are a low-stress work atmosphere, contentment of being involved in charitable works, and getting a chance to spend time with your favorite animal.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What animals does Petland sell? Petland sells varieties of animals like Birds, Chinchilla, Rats, Fish, Dwarf Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, and many other animals of your liking.
- Why Petland dogs are so expensive? One of the reasons being – Petland brings puppies originating from Puppy Mill. Most often the puppies there are either sick or have health issues. They are not directly sold but put in a pet store. So we can say Petland only gets a minimal amount of what the puppy sells and hence dogs bought from Petland stores are expensive. Secondly, it also depends on the breed of dog you want to buy. Normal dog breeds like Dachshund, Beagle, Chihuahua, Bull Terriers, etc are budget-friendly and low on grooming needs whereas dog breeds like English Bulldog, Lowchen, Rottweiler, Samoyed, Tibetan Mastiff, etc are most expensive and also needs frequent grooming and other necessities.
- Does Petland allow flexible working hours? The answer to this question will be NO. But in rare cases, if there are enough staff members then you may be able to work at flexible hours.
- Does Petland provide employee training? Yes. Like any other pet store, Petland offers general training for few days regarding animal care and other skills keeping one’s job position in mind.
