By: Scott Lawson
Getting a part-time or a seasonal job when retired is becoming a more and more popular choice. Boomers and recent retirees alike often choose to supplement their retirement income through a job. A retail chain like Costco is a great place to start a job search. According to Time.com, Costco was praised by current employees for offering livable wages and benefits available to all employees.
Here’s a brief guide for securing a job with Costco including steps and explanations from this Costco job application guide. After we walk you through the main careers to be pursued with Costco, you should be able to complete your job application easily. Let’s go!
Costco careers at a glance
Costco is a complex operations chain of warehouses offering furniture, clothing, food, pharmacy goods and much more. Their careers are just as multi-faceted. What we mean by that is, depending on your background and skills, you may find very different pathways laid out before you.
Here are the main types of jobs that Costco recruiters are always looking to fill:
- Warehouse and customer support jobs (Examples: warehouse and depot jobs, call center support positions, web trade positions, packaging positions, meat and merchandise processing jobs, counter jobs, business delivery jobs.)
- IT jobs (Examples: programmers, junior programmers, web developers and graphic interface designers.)
- Regional and home office jobs (Examples: human resources specialist, buying, and accounting positions, as well as legal counsel.)
- Licensed professions positions (Examples: opticians, pharmacy technicians, pharmacists, hearing aid specialists, optometrists, etc.)
Popular jobs among Seniors
Depending on your background and the skills you acquired before retirement (or since you retired if you took advantage of the extra time), you may qualify for a position within the IT department or licensed professions. Some of these jobs are available on a part-time basis, but most of them do require a full-time commitment.
Most seniors, however, seem to find employment within the warehouse and customer support jobs. This is due to both their background and experience (since there are more people trained for these positions), and the greater flexibility offered.
Examples of warehouse, depot and customer support positions are these: cashier, clerk, cashier assistant, food court worker, stocker, and store manager.
If you prefer a 4 or 6 hour a day schedule and think you have what it takes, go ahead and apply for a warehouse, depot or customer support job. This type of position involves working with people on a day to day basis and keeping those customer service skills polished.
Now the fun part! Here’s the application process.
Steps to complete your Costco job application
- Go to the Costo careers portal and click the Apply Now button to be redirected to the jobs page.
- At the top of the page, click on the Apply to a Specific Position tab. There you can start searching for positions. If you prefer to explore whatever vacancies you can find in your proximity, then you should stay on the second tab.
- If you’re searching for jobs nearby on the second tab, you can introduce your zip code and the website will return all available positions within a reasonable radius from that location.
- If you want to find a job within a specific department, you can also click on the following tags to filter only the available positions pertaining to them. Filter jobs according to Contact Center, Costco Travel, Depots, Warehouse & Store and more.
- If you see results for multiple positions with the same name but different locations, simply click on the name of the store you would like to work. Once you find the position and location, you’re ready to start! Click the red button that says Begin Application.
- Register for an account on the Costco careers portal, or sign in if you already have created an applicant account in the past. If you forgot your password, you can easily reset it by clicking Forgot My Password.
- Next, you will be asked to fill in your contact information. Fill in all the required fields, using your primary email address and a cell phone number. Make sure they are able to reach you easily if you get selected.
- Then, upload your resume to their portal. You should have a CV prepared beforehand somewhere on your computer, and upload it when prompted.
- You may be asked some questions next, about your previous experience, expected start date and so on. If you get asked hypothetical behavior questions, like ‘How would you react if confronted by an angry customer?’ Focus on describing a calm and sympathetic response. Most questions will focus on facts regarding your background and last job you held. This portion shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes.
- Review your application details and submit it when you’re sure everything is correct. You’re done!
Next, you should simply wait for a phone call from a Costco HR representative. If they select you for an interview, you should hear from then within a couple of weeks. Costco is an equal opportunity employer, and there are plenty of seniors who managed to find employment opportunities in their team. Keep a positive outlook and good luck with your application!
About the author:
Scott Lawson is an HR manager devoted to his career. During his 5-year work span, Scott developed a taste for writing and helping others. This materialized into a website, JobApplicationWorld, that aims to help others tackle the hiring process.
