META: Check out our guide to the Big Y application and your route to a new career in retail. Follow our tips to improve your chances of landing a job.
Every career begins with a choice and a goal. We don’t always reach the goal, or we make a new choice during the journey. That’s how life works at its most basic level. Finding your place in the business world is not an easy task, but it begins with a choice and a goal. The retail business offers many benefits you probably aren’t aware of at all.
Retailers include a variety of things from specialty shops to large grocery stores. Working in retail is a great way to make your way into the workforce. It’s also an excellent way to get back into the workforce after a period of unemployment for any number of reasons.
Everyone wants to be rich and famous, but someone has to sell the goods we all need. Retailers are part of the backbone that supplies the world with those goods.
Consider some of the benefits of working in a retail environment such as:
- Retail jobs are abundant
- Flexible scheduling
- You get to work with people
- You remain mobile as new positions open up
- Retailers reward hard work and loyalty
If any of those benefits sound appealing to you, the job you want, or need, is probably right around the corner. No really, it could literally be around the corner at a local department store or grocery store. If you live in Massachusetts or Connecticut, a career with Big Y is an opportunity you don’t want to overlook. Even if you’ve never worked in retail, don’t miss a chance to try it.
A Little About Big Y
Big Y is a family owned retail food company. That’s the short description, but there’s much more to the company. Their Table & Vine stores cater to anyone interested in fine wine, beer, and some specialty foods.
They offer over 4,000 different wines and over 2,000 varieties of beer. That number includes micro and craft-brewed beers. They top off the list with around 150 artisan cheese and roughly 1,500 specialty foods at these locations.
If the beer and wine business isn’t your cup of tea, their Fresh Acres Market is close to a traditional grocer. It’s designed to feel like an old-fashioned, open-air market, but they hide modern conveniences everywhere. It’s similar to visiting a farmer’s market that has a chef and a butcher shop attached to it. It’s a great place to work if you enjoy putting quality and customers first.
Big Y Express gas stations and convenience stores are another part of the Big Y family that offers a good inroad to other opportunities. It’s likely you have visited one of these stores before, so you understand it’s all about the customers. These stores almost always have openings and are great places for fresh high school graduates to get a taste of the workforce and retail.
Big Y is always hiring, and a large part of their new hires find their way into the Big Y family through job fairs. Check their website for information on when the next job fair is and where, or to fill out an application. As of this writing, there are three upcoming job fairs and a dozen or jobs listed at every location we checked out.
How Do I Use the Big Y Application?
This part couldn’t be more natural short of someone filling the Big Y application out for you. The best place to begin your career with Big Y is on their hiring website. Their job fairs are great places to start as well, but the site lets you search for jobs in your area, the area you plan to move to, or surrounding areas. You can do it all online without venturing out to a job fair.
This method is probably the best option if you have a job and can’t get off for the job fair, or any number of reasons that prevent you from attending a job fair. The job fair puts you in front of Big Y staff and recruiters where you get to ask questions, but it isn’t always convenient. Many people already have a job or jobs, and just can’t take time off to attend. The website is your solution.
If you followed the link above, the first page you see sets up your options. You can choose from:
- Distribution centers
- Facilities management
- Stores
- Big Y Express
- Fresh Acres
- Table & Vine
- Or store support center
If you aren’t sure about these options, click the tab labeled “Apply to a Location Near You.” That tab gives you the opportunity to select your city, town, or the location nearest you and view any opening at those locations.
If you are unsure about your career path or what jobs in retail suit you, choose that tab and look at the available jobs. Chances are a suitable position is waiting, or at least a job you can do while you wait for the right opening.
If you want to get overly specific, click the “All Jobs” link at the top of the page. That link shows you a break down of most of the departments at every location. Clicking any of the links, such as the cabinet shop link under the facilities management section, shows you what is available in that department. Finding the right job really can’t be much easier.
Possibly the best feature on the landing page is the “Grand Openings” link in the top menu bar. A new store has no employees yet, so all the jobs are fair game. We realize a new store opening in your neighborhood is more luck than anything, but it could happen, and you could be the first application for the job you want most.
Setup Your Big Y Account First
Before you get to apply for jobs, you need an account with their job website. It’s the standard signup form and asks for your name and email. You get to choose your username and password on the form as well.
After you sign up, check your email for a confirmation email and click the link in the email. That verifies that you want to receive email from them about new jobs or the jobs you applied for on the website.
A tiny flaw in the system, at least for us, is the application process after your account is set up. There is no easy way to create a resume and save it to your account. To get a resume attached to your account you have to apply for a job, or at least start the application process.
That’s not a big deal, but we would like to see an easier way to create a resume in case the job you want isn’t available. That way recruiters have access to your resume and can contact you for jobs they think will fit you.
Resume creation aside, if you are applying for a job, you have several options to work with during the application process. We liked how simple it is to apply for a job. Many websites make the application process tedious and annoying by using long, outdated forms. The Big Y application process is easy if you have a resume in a doc, docx, or pdf format.
You can upload your resume or copy and paste it into the application. The website does a great job of finding the information it needs. You may need to edit a few things if your resume isn’t the standard boilerplate resume they taught us to write in high school. The process is painless nonetheless. There’s also an option to fill out the application line by line if you don’t have a resume.
The best feature of the Big Y application is you can apply using your LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a profile on LinkedIn, go set one up now. It is invaluable to anyone seeking a job. Do a little research first to make sure you set up the profile correctly, so websites like the Big Y job center use the profile effectively.
Our Final Thoughts
Entering the workforce or going back to work after a period of unemployment is not easy. Luckily, companies like Big Y are out there waiting to help you find your career or keep the bills paid until your career finds you.
Whatever your motivation is, whether it’s a new career or just a job, give Big Y a chance to see if they can fill the career needs you have, or help you find a career you didn’t know you wanted. We believe unexplored opportunities are always missed opportunities.
We found the Big Y application easier than most online applications. The resume creation issue is more common than you think, so we don’t think it is a hurdle or even a real problem. Having the option to use your LinkedIn profile is a boon, and we recommend applying for every job is the easiest way available. Thankfully, Big Y streamlined the process and made it easy for you.