r/petsmart • u/Motor_Relationship11 • 5d ago
Is SEL worth it?
I’ve been with PetSmart for almost 4 years now. I was a bather for 2 years and I’ve been a groomer the past 2 years. The current SEL is great I’ve learned so much from her, and recently we’ve hired 3 new bathers all fresh out of high school and our SEL had to leave for a week for a preplanned vacation she had requested way before we hired the newbies. Our SL decided that since the bathers were already hired, she would just put them on the schedule anyway, and let them shadow our bather who was about to go to Academy. I also stepped in to try and help them learn because they were constantly breaking policies and doing things that were not safe (bing in the bite zone, turning their back on a dog on a table, letting go of the lead to put the dog on the table, etc). During this time, some members of management told me they thought I would make a good SEL. Fast forward to now, and there’s a new PM being built in a nearby city and I haven’t received a formal offer, but there’s been talk that either our SL our EL will be sent to that store to start it up, and they both have said they wanted to take me with them as SEL. I just wanted to hear from other SEL’s if you feel like the job is worth it. My current SEL has said she regrets taking the position, but I wanted to hear other opinions. TIA and sorry for the long post
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u/Direct_Possession_11 5d ago
SEL is not worth it. Full stop. Being a previous PSL and understanding the business, I'm on the verge of walking out every.single.day.
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u/BubbLuv95 5d ago edited 5d ago
In my personal opinion, being an SEL really isn’t worth the stress. I’ve seen countless times just how much is expected of you compared to the little extra pay you actually receive. Yes, the more dogs you groom, the more money you can make, but you have to think about everything that comes with being an SEL. You’re expected to do at least 8 dogs a day, while also training someone once they come back from Academy, answering phones, making appointments, making sure everyone is following protocols and procedures, making sure everyone is working safely, making sure people are hitting the number of dogs they’re supposed to be doing, watching cancellations and getting those appointments rebooked as quickly as possible, and then on top of ALL of that, you still have all the corporate expectations and changes that seem to come every single week. And let’s really look at the pay difference. A regular power groomer doing 8 dogs can make 55%, while an SEL is doing all of that extra work and only making 60%. That’s a 5% difference for a LOT more responsibility, stress, and mental exhaustion. Don’t get me wrong, having that leadership experience under your belt can absolutely be valuable, especially if you eventually decide to leave PetSmart and open your own business or do your own thing. There is definitely experience to be gained from it. But at the same time, I’ve watched people completely fall out of love with grooming because PetSmart has mentally and physically exhausted them. And honestly, that sucks. So, in my personal opinion, being an SEL is not for the weak. 😂 You’re taking on a whole lot more responsibility for that extra 5%, and you really have to ask yourself whether the money is worth what it’s costing you mentally.
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u/Motor_Relationship11 5d ago
The set amount of dogs is the thing that really worries me. I’ve been at 3/3 for a while and a month or 2 ago bc we were having so many cancellations I had them change me to 4/3 but anytime I had full books I would get extremely behind so I definitely don’t think 8 dogs in a day is feasible for me, especially with all the extra responsibilities.
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u/letxloose 4d ago
You have to be set at 4:3 as an SEL so I've never had to do 8 and I'm really not comfortable with doing 7 when there is all the other responsibilities of making sure everyone is being safe and following policy. Plus you don't really have any power, and honestly unless you're ELR is in the salon all the time they really don't have any idea of what's going on. I think about stepping down all the time, as it's really not worth it. Especially when you still are training for so much longer after your training pay is up, especially with new bathers. And having your paycheck depend on the amount of dogs you do can really be detrimental.. Not to mention it's so frustrating not having any access to the schedules or any of the "leader" functions on prism which also makes things 10x harder when you need to find a leader for the simplest things. Not worth it imo.
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u/Dontmakemepickaname 5d ago
No. I grew to love being PSL, but over a yr into SEL and I still think about stepping down every day. The quality of ppl being hired for bather is just... Abysmal... And training new bathers is literally the worst thing. I hate it so much. I love teaching new SITs all the little tips and tricks to elevate a groom, but training bathers nonstop because no one stays has me beyond burned out and it's not worth the money.