Pros
Great job that allows you to be outdoors, be physically active and meet lots of people. The job is physically demanding. You can easily exceed your 10,000 steps a day! They promote people from within first. You work Monday to Friday only. Hours are flexible. Weekly pay cheque via direct deposit. If you work all your assigned shifts, you get a bonus paid out at the end of the contract. Here’s the lay of the land for a Walker… Attended an Open House - on-site interview. Was hired within minutes of talking to the recruiter. Filled out their application form and was given a training/orientation date and time to attend, and a list of documents to bring. Was warned that you must be able to lift 70 lbs unassisted. Male applicants were warned that beards have to be removed. Mustaches were OK provided they meet company policies. Fees that will be deducted from your first pay: union dues and criminal record check (total about $50) Training Day (took about 5.5 hours) – Warning… bring a lunch - watched various training videos and answered several quizzes. Quiz answers were reviewed and corrected. Read and signed various Employee related paper work. Had about one hour training session on using the DIAD. Was given an Employee Package containing an Employee Handbook with contact information (Supervisor, local office phone number, toll free office number, office staff, etc.), short cuts on using the DIAD and steps of what to do if you are unsuccessful on delivering a package, a pad of “Sorry I missed you” notices, and an envelope for COD payments. You then get outfitted with company uniform – shirt, pants, winter coat, waterproof jacket, toque, brimmed winter hat with built-in ear protection. Had two days of training with a driver to get used to using a DIAD as well as learn the proper processes for package delivery. Then you are on your own making deliveries in your assigned area. If you have issues with the DIAD, you are to call the office for assistance. Driver will meet you at your house around 10:00 a.m. (start time varies depending on how long it takes the driver to get to your house). Driver will have a cart for you to use to make your deliveries. If there are deliveries in your area, parcels will be temporarily stored at your place. You are then taken to a designated area to make your deliveries such that you make your way to your house to pick up the parcels that were left there. Once deliveries are complete, you then contact the driver to come pick you up and take you to your next assignment. At the end of your shift, you are to call the office to let them know approximately your start time and your end time to ensure you get paid. Walkers will be pushing a cart loaded with parcels for the designated delivery area. The cart is similar to a jogging stroller except there are no bells and whistles such as cup holders, etc. Packages are placed into the cart and there is a cover to protect the packages from the elements. The cart can be converted to be pulled by a bicycle, if you are a cyclist. Depending on the delivery area, you may have lots of hills to walk. Some walkers will find this job very stressful as you need to meet quota of 7 stops per hour. If you are not used to walking long distances in all kinds of weather, then this may not be the job for you.
Cons
Would be nice if we knew what neighbourhood we are walking ahead of time. Would be nice if they gave us a map of the area we are working so that we can take advantage of using the trails to get from point A to point B. Would be nice if the pay was a bit more than minimum wage given that we are outdoors in all kinds of weather. Not many people would be attracted to this job given that there are many other minimum wage jobs that are indoors.
