Does Walmart Hire Felons?

You know Walmart is by far the largest employer in the US, right? But how many of their employees have a criminal record – does Walmart hire felons?

Over 2.3 million people work in Walmart here and abroad. If Walmart were a country it would be the 26th largest economy in the world – in 2012 they had $466 billion in sales – that’s more than the entire GDP of Argentina.

These guys are loaded. The family that own the company are richer than Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and Warren Buffett put together. They are worth a cool $150 billion.

(You’d think with all that money they’d be able to pay their workers a bit more. Maybe that’s why they’re worth $150 billion and I’m writing website articles :))

only THE CHINESE ARMY employs
more people

So that’s great but what you want to know is – is this a felon friendly company? Does Walmart hire felons? And the answer is yes.

Walmart have signed up to Ban the Box which means they won’t ask you about your criminal history on the application form. But what does this mean in reality?

Research by FelonHire.com has found Walmart hire felons and jobs for felons are available. But like most retailers it depends on the felony. They are unlikely to hire sex offenders or felons convicted of serious violent crime.

THE WALMART HIRING PROCESS

These are the steps you need to follow to get a job at Walmart.

1. Fill out an online application form
2. Do the online assessment test (see our hint below for how to ace it)
3. If this is successful, you get called to an interview
4. If you pass that you’ll get a second interview
5. Once you pass the second interview they’ll do a background check and drug test (if you were honest on your application and sensible about the drug test you should pass)
6. Three days of orientation – and you’ve got the job!

Walmart get an average 25 people applying for every job. Read on to find out how to give yourself the best chance of beating those other candidates and landing that job.

Application walk-through video

GETTING A JOB AT WALMART

You don’t need to worry about your felony, Walmart hire felons. But at the same time, they’re not going to hire you just because you’re a felon. These are the top 6 tips we found for getting hired at Walmart – from people who successfully got a job at Walmart.

Give yourself time

Walmart only accepts online applications. This shouldn’t be a problem for you, you’re reading this online! You can do it at the hiring kiosk in any Walmart store but we don’t recommend that. It can take some time to fill in an application form and it’s better to do it without noise or distractions.

Be honest

Walmart run background checks on everyone they’re thinking of hiring no matter what job they’re applying for. Much better to be up front about your past from the start. We know Walmart hire felons and will judge each individual case on its merits. They look at things like what the conviction was for, the circumstances around it, how long ago etc. You won’t be rejected just because you have a record.

Be flexible

The application form will ask about your availability. They want to know what days you can work and what departments you are willing to work in. The more flexible you are the more likely they are to want to hire you.

Ace the Assessment Test

The want to find out a bit about what kind of person you are. They want to know how you would react in certain situations with customers, your manager and your co-workers. There are 65 multiple choice questions. It might say things like “It’s important to wear the correct uniform at work” and then you have to answer how strongly you agree or disagree. Based on your answers Walmart will decide if you are a ‘Tier 1’ person or a ‘Tier 2’ person (they are looking for Tier 1). So, for each statement you need to either “Agree Strongly” or ‘Disagree Strongly” i.e. you have a strong opinion either way. Never choose the middle options – that’s for Tier 2 people!

Be prepared

Think about what questions they’re going to ask you and figure out how you’re going to answer them. It’s also really important that you know what you’re going to say about your past conviction.

Be clean

Once you’ve got through to the second interview Walmart will want to do a drug test by urine sample. It’s not because you’re a felon – they drug tests every person applying. We don’t have to tell you that you need to pass this test.

It also helps to do your homework on the company. You can find out more about Walmart and their company values here.

JOBS WALMART HIRE FELONS TO DO

Walmart hire felons in their stores to do the following jobs.

Cashier

Walmart hire felons to be cashiers. They scan, bag and load shopping for customers at the checkout.

The Job: Walmart expect you to work quickly to meet an ‘item per hour’ scanning goal. The job can involve shift work, so you might have to do a late night or early morning shift. People who work as cashiers at Walmart tell us the job can be physically tiring. You’ll also sometimes get long queues at the checkout and you will need to stay polite and calm with customers who are unhappy.

Pay: Hourly wages can range from $7 to $17, and average around $9 an hour.

Inventory Control Specialist

Inventory Control Specialists process all the deliveries that come into the store. They get the products off the trucks into the back room and then get the stock onto the sales floor using forklifts or pallet jacks.

The Job: As an Inventory Control Specialist they will expect you to work until the job is done. Stock must be unloaded from the trucks and taken to the shelves when it’s needed. They want you to stay until the job is done so this can sometimes mean working long hours and late into the evening.

Pay: A typical hourly rate is $10. Bonuses can increase pay to $20,000+ a year.

Sales Associate

Sales Associates help to make sure the store is clean and tidy and customer have a good shopping trip.

The Job: Your duties will include cleaning all areas of the store. You’ll help bagging customer purchases. You will be asked to collect store carts and stock shelves.  You might also be asked to do general routine maintenance on machines and other equipment. They will keep you busy!

Pay: Typical salary is around $9 an hour

Greeter

Walmart hire felons to be Greeters. The job is to meet customers at the stores entrance. You will also give directions and help with general customer service duties.

The Job: The job is to help customers. You will also need to look out for shoplifters. They may also sometimes ask you to clean floors and restrooms. It can be a physically tough job as you’ll be on your feet for most of your shift.

Pay: Hourly rate ranges from $7 to $10 hour.

If you can prove yourself in any of the roles that Walmart hire felons for there may be a chance of promotion. But this will depend on the store.

We’d be lying if we said it’s easy for a felon to get a manager’s job in Walmart. But it is possible if you have the right experience.

Walmart Benefits

Benefits for people working at Walmart include:

• HMO plans
• Vision and dental plans
• Business travel accident insurance
• Company paid life insurance
• Stock purchase plan
• Discount card for employees and their families
• Discounts on everything

You can tell us what you think about Walmart in the comments below. FelonHire’s goal is to help you and as many people as we can find work. If this article – Does Walmart hire felons? – has been helpful to you we’d appreciate it if you could share it with your friends on social media. Thank you.