About working at Petco
Petco hires across retail stores, grooming salons, veterinary services and distribution. The service side has different requirements from the retail floor, which is worth understanding before you apply.
Live Petco jobs right now
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Roles Petco hires for
Sales Associate, Pet Care Center Associate, Groomer and Grooming Apprentice, Dog Trainer, Veterinary Assistant, Store Leader, plus distribution and corporate roles.
How the Petco application works
Applications go through the Petco careers site. Grooming and veterinary roles ask for additional detail on certification and hands-on animal experience.
What actually helps your Petco application
- Any hands-on animal experience counts, including volunteering at a shelter or fostering. Say it explicitly, because the form will not always prompt for it.
- Grooming apprenticeships are a real entry route if you want the service side without existing certification. They are posted separately from associate roles.
- Weekend availability matters here more than in general retail, because grooming and vet appointments concentrate on weekends.
Screening questions to expect
These come up often on pet retail and services applications. Having answers ready before you open the form is what saves the time.
- Do you have experience handling animals?
- Are you comfortable working with dogs of all sizes?
- What is your weekend availability?
- Do you hold any grooming or veterinary certification?
Knowing which system you are applying through
Click Apply on a Petco posting and look at the address bar before you start typing. The domain is the fastest way to know which applicant tracking system you are about to spend the next twenty minutes in, and each behaves differently once you reach the dropdowns and custom questions.
These guides cover the systems you are most likely to meet and where each one commonly causes problems: Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, iCIMS.
Cutting the retyping without cutting the care
Applying to more than one Petco opening means entering the same details again on every form. VeloApply fills those repeated fields from a profile you build once and drafts an answer for each written question, so you start from a draft instead of an empty box.
It stops there. Every drafted answer is highlighted, you edit what needs editing, and you press submit yourself.
Petco application FAQs
Do you need experience to work at Petco?
Retail roles are generally entry level. Grooming and veterinary positions expect relevant experience or certification, though apprenticeship routes exist for grooming.
Does Petco train groomers?
Petco runs grooming apprenticeship programmes, which are posted as their own roles rather than as general store openings.
What age does Petco hire?
Most roles require you to be at least 18, particularly those involving animal handling, though some locations hire at 16 for general retail duties.
Apply to Petco without the retyping
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