Landing a job at Costco is not as hard as it seems. There are numerous jobs available for those who dream of working at Costco. This article explains how to get a job at Costco, a multinational corporation recognized as the second-largest retailer in the world.
The article will walk you through the Costco application process and eligibility requirements. It also provides a list of ten available Costo jobs and information about the benefits you will receive while working at Costco.
Costco: Company Background
Costco Wholesale Corporation was founded in 1983 with headquarters in Seattle, Washington. It’s a membership warehouse club with a chain of warehouses that sell wholesale products, and one of the largest retailers in the world. Costco expanded to 828 locations worldwide by the end of the year 2020.
There are different departments at Costco like the food court, bakery, and deli. Some branches even have gas stations, tire garages, and other services. Aside from the United States, Costco has expanded to ten more countries, with net sales of over $192.1 billion in 2021.
How Hard Is It to Land a Job at Costco?
It is not too hard to land a job at Costco, especially at the entry-level. You can land a high-paying job without a high school diploma at Costco. The entire hiring process takes about two weeks and involves two to three interviews, a drug test, and possibly an orientation week. According to Indeed.com, it’s easier to land a job at Costco if you have a good recommendation or if the warehouse is new.
Your chances of working at Costco will improve significantly if you have a reference from a current employee. According to a former hiring manager at Costco, the applications are listed chronologically in the database, so the sooner you apply for an open position, the better your chances of working at Costco are.
How to Apply for a Job at Costco
- Look for open roles. You can look for open roles on Costco’s website or on job boards like Glassdoor. You can also create email alerts for Costco jobs so you can apply early.
- Get your application form. You can download the Costco application online or get it directly from a Costco warehouse. Your application remains active for 90 days.
- Fill in your Costco application. On the online application, you can apply for a specific position or a location near you. Answer all questions as accurately as possible.
- Get a great recommendation. If you already know a Costco employee, use them as a reference. If you don’t, it’s best to find someone willing to recommend you.
- Send in your application. After filling in the application accurately and getting a good recommendation, you can submit your Costco job application and wait for an interview.
Costco Application Process
The application process usually begins with a phone call to schedule an in-person group interview with one or two hiring managers. This interview usually consists of a question and answer session, after which successful applicants are called back for a second or third one-on-one interview. Ensure you’re well prepared for the interview by practicing common questions and carrying out thorough research.
Costco Interview Questions
- Can you describe a time you displayed teamwork?
- Why do you want to work at Costco?
- Can you discuss a time when you had to deal with conflict in the workplace?
- What is the best way to handle an angry or difficult customer?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What’s It Like to Work at Costco?
Working at Costco can involve a lot of manual labor, which can be exhausting. However, it can also be rewarding. According to Indeed employee reviews, working at Costco means being valued as an employee, having a clear sense of purpose, and being compensated fairly for the work you do. You can get a clear picture of what it is like to work at Costco below.
Manual Labor
Costco employees walk an average of six miles per day just to get around the store, especially entry-level jobs that require heavy lifting. So, if you want to work at Costco, make sure you enjoy physical labor. Manual labor can be a lot of fun, provide enough exercise to keep you fit, and help you relieve stress.
Dealing with Customers
As Costco is a membership store, every customer is supposed to show their card to an employee before they can enter. This often leads to some uncomfortable situations, but if you know how to remain calm and mediate in a tense situation, you can avoid confrontations. As a rule, Costco employees have to learn to deal with customers in a friendly and patient manner.
After-Hours Shopping
Costco provides excellent benefits to its employees, and even the minor perks are exceptional. For example, employees can shop at Costco after hours. In addition, Costco stores keep their member service counter open even after the store closes for this very reason.
Costco Benefits
- Health Insurance. Costco provides the best health insurance to its employees. Employees can have private health and dental plan, along with extended health care and vision insurance.
- Life Insurance. Costco offers its employees basic and supplemental life insurance, although it’s not applicable for seasonal workers. Part-time employees are eligible for $15,000 basic life insurance.
- 401k Plans. Costco offers attractive 401k programs to workers to assist them in saving for retirement. You have the option of determining how much you want to contribute to your pension account with each paycheck.
- Health Savings Account (HSA). Costco allows employees to open a health savings account (HSA). The money in this account is set aside before taxes to pay for qualified medical expenses.
- Flexible Spending Account (FSA). Costco offers its employees a flexible spending account (FSA) that they can use for out-of-pocket health care costs. You don’t have to pay taxes on this amount in your FSA.
Costco Career Opportunities: Job Titles and Descriptions
Costco has different career opportunities including jobs in information technology, distribution, buying, accounting, finance, marketing, human resources, and more. According to Costco, an ideal candidate possesses three major qualities including a commitment to quality and excellence, an entrepreneurial spirit, and cultural fitness.
IT Portfolio Manager
- Salary: $122,970
- Benefits: Health insurance, 401k plan, life insurance, paid vacation, and time off
- Required Experience: Not specified
- Required Education: Bachelor’s or master’s degree in a relevant field
This job requires managing and reporting the project portfolio and resource capacity at the enterprise level. You will have to improve the existing portfolio and create project management processes, practices, work products, templates, and tools required to achieve business targets. You will collaborate with other IT managers, stakeholders, and business analysts.
Manager – IT Procurement
- Salary: $120,574
- Benefits: Health insurance, 401k plan, life insurance
- Required Experience: Previous management experience preferred
- Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in related field
This role requires previous experience in maintaining and managing professional vendor relationships. You will have to lead and manage enterprise-level purchasing and billing functions. The managerial position asks for end-to-end management of purchase forecasting, order management, and vendor coordination.
IT Product Owner – Ecommerce Business Services
- Salary: $112,305
- Benefits: Health insurance, bonuses, 401k plan
- Required Experience: Five-plus years as a product owner
- Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in computer science
This role requires experience working on an Agile or Waterfall team, creating communication documentation, and expertise in utilizing standard documentation tools. An Agile product owner certification is preferred. Additionally, you will partner with product management stakeholders to work on creating a prioritized backlog of user stories and more.
IT Product Owner – Manufacturing
- Salary: $109,022
- Benefits: Health insurance, 401k plan, paid time off
- Required Experience: Five plus years of experience as a product owner
- Required Education: Bachelor’s or master’s degree in a related field
The job description involves consulting with the business to capture, prioritize, and justify technology needs and issues. As well as facilitating the delivery solutions, the IT product owner helps define project scope and specifications, and coordinates with other teams to ensure that all requirements are met for technical delivery.
IT Vendor Manager
- Salary: $94,261
- Benefits: Health insurance, 401k plan, vacation, and paid time off
- Required Experience: Three plus years in supplier management, two-plus years in IT
- Required Education: High school diploma or equivalent
This professional role involves executing the supplier management and contract lifecycle. This is a managerial position in a fast-paced team environment that requires the identification, classification, risk assessment, procurements, evaluation, renewal, and decommissioning of suppliers.
IT Operations Analyst – eCommerce
- Salary: $80,551
- Benefits: Health insurance, dental and vision coverage, 401K plan
- Required Experience: Three to five years of hands-on experience with big data
- Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field
The job description for this job title involves coordination, escalation, communication, and resolution of high-priority ecommerce incidents. The job role also requires trend identification, metric definition, related efforts to decrease service disruption, and commitment to excellence.
Network Support Engineer
- Salary: $77,095
- Benefits: Health insurance, 401k plan, paid vacation, and time off
- Required Experience: One year of networking operations experience
- Required Education: Application certification in network-based technology
The job listing requires the job holder to perform analysis and other tasks related to supporting Costco’s enterprise network infrastructure in a retail setting. This involves ensuring minimum downtime to internal customers by effectively partnering with service providers and stakeholders to identify the root cause and find solutions for networking problems.
Telecom Assistant
- Salary: $76,020
- Benefits: Health insurance, dental and vision coverage, 401k plan
- Required Experience: One year of supporting Cisco UC solutions, one year of networking design and implementation
- Required Education: A bachelor’s degree in a computer-related field
This involves performing tasks required to configure, analyze, implement, design, and support Costco’s voice network infrastructure, with a primary focus on Cisco UC solutions. You will be working closely with application development and infrastructural areas to create detailed design and execution of strategic solutions.
Client Hardware Support – Support Analyst
- Salary: $69,002
- Benefits: Health insurance, 401k plan, paid time off
- Required Experience: Two years in customer service, one year in troubleshooting
- Required Education: A bachelor’s degree in a computer-related field
This job title requires the hired employee to provide high-quality customer service regarding issues related to client hardware supported equipment in the warehouses, deports, ancillary businesses, corporate and regional offices. Equipment may include printers, iPads, RF scanners, UPS, and window clients.
IT Service Desk Technical Support Representative (TSR)
- Salary: $52,855
- Benefits: Health insurance, 401k plan, vacation, and paid time off
- Required Experience: Not specified
- Required Education: IT-related college degree or certification
If you are hired as a Service Desk Technical Support Representative (TSR), you will work directly with Costco partners, employees, and vendors in the US and Canada. Your work will include diagnosing, troubleshooting, and solving IT system issues. Previous service desk or Costco business operations experience is preferred.
What Does It Take to Get a Job at Costco?
It takes good planning to get a job at Costco. According to Glassdoor, Costco is one of the best places to work in 2022 in terms of employee benefits. So naturally, the competition is tough as thousands of job seekers apply for the same position. So make sure you apply well before everyone else and have a great reference from a current employee.
How to Get a Job at Costco FAQ
Getting a Costco job without a recommendation from a current employee can be hard. However, you can improve your chances by applying for the job as soon as it becomes available, so you can benefit from their unofficial first-come, first-serve hiring preference.
The easiest job at Costco is a front end assistant, and most entry-level jobs start at this position. Other jobs that are easy for employees at Costco include all entry-level employees like a cashier assistant, food service assistant, food court worker, or customer service representative.
The Costco hiring process is between two to three weeks. The hiring process involves sending in an application with a great reference, at least one group interview and one in-person interview, an orientation week, and a drug test.
Yes, you can walk into Costco and apply for a job. You can walk up to the counter and ask for a job application for any open positions at any Costco warehouse or store.
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