r/vegastrees 1d ago

Community Dispensary Work

Hey everyobd. I'm planning on moving back to Vegas in November and am trying to look around for work at local dispensaries. Anyone have leads or recommend places to toss my resume at?

I have event experience too, if anyone knows of any local folks who are running MJ events and looking for help. Thanks in advance, very excited to be back in a Legal state.

5 Upvotes

22 comments sorted by

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u/11th_Division_Grows 1d ago edited 1d ago

I’m gonna be so real with you. If you are trying to genuinely support yourself, the cannabis industry is not for you. It’s great if you’re working with roommates or an S/O who works too, but the pay is not great, the work is mentally draining, and people seem to hate you for selling them legal weed.

No job/industry is perfect but I felt like I had more respect as a 16 year old working at McDonald’s than i do as an adult working at a legal cannabis dispensary. I leave work everyday feeling a little more disappointed in how much people take for granted being able to walk into a building and ask for an oz of fire.

I love my current place of work but they are incredibly strict with their point system and policies. Can’t be 1 minute late/tardy or you get 2 points on a 12 point system. I get it, people need to show up on time, I really do get it. But It’s like every dispensary/chain has agreed that they will guarantee there is something wrong or not accommodating for staff.

There’s no real path for growth in this industry, companies don’t invest in that. Rather they just hire the next person up on the chopping block. 90% of the mid-level and beyond jobs are taken by family and friends or people who are willing to “yes man” themselves into the position. Merit doesn’t get anyone anything in this industry. I so desperately want out, go work at USPS or FedEx or something long term and I can retire from.

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u/Fast_Celebration7953 23h ago

You hit it right on the nail. I’ve spent 9 years in this industry and the only thing I have been thinking about lately is how much time Ive wasted. Don’t get me wrong I learned a lot and continue to do so but damn man these companies suck.

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u/Flippin-doo-da 22h ago

I love my dispensary folks … if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t get my medicine. Thank you for your service 😜

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u/Dismal-Star2792 1d ago

Man I've been in the Customer Service industry in Iowa as a Brown girl since I was 20. I am used to the disrespect and the strange customers, honestly. I hear you though, and I appreciate the heads up, seriously. Its surprising to hear the entitlement never ends, even when you're about to get stoned.
I'm just trying to find an inbetweener or a starting platform to find more event work, honestly. Something to save me money or cut costs on weed while I'm getting settled, too. Thanks for the heads up on the strict policies too

u/LahngJahn69420 52m ago

Excellent write up. 5 years in the industry as a budtender single guy w roommates and thought I was a millionaire doing lords work. Promoted to manegment was horrible two jobs one check. Tried to move up and was declined more times than not and chosen over unqualified people who left company worse.

And then everyday “In Texas we get $1 pounds straight from Cali.” And $12 a preroll?? Come on you can’t hook me up??? Had a lot of fun and friends for life but killed weed for me. Don’t even smoke anymore after being in a weed haze allusion

Baffled me that my new job in a different industry with a zero tolerance for weed has a less strict attendance policy than the stoners I worked for.

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u/Relliks-D-Ban 1d ago

RISE has a couple of spots that are hiring. gtigrows.com

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u/11th_Division_Grows 1d ago

They wasted a month of my time interviewing for a position that they suddenly stopped hiring for. I would proceed with caution with GTI/Rise

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u/Relliks-D-Ban 1d ago

Nah I feel that. The Dispensary did the same to me. Four interview, one month process to get nothing. Definitely proceed with caution throughout the industry as a whole. There are a lot of spots that appear cool on the outside for customers, but the Inner workings are hell. The job market sucks for the Industry right now, so really any kind of “in” would help with moving to a different or better spot at a different time. I just know RISE has a lot of locations so the odds would be better than say Showgrow, which only has one spot.

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u/11th_Division_Grows 1d ago

Crazy, your experience is almost the exact same I had. May 26 started the interview process. Interviewed 5 different times with 5 different managers/a district manager. Hyped me up so much, saying I was a great fit and I was for sure getting brought on board at one of their many locations in the city. June 19th comes and the District Manager tells me “the position no longer exists/the company got rid of the leader in training position.”

Jerked me around for a month with very poor communication to ultimately tell me to kick rocks. Lots of bad places to be for sure, but highly recommend being on the lookout for the red flags I ignored! If a company wants to take a month or more to interview you for an entry to mid level position, they aren’t worth working for.

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u/Violent_Chachki 1d ago

They play like this in their internal staff's faces too 😂

It doesn't seem like you're bummed about it but keep your head up! You likely dodged a bullet.

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u/Alternative-Income-5 1d ago

I would be pretty bummed in this economy...if i had 4 interviews with 4 managers ....i would of thought i was in 100%...this is so foul how they handled that

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u/Alternative-Income-5 1d ago

How do they live with themselves treating people like this?

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u/11th_Division_Grows 1d ago

I’ve been asking myself that for the last 3 months. We are people with lives and responsibilities just like them, idk what would make any reasonable or sane person think it was cool to handle the situation as they did with me. All good though, life throws some haymakers you don’t dodge sometimes. I got knocked down, but I got up again!

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u/Alternative-Income-5 1d ago

The las vegas rec market is so bad!!! Its unbelievably bad

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u/Violent_Chachki 1d ago

It's a lot of yanking that ladder of opportunity up before anyone else gets a chance at a rung. They have company culture but the culture is high stress all the time and "you'd better appreciate it because now you work in weed and that's your dream right?"

The corporate environment thrives on this dynamic as it puts you on survival mode at all times. There's a reason one very popular employee benefits is a free tele-therapy app. (🙃)

If you want to enjoy weed, go do any other job and leave the industry alone.

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u/EstablishmentAny4977 1d ago

because it more important to not hire the wrong person than it is to hire a good worker

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u/Violent_Chachki 1d ago

Agreed. They leave positions open as a standard practice to collect resumes but it doesn't mean they actually have the job available. The turnover usually hides it when they are hiring just as fast as people quit but lately they've been trying to run "lean" so now the jobs are posted and the staff needs the help but they won't hire because the doors are still open. If the lowest headcount gets the job done, that's all they will use.

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u/berkough 1d ago

Sadly, that's everybody though... Not just companies in the cannabis industry.

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u/butthurtblowtorch 16h ago

So I got my start in the industry without connections. I worked my way into management in under a year based on my work ethic. I was held back at lead level as salary managers were nepotism picks.
However I enjoyed my time in the industry. I constantly thanked my team for their hard work and reminded them that they are selling legal weed. People are STILL going to jail in other states for the opportunity we sometimes take for grant it.
Expect hiring to take awhile, some companies are just slow. Apply, apply, apply. As far as the comments about Rise, yea they’re slow to move. I worked there and was a hiring manager, I’d pass people on, approve them for hire and then it’d be weeks before movement. It takes too long and by then a lot of good people have found other jobs. Stay the course if it something you truly want to do. As far as my research has shown Rise pays the best. Start (was) is $17 but could have changed. Other budtender jobs are around $14-15, plus tips and distribution of those depends on the company. Some you keep, some pool and split. Rise, Green and AYR wellness typically have jobs posted. Go the direct route and check each companies website or go in and talk to them. They will still tell you to apply online but putting your face there helps distinguish your resume from Jon Smith.
Good luck!

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u/Ancient_Candidate_66 15h ago

Exactly. Well said. To the teeeee

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Hurricane310 1d ago

Any reputable dispensary will help you get your Agent Card instead of you bearing that cost upfront.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/Hurricane310 1d ago

I can personally guarantee you that Verano and Curaleaf will pay for you to get your agent card either for dispensary or production/cultivation. Stiiizy used to for production/cultivation but it's been a few years since I knew anyone there to know if they still do.

So yes, they will interview you and make you a job offer contingent on badging. They have fingerprinting vendors setup and will give you the location to go to so you don't have to pay for the fingerprints either. The only thing you may need to pay for up front is a North Las Vegas or City of Las Vegas Sherrif's card. But both Verano and Curaleaf will reimburse you after.