Working as a Walmart Music Merchandiser: Part-Time Job Ideas

I Worked AT Walmart, but I Didn't Work FOR Walmart

Working at Walmart as a merchandiser can be a lot of fun; and the hours are flexible, too.

You're probably wondering how someone can work AT a company but not FOR a company. A lot of Walmart's shelf-stocking and ordering processes are performed by merchandisers. I worked for about a year as one of those merchandisers; I was a music merchandiser covering three local Walmart stores. I spent a lot of time driving. (I never did receive my mileage reimbursement during the course of the entire year even though I was told I would get it.) I spent a a lot of time explaining to customers that I didn't actually work for Walmart, that I was a merchandiser for a outside company; and yes, I did know where the toilet paper was. It was in aisle 10 in the grocery department.

I spent most of 2007 driving from Walmart to Walmart to Walmart; often in the middle of the night. New music releases come out at 12:01 on Tuesday mornings so I had to get those Cd's out as quickly as possible.

I started merchandising music at Walmart shortly after running into an old friend in the music department at one of the local Walmart stores. She asked, in a desperate voice, if I knew anyone who needed a job. I told her in an equally desperate voice that I did, and she asked for my email address. Two nights later my new job was confirmed and early the next day I was shopping for business casual clothes and comfortable shoes for my first day of work.

The store associates were really nice; and they seemed grateful to hear they wouldn't have to figure out where the (alphabetically ordered) Cd's went. Management was kind of cold, unapproachable, and unfriendly, but I think you get that anywhere; after all, they have the "not fun" pressure of dealing with low profits and high employee turnover. As far as peers go, however, even the janitors took the time to be very friendly.

At first I was really busy, learning how to put that music in its place, and get done in the time allotted. After a while, though, it was really hard to find enough to do to keep busy. I would end up going through the same music over and over in a single night, hoping to find something, anything, in the wrong place so I could feel like I had done something worthwhile.

One thing I found sort of unusual about the job was being scheduled in minutes instead of hours. I was usually scheduled for anywhere from 60 to 320 minutes at a store. Walmart contracted with the merchandising company for a certain amount of minutes per week, then my boss divided the minutes between her subordinates. There was no time clock for merchandisers either. I signed a book at the customer service desk when I got there, and then scanned a bar code on a music rack to clock in.

When break time rolled around I had my choice of visiting the Subway at the front of the store, going to my car, or joining the regular Walmart associates in the break room. I preferred visiting the break room to get to know the others and to hear "top secret" details about the store. Sometimes things seemed kind of dramatic in the break room, but looking back, they really were not all that "top secret".

Flexibility was the only perk with my merchandising job at Walmart. I had 24 hours to pick which minutes I would be working; with the exception of Tuesday nights. I saw a lot of Walmart associates come and go during my year working at Walmart. Merchandisers seemed to have a lower turn-over rate than associates; probably due to the flexibility of the work.

While I left for another job with more hours, the economic downturn left the merchandisers in turmoil; with most of my merchandiser friends being laid off. Even with the uncertainty of the recent lay-offs; I would recommend a merchandising job at Walmart to people looking for part-time work. The flexibility is a great perk. The $9 hourly (or should I make up a word and say minutely) pay is slightly higher than most other jobs in this economy. Finally, you can make some great friends while you earn a little extra coin.