How Old Do You Have To Be To Work At Walmart? (Explained!)

Work At Walmart

To work at Walmart, you need to be a minimum of 16 years. Anyone younger than 16 years is considered a minor and will not be allowed to work at Walmart. You should also keep in mind that Walmart will not accept 16-year-olds for all job openings in the company. In addition, if you are not up to 18 years, you cannot work at Sam’s Club, a club store under Walmart.

Key Takeaways

  • Some of the jobs that are open to 16-year-olds in Walmart are cashier, stocker, fresh food associate, cart attendant, etc.
  • You will need some skills to work at Walmart like communication skills, listening skills, interpersonal skills, etc.
  • The main job responsibilities of a Walmart cashier are making sure to calculate purchases people buy and giving these people receipts
  • The cart attendant at Walmart must ensure that there are available carts for customers to use while shopping
  • A fresh food associate has to ensure cleanliness in the food sections of the store

Available Jobs For 16-Year-Olds In Walmart 

As earlier mentioned, 16-year-olds cannot work in all the job openings at Walmart. 

Some of the jobs that are open to 16-year-olds in Walmart are:

1. Cashier: The role of a cashier is one of the top job openings in Walmart, and it is one of the roles open to a 16-year-old. They believe that a 16-year-old can take on the role’s duties with ease. The idea is that they would not be stressing the 16-year-old or making them indulge in activities that may go against the labor laws. 

As a Walmart cashier, you are in charge of the cash register, making sure to calculate purchases people buy and giving these people receipts. The cashier would also be in charge of applying coupons and discounts. In some cases, the cashier may have to help people check their gift card balance or print out their gift card transaction history. It would be essential to have mathematical skills to take on this role as you are in charge of payment processing. 

2. Stocker: The role of a stocker at Walmart also comes as an easy entry-level job and one that would be suitable for a 16-year-old. A stocker has to ensure that products are arranged according to and appropriately. As a stocker, you will be involved in the loading and unloading of shipments. Therefore, you would always have access to the warehouses. Next, you would have to stock the shelves and ensure that the products are in their right positions. For example, it would be wrong to put a dairy product in the same space like a bathroom cleaning product. In addition, you also have to ensure that the price tags are correct, and the stocker has to help the customers as they shop. If a customer has any difficulty while shopping, a stocker has to help them ensure that their shopping experience gets easier. It is also the stocker’s job to ensure that aisles are clean. 

3. Fresh Food Associate: If you are looking to work at Walmart as a 16-year-old, you can also apply for the role of a fresh food associate. Many people are not aware of this job role at Walmart, and we are here to tell you that it is one of the available Walmart job openings. A fresh food associate can be linked to quality assurance personnel as they ensure that most of the products are fresh and in a palatable state. Almost like the stocker, a fresh food associate has to ensure cleanliness in the food sections of the store. They are also in charge of verifying the dates, ensuring that Walmart does not sell expired products to their customers. You would also be in charge of checking and maintaining the temperature of certain food items. The goal is to ensure customers’ satisfaction, and it plays an important role within the organization. 

Cart Attendant: As a 16-year-old aiming to work at Walmart, you can also apply to be a cart attendant as you do not need to have many skills or have previous work experience before you can excel at this role. As the name implies, the cart attendant must ensure that there are available carts for customers to use while shopping. Again, Walmart aims to ensure that its customers enjoy a stress-free process while shopping. The cart attendant has to ensure that there is a well-kept parking lot, especially for those who opt for Walmart pickup. In such a case, the cart attendant is the one who helps to load the items into their boot when they come to pick up their items. The cart attendants also help customers who use the Walmart pickup option to pick out the items that they ordered. And, they have to be quick while at it.  

Below Is A Table Of Some Of The Different Career Options At Walmart And The Minimum Age Requirement: 

Job Role Minimum Age Requirement 
Power equipment operator 18 
Online order filling & delivery16 
Cashier 16 
Market manager 18
Freight handler 18
Fresh food associate 16

Skills Needed To Work At Walmart 

Skills Needed To Work At Walmart 

You will need some skills if you want to at Walmart, irrespective of your age. 

Some of the skills are: 

1. Team spirit: Without a doubt, you can be sure that you will be working with a team as a part of Walmart’s workforce. Therefore, you must have a great team spirit to get along with others. Once you have excellent team spirit, you can get along with others without any issues and do the work effectively. It is always best to remember that no one is an island, and you will need to collaborate if you want to excel at your job. If you are not a team player, you will not work effectively at Walmart and experience challenges. 

2. Effective communication skills: Irrespective of where you work, it is always essential to have effective communication skills as it helps you get around doing various tasks and activities. As a Walmart employee, you will need to communicate with customers and colleagues, and it is best to ensure that they understand what you are saying. The essence of communication is disrupted if the receiver does not get the information you are passing, and we know that you do not want such to happen. Thus, having excellent and effective communication skills always comes in handy as it helps you deflect some serious hurdles. 

3. Good listening skills: Allow us to tell you that this skill also ties to communication skills as you cannot be a good communicator if you are not a great listener. You will always get various instructions when you work at Walmart, and you need to be attentive so that you do not miss anything. But, sadly, many people do not have good listening skills, which affects their work rate. Listening skills help you get the correct information from your supervisor, colleagues, and customers. You have hacked one of the steps to surviving as a Walmart employee if you have good listening skills. 

4. Interpersonal skills: How do you relate with people? Are people usually comfortable around you? Your interpersonal skills will come in handy, especially when dealing with customers. Understandably, you will face some difficult customers, and it is your interpersonal skills that can help you to diffuse such situations. And, if you do not have great interpersonal skills, you will always be at loggerheads with people, which may even lead to the loss of your job. Interestingly, you can improve your interpersonal skills by taking online courses as not everyone has built-in interpersonal skills. But, keep in mind that it is one of the skills you need to excel at Walmart. 

5. Ability to do simple calculations: It usually seems inappropriate when we come across people who desire to work at Walmart but do not know how to do simple calculations. Of course, one does not expect you to be a calculations guru. However, you need to have basic calculation skills. After all, you are working in a sales store, and you will need this skill at different points of working at Walmart. Moreover, having basic calculation skills helps settle all disparities and not get into any challenges or complicated situations. And, there is the belief that anyone up to 16 years old would have such skills. 

How To Apply To Work At Walmart

How To Apply To Work At Walmart

Applying to Walmart is an easy process as you need to fill out the application form and submit it. After inputting your details and submitting them, someone will sort through the application forms, pick the most suitable candidates, and then send out interview invites. 

Successful candidates after the interview will be given employment contracts, and they also have to undergo an orientation process to familiarize themselves with the company’s operations. 

FAQs 

Some of the frequently asked questions are:

Can You Work At Walmart At 13? 

No, you cannot work at Walmart at 13 as the store believes that anyone under 16 years is a minor, and they do not employ minors.

What Store Hires At 14? 

Some stores like MacDonald’s, U-Haul, and Taco Bells can hire 14-year-olds. However, Walmart does not hire anyone less than 16 years.

Conclusion 

You need to be up to 16 years old before you can work at Walmart, and there are some select jobs for this age, as you can see in this article. 

Working with the skills we have highlighted will help you secure a job with Walmart. 

Sources 

Walmart careers

Does Walmart Hire At 16? (All You Need To Know)

How old do you have to be to work at Walmart in 2022? 

Last Updated on November 3, 2022 by Magalie D.

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