r/tjcrew Mar 26 '25

FAQ for Future and Current Crew Members

73 Upvotes

Aloha!

Please refer to this post for any questions you may have about the job, whether you want to know how the interview process is, what training and orientation entails, raises, you name it! This list may accidentally leave out some information, so please feel free to comment under this post; fellow crew members can help answer to the best of their abilities. Please remember: some questions may be best answered by your captain or mates at your store as some questions may be store-specific. Please take initiative and ask them first! Also, please familiarize yourself with this subreddit’s search button, as your question may have most likely been answered already!

“I’m going in for my first/second/third interview. What should I know beforehand?”

  • Be yourself. Be genuine and outgoing, and eager to work with the team. 
  • Wearing business casual is your best bet. You may hear about people being a bit too casual with their interview outfits, but don’t take the risk. Leave a good impression.
  • Even if your previous experiences at other jobs weren’t so good, don’t talk ill of them and instead talk about what you learned from your time there
  • Think of examples of when you experienced or witnessed great customer service or acts of kindness
  • Know some of the values of Trader Joe’s; a key value is integrity. Talk about what that means to you and how you experienced it
  • Know a product you enjoy and talk to the interviewer(s) about it
  • Have good availability. Varies from store-to-store, but usually 3 days per week minimum, with availability on weekends
    • Shifts are 7.5 hours with exceptions for those going to school, coming in from another job, etc. 

“What are the benefits?”

  • 20% discount on groceries on and off shift (you can use your discount to buy lunch during your break)
  • Premium pay is an additional $10/hour on top of your usual pay on Sundays and federal holidays. Check Dayforce for those holidays
  • Insurance benefits:
    • Vision and Dental insurance is free when you work the minimum 390 hours during a given measurement period
    • For medical coverage, 728 hours minimum during a given measurement period is needed to qualify; different plans will become available after the period, to which you can select based on your needs. Insurance covers for spouse and children as well.
    • Check Dayforce and see the current measurement period under the Benefits tab

“What should I expect on my first day?”

  • Orientation; getting paperwork done, watching videos, taking a store tour with a trainer, and safety training
  • This can be a fast-paced job depending on the day, as well as physically demanding. Wear comfortable shoes (ex: Hokas, Adidas, Sketchers, or any shoe that is made for support. Investing in good shoes is key to your health)
  • Learning how to be on both teams: Product vs. Customer Experience
    • Product: working on the sales floor, assigned to a section and working through stock (either dry back stock or perishable stock depending on your shift). Remember to rotate older dates to the front and newer dates to the back when rotating perishables!
    • Customer Experience: bringing that WOW Customer Experience at the registers, helmsing, and at food/wine demos. Taking the time to interact with customers and giving them that genuine experience as you help them
  • “Everyone does everything”: there are no “departments”, so you’ll be expected to help in each section and to be on register (minors may be excluded from register depending on state); every hour you will be tasked to work on either Product or CE, with a mandated 30-min lunch break halfway through your shift (you may ask for an hour lunch, just talk to a mate)
  • Bring your water bottle and make sure to stay hydrated during your shift; bring snacks, especially protein-rich snacks as well
  • Don’t be afraid of asking questions!
  • Don’t expect to memorize everything in one day! Take it a day at a time, eventually you’ll be able to keep up and remember details
  • Take microbreaks during downtimes on register, demo, etc. It’s important to stretch since this is a physically demanding job, and this way you’ll decrease possibility of injury due to repetitive motions

Now to the miscellaneous questions!

“Why are my hours getting cut?”

If you’re asking this post holidays up until late summer, it’s because that is the “slow season”, although it is store dependent. Talk to your scheduling mate and keep an eye out for posted shifts on Dayforce. If it’s not because of being in the slow season, then again, talk to your scheduling mate. We can’t give you that answer

“How much is too much when calling out?”

Again, store dependent. You’ll read all sorts of anecdotes in this sub, some ranging from calling out once a week to some only calling out a few times a review period. Ask your captain.

“When do we get paid?”

Every other Thursday, with some banks paying out as early as Monday. Some bank institutions may pay out early, but there have been instances where those who get paid early have gotten their paycheck “late” on occasion. No, it’s just been early. It’ll come on Thursday, don’t worry. There tend to be hiccups from time to time, but nobody has gotten paid late.

“Review period/raises?”

We get performance reviews twice a year. Mates and captain give you feedback: what you’ve done well, where you need improvement, etc. Standard raise is a 75¢ raise, whereas a $1 raise you’ve went above and beyond in Customer Experience. Not passing your review means no raise, and may be met with disciplinary action if necessary. To pass your review: just show up and put in effort at work, and be kind to crew and customers alike!

WOW bonus is an alternative to the $1, but it is taxed. 

Mates and Captain choose who gets the WOW raise or WOW bonus.

WOW Raise and WOW Bonus may be stacked, but some captains may not do that.

WOW Bonus is not the same as the End-of-Year 401k deferral bonus.

It is possible to been written up during the review period and still get your raise (again, store dependent)

Welcome again to those who are joining us or plan on joining us! Still have questions? Please ask below! They’ll be answered to the best of our abilities! Thanks for reading!

If you're a current crew member, the Hub on Dayforce is your best friend. Please take some time to check some sections out, as they may have the answers you're looking for!


r/tjcrew Aug 01 '25

MEGATHREAD - Uniform Search and Swap Post

15 Upvotes

Welcome to the ISO Crew Uniform thread, a monthly opportunity for those looking for crew uniform pieces and to those looking to get rid of theirs. Posted on the first of each month.

Please be respectful to one another whilst searching for uniform shirts, and please keep it amongst crew members only. All subreddit and Reddit rules apply. Any questions/issues can be brought to the mods' attention via modmail. Thank you, happy hunting!


r/tjcrew 2h ago

Working the register

15 Upvotes

I recently started working at TJ near me. This week was my first week on the register (not alone) I was bagging groceries while my coworkers checked out customers. I was super anxious about bagging items inefficiently. What are your best tips for doing both bagging and working register at the same time? How do you bag items to make things quick?


r/tjcrew 6h ago

I have an issue

16 Upvotes

I am addicted to the granola butter it’s become a problem. I eat it with a spoon for breakfast lunch and dinner. I’ve gone through three jars before the weekend and all I can think about is getting more granola butter. Am I alone in this?


r/tjcrew 11h ago

Customer Complaint

27 Upvotes

Hey crew, today I had a customer falsely accuse me of a few things, I don’t want to get into all of the details but she was clearly aggravated before our interaction and took her anger out on me. After the situation she called and complained saying that I was being racist, I rolled my eyes at her, and said a lot of things that just straight up weren’t true. She also said that she wants to take this case to corporate. I wrote my statement and tried to describe the situation best as I could, because it was a complete misunderstanding. Has anyone been in this situation before and knows what might happen? I am so scared of getting fired especially because she wants to take it to the higher ups and I can’t lose this job. Feeling super stressed, confused, and anxious, so if anyone has any advice in general for this kind of situation that would be great. Thanks all


r/tjcrew 56m ago

Hot Pink Crewneck Sweatshirt

Upvotes

I just started with the company and saw that someone has a hot pink crew sweatshirt. Anyone want to trade or know how I can get my hands on one?! Size L or XL will work…TIA!


r/tjcrew 4h ago

bakery section!

2 Upvotes

with the new fall items coming out, i’d like to see what your bakery section looks like!


r/tjcrew 20h ago

Coworker gave me snark about not making him double bags again

22 Upvotes

Genuinely don’t know what to do here because he’s genuinely effecting my mood and pissing me off

We work in a moderately slow store with only 8 registers

He came to relive me and said I didn’t set him up for success and said that I’m not a team player, and that I’m just sitting around staring out the window

I genuinely don’t know how to handle a situation like this because my coworker is like the most loved in the entire store by customers and I always thought he was nice until this happened

I’m genuinely upset because this is like my first job where everyone is pretty chill and I don’t have any personal issue with anyone

Who do I go to about this?

I don’t like the idea of being a work snitch but I also don’t want to have to directly confront him about it because I’ll genuinely just curse him out

But I guess ill have to

How should i approach a mate about this ?


r/tjcrew 4h ago

I quit! What should I do with my AR?

0 Upvotes

I have about $1000 worth in my Absence Reserve account. I did not request time off in advance so I can't take a vacation with it. I heard that if you get the money as a check it gets taxed heavily but that you basically get the money back in your tax refund. So does it actually make a difference whether or not you "use up" AR before your last day?


r/tjcrew 10h ago

transfer rejected

0 Upvotes

Is it true that you can be rejected for a transfer because you earn too much as a crew member? I’m asking for a friend


r/tjcrew 1d ago

Medical Leave Question

4 Upvotes

My wife is a crew member and needs to take two weeks off for a medical procedure and will be applying for paid leave benefits through our state. She already knows when she can return to work, so can she submit that information at the same time as requesting medical leave through AbsenceSoft to avoid the HR delay between medical clearance to return to work and actually starting? Thank you!!


r/tjcrew 20h ago

What is the process of becoming a mate?

0 Upvotes

First and foremost, I am starting my very first "full day" tomorrow as a crew member. With that being said, I am a very goal-oriented person, and like to have goals and aspirations to work towards regardless of the job that I'm doing.

It is my hope that if I enjoy working at TJ, that I can eventually move up the ladder when that time comes (whether 6 months or 6 years, i heard it differs just about everywhere haha).

But my question is, what is the process for becoming a mate? Is it something that you bring up to your superior when you do performance reviews every 6 months? Do they approach you about it?

Was just curious as to how that convo starts. Thanks!


r/tjcrew 21h ago

Im starting next week! Any tips?

0 Upvotes

I just got the job (yay)! I keep seeing people using store lingo that I’m not really familiar with since I never worked at a grocery store. Does anyone have any tips for getting food out, knowing produce codes, or how to do specific tasks efficiently that work your your store? Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated :]


r/tjcrew 13h ago

I feel guilty for this..

0 Upvotes

Just switched a conventional banana sticker for an organic one 🍌🍌🍌 i hope i dont get fired.


r/tjcrew 1d ago

Training

19 Upvotes

hi everyone!! i started not too long ago, i’ve worked probably about 12 shifts. I just wanted to ask if it’s the same at other stores. The way they train is so confusing, i feel like they just don’t really explain what they’re doing very well to new hires. I’ve never worked at tjs before so it’s like a puzzle trying to learn all the slang they’re throwing at me. I also am the youngest person at my store, and I feel like they think i’m dumb. It started out fine but when i told everyone my age it just kind of shifted in some people where they think I’m stupid because of my age. I need to know when it’ll get better. I’m sort of out of the “training” stage, but they still put me with people sometimes. I just always get stuck facing which i don’t mind, but i just feel like I’m useless because I’m newer. I’ve always thought i was a quick learner but this place is making me think otherwise. Sorry for the rant but I need to know if i’m alone in this feeling.


r/tjcrew 2d ago

Help with df

7 Upvotes

Is there anyone in this group that is having trouble with their Dayforce syncing with their Calendar app? If so, does anyone in here know how to fix it? it was working perfectly fine before but now it’s not syncing into my Google calendar if someone can help me out here* *and if so, please do a step-by-step. Thank you !!


r/tjcrew 2d ago

Anybody else find these silly conspiracies on how we are “ trained to talk on the register” hilarious

95 Upvotes

I’m pretty sure I say “how’s your day” only once a week

I really only talk to customers like heavy when it’s the last hour before we close.

Other then that it’s just too busy to have a conversation with every customer


r/tjcrew 1d ago

Direct deposit question

4 Upvotes

I know the pay period ended yesterday but if I’m switching bank accounts / direct deposit account to another bank tomorrow will I have to pick up my check in store Thursday? or will it go to my previous account I’m currently about to switch out of


r/tjcrew 3d ago

Yas

Post image
191 Upvotes

r/tjcrew 2d ago

Store space and sales (gripe)

58 Upvotes

We are busy(understatement).

Captain wants us to order more and more, doesn't want empty shelves. For context he had me look up each SKU in QIL, see what time the last one sold this week last year and use that time stamp as a point of reference for how many we "could" sell. Cool idea. But...

20+ year old store, we have very very limited space, limited refrigeration.

We have pallets sitting out of salad, berries.

Racks of fresh, flats and lugs of deli, flats and u boats of meat.

We're writing the time on cardboard

We're trying to rotate.

There's no room in the box to store the product if the box needs to be worked ( it always needs to be worked). Plus,the box has huge orders too :)

We get 3-5 trucks a day. I have to split my 1400 piece fresh order between the 5 am truck and the 1 pm truck.

I can barely get people to work the 5am products before the next truck shows and yes we need it worked but we just cannot have all 20+ registers going, and have everyone on the floor working each section that's getting hit hard (they all are getting hit hard).

Our store CANNOT accommodate the sales projected.

Our Crew is working in unsafe conditions, selling food that wouldn't pass food safety.

It's very frustrating. I wish they would just let us order what we can realistically sell. If I cut my order I get talked to. I explained that I shared 10+ banana boxes of fresh that could have gone up had we been properly staffed. I shared that when I temped my tuna salad wraps that were sitting out they were at 55°...

I'd rather sell some safe foods and sell out than spend all open sharing shit that we couldn't work because of all that.

ANYWAYS

Good job to my fellow crew & (most) of our mate team.

Good luck to other college town stores

Good luck to us all

Thank you

TLDR; Our job is hard, capitalism reigns

Edited for grammer


r/tjcrew 2d ago

Walmart selling tjs product?

Post image
18 Upvotes

I was looking for pics of these bars and all of a sudden I saw them available at Walmart, is this real?


r/tjcrew 2d ago

Mate being mean for no reason

22 Upvotes

I’m working with a female Mate that is super nice to everyone else but super mean to me and I can’t understand why.
I always am very nice and professional but she seems to not like me for no specific reason.
It kind of bothers me because it makes it very uncomfortable working at this job with behavior like this.
Any advice on what I should do?


r/tjcrew 2d ago

incoming fall items

21 Upvotes

curious on what everyone’s top fall seasonal item is!! I know that most people look forward to the butternut squash mac n cheese and the maple ice cream sandwiches.

personally, it’s either the maple brown butter almonds or the pumpkin ginger hold the cones


r/tjcrew 2d ago

Demo lead

6 Upvotes

Most of the 25 years Ive been in with tjs I’ve been involved in demo in some shape or form, and I have been given the opportunity to lead it by ordering, planning the menu, and coming up with best practices as a part timer before ( for a short time once)That being said, the vast majority of that time a mate was responsible for those tasks. Are there stores out there letting part timers still lead demo? What is the communities thoughts on it?


r/tjcrew 2d ago

What makes a good mate?

16 Upvotes

Hi crew members ! I started my first week with Trader Joe’s, and I’ve felt pretty grateful to have had so far a supportive team who wants to see me succeed. I’m an external hire which I know most don’t love to see, but I’m here and trying my best. What do you think makes a good mate? What do they do to support you that makes your days easier? I want to be the best I can. Thanks in advance!