How Old Do You Have to be to Work at Whole Foods Market?

To get an entry-level job at Whole Foods Market as a Produce Team Member, Prepared Foods Team Member, Seafood Team Member, Whole Body Team Member, In-Store Shopper, or Cashier,  you must be at least 18 years old.  A high school diploma or GED is preferred.  

To see all of the different job titles at Whole Foods, click here.

There are numerous different positions available at Whole Foods Market, both part-time and full-time, with opportunity for advancement.  The application process is competitive, and it includes a group interview.

All Whole Foods Market Retail jobs require ensuring a positive company image by providing courteous, friendly, and efficient service to customers and Team Members at all times. 

Team Members must be "prepared and able to perform the duties inherent in other Team Member job descriptions. All positions must strive to support WFM core values and goals, promote national, regional, and store programs and initiatives, and ensure adherence to all applicable health and safety regulations including Food Safety and regulatory duties required in the department."

Employees are expected to arrive at their work station on time, appropriately groomed, dressed and ready to work. They are also expected to work all scheduled shifts and attend required training and meetings. 

Teen Jobs at Whole Foods Market and Age Requirements

Produce Team Member  (Hourly)

As a Produce Team Member at Whole Foods Market, you will help receive and prepare product, maintain the produce floor and displays, and sell product in support of WFM standards. Produce Team Members perform all functions related to breaking down deliveries and stocking shelves. 

Job Responsibilities:

• Ensure a fresh and appealing display by keeping cases and shelves clean and well stocked by front-facing, checking codes, rotating and removing out-of-date products. 
• Assist Team Leader in organizing and displaying volume and seasonal items. 
• Monitor and prevent spoilage and communicate waste to buyers, Team Leaders, and shift supervisor. 
• Complete spoilage, sampling, temperature, and sweep worksheets. 
• Assist with periodic inventory checks. 
• Provide excellent customer service, address needs of customers in a timely and effective manner and model suggestive selling techniques; answer phones and pages promptly and courteously. 
• Maximize sales potential through effective and proper procedures for prepping, storing, rotating, stocking, and merchandising product. 
• Maintain a clean, sanitary working and shopping environment, and make sure equipment is maintained in accordance with WFM cleanliness and safety standards. 

You must be at least 18 years old to work as a Produce Team Member at Whole Foods Market.

Prepared Foods Team Member  (Hourly)

Prepared Foods Team Members are responsible for preparation, counter service, sanitation, and stocking of products in their department. 

Job Responsibilities:

• Cuts, prepares, and serves a variety of hot and cold foods, including meats, cheeses, sandwiches, burritos, wraps, salad, and pizza.
• Samples products to customers.
• Stocks hot and cold cases and displays with prepared foods from kitchen, walk-in preparation, and refrigerators.
• Checks in-stock product dates to ensure freshness and rotates when necessary.
• Bails and consolidates recyclables.
• Assists Team Leader in organizing and displaying volume and seasonal items.
• Completes spoilage, sampling, temperature, and sweep worksheets as required.
• Assists with periodic inventory checks.

You must be at least 18 years old to work as a Prepared Foods Team Member at Whole Foods Market Market.

Seafood Team Member  (Hourly)

Provides support as a member of the seafood team to include duties related to counter service, stocking, and sanitation in the seafood department. 

Job Responsibilities:

• Ensures a fresh and appealing display by checking quality, keeping cases and shelves clean and well stocked, rotating and removing out-of-date products, filling ice tables, and performing other duties as assigned.
• Maintains accurate department signage and pricing.
• Maintains back stock in good order.
• Maintains a safe, clean and well-organized working and shopping environment.
• Assists with the sampling program, keeping sample areas full, clean and appealing.
• Cleans cases, glass, signs, uprights, coolers, smokers, floors, and drains as required.
• Skins, bones, and cooks or smokes fish; boxes up, labels, and dates cooked fish.
• Assists with periodic inventory checks.

To work as a Seafood Team Member at Whole Foods Market, you must be at least 18 years old.

Whole Body Team Member  (Hourly)

As a Whole Body Team member, you will provide courteous, friendly, and efficient customer service in the Whole Body department. This job includes stocking nutritional supplements, body care, and other products, and building and maintaining attractive displays in accordance with regional Whole Body standards. 

Job Responsibilities:

• Monitors product quality and freshness and ensures proper product rotation.
• Logs, processes, and retrieves customer special orders.
• Completes spoilage, sampling, temperature, and sweep worksheets as required.
• Follows department procedures for preparing, storing, rotating, and stocking of product.
• May assist in training of new Team Members, utilizing all learning checklists and training materials.
• Provides excellent customer service, addresses needs of customers in a timely and effective manner and models suggestive selling techniques; answers phones and pages promptly and courteously.

You must be at least 18 years old to work as a Whole Body Team Member at Whole Foods Market.

In-Store Shopper  (Hourly)

Whole Foods Market is committed to providing record-setting grocery delivery services to their Prime Now customers. This is a fast-growing program, and they are looking for candidates who are passionate about Whole Foods and great customer service. 

As an In-Store Shopper, you’ll work on the Store Support team supporting Prime Now customer orders, preparing them for delivery and/or pickup. You’ll shop throughout the store for everyday goods including food, household items, and so much more.

Job Requirements:

• Comfort using handheld technology (mobile) device to fulfill orders
• Fulfills online orders efficiently, accurately and with a sense of urgency
• Detail oriented, paying attention to product and order accuracy
• Eagerness to learn product knowledge, customer service standards, and store operations
• Ability to keep staging area organized and free of clutter
• Willingness to work in other departments of the store as required, e.g., customer service, cashier, grocery, etc.

You must be at least 18 years old to work as a Prepared Foods Team Member at Whole Foods Market Market.

Cashier  (Hourly)

Cashiers at Whole Foods Market provide support as a member of the Front-End team, which includes assisting customers during the check-out process, performing all cash register functions, bagging groceries, and working at the customer service desk. Cashiers also work to maintain attractive customer service displays and support the regional Customer Service vision. 

Job Responsibilities:

• Check out customer groceries efficiently and accurately. 
• Uphols government regulations concerning sale of alcoholic beverages and taxation. 
• Follow proper check, ATM, and credit procedures. 
• Uses proper procedures when ringing up scalable items. 
• Cleans and stocks Front End areas, including their own register – changing tapes and ribbon as necessary. 
• Follow all cash handling procedures – meeting and exceeding regional cashier variance policy. 
• Assist supervisor in controlling customer flow and backed up lines – helping reduce customer waiting time. 
• Proactively participates in Regional Front End programs as directed by leadership. 
• Provide excellent customer service, address needs of customers in a timely and effective manner and model suggestive selling techniques; answer phones and pages promptly and courteously. 
• Perform opening, mid, and closing duties as assigned; ensure accuracy of signs and pricing. 

To work as a Cashier at Whole Foods Market, you must be at least 18 years old.

Can a 15 Year Old Work at Whole Foods Market?

No. The minimum age to work at Whole Foods Market is 18. We do have a page on our website specifically for 15-year-olds that you can view for other options.

Can a 16 Year Old Work at Whole Foods Market? 

No. 16-year-olds can’t work at Whole Foods Market. We do have a page on our website specifically for 16-year-olds that you can view for more options.

How Much Does Whole Foods Market Pay Part-Time Workers?

The hourly earnings for employees at Whole Foods Market vary because of state and city minimum wage laws. However, we can give you a general idea of what the hourly pay is for each position.

Produce Team Member (Hourly)

As a Produce Team Member at Whole Foods Market, the starting wage is around $13. The average pay rate is $15 per hour.

Prepared Food Team Member (Hourly)

The rate of pay for Prepared Food Team Members usually begins at $14 per hour. The average hourly rate is $15. 

Seafood Team Member  (Hourly)

The pay for Seafood Team Members at Whole Foods Market usually begins at $13 per hour. The average hourly rate is $15 an hour.

Whole Body Team Member (Hourly)

As a Whole Body Team Member at Whole Foods Market, the starting wage is around $13. The average pay rate is $15 per hour.

In-Store Shopper (Hourly)

The rate of pay for In-Store Shoppers usually begins at $13 per hour. The average hourly rate for Whole Foods Market In-Store Shoppers is $15. 

Cashier  (Hourly)

The pay for Cashiers at Whole Foods Market usually begins at $13 per hour. The average hourly rate is $15 an hour.

How Much Experience Do You Need to Work at Whole Foods Market?

Whole Foods Market is an entry-level friendly company, and they do hire teen workers. However, the application process is extremely competitive. 

You can apply for a position without any experience and get hired. However, if you do have some work experience and a high school diploma or GED, it will help you stand out.

What Should You Wear to a Job Interview at Whole Foods Market?

When you show up for your interview at Whole Foods Market, you will want to be dressed in business casual attire. Consider something like a buttoned-down shirt with nice slacks or jeans and dress shoes. 

Whole Foods Market Interview Questions

At a Whole Foods Market interview, expect some unique questions because you will be in a group interview with your peers. However, you must first get past the phone interview with the recruiter, where you will be expected to sell yourself and your passion for the company and their mission.

Why should we hire you?

Why are they asking?  

They are trying to get you to sell yourself. Part of your job as a team member is selling to Whole Foods Market customers. They want to find out how well you can communicate, while being positive and professional.

What’s the ideal answer?

First of all, be honest and know your strengths. When you get asked this question, tell them how you will benefit their business. They want to hear that you have good verbal communication skills, have a friendly and upbeat demeanor, and can give good customer service. They also want to hear how passionate you are about getting a job at Whole Foods.

You may not have any previous work experience, but you can still have job skills like written and verbal communication, time-management, money-handling, etc… Let them know what you're good at!

Tell them that you are a reliable worker who will show up to work on time for every scheduled shift. If you are interested in a long-term career with the company, definitely let them know because the pay is competitive, and there are a lot of opportunities for advancement.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Why are they asking?  

If they ask you this question, they are trying to find out what job skills you can bring to the position, and what you need to work on. 

Applicants are usually able to communicate their strengths, but when it comes to weaknesses, some think it’s best to say they don’t have any or can’t think of any. Don’t do this—that answer is a red flag.

What’s the ideal answer?

The hiring manager wants to know that you can accept feedback and develop your own skills. Give one or two strengths with examples to go with them. Then list one or two weaknesses, and describe how you’re working on them.

A good answer for a weakness would be something like, “I’ve been told I speak too quickly, so I’ve been practicing slowing down when talking with customers.”

Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult customer and what was the outcome?

Why are they asking?  

When it comes to life in customer service, you will come across your share of upset or difficult customers. If you have prior work experience, they might ask you this question to see how you dealt with the situation because it does come up, and you need to handle it in the best way possible.

What’s the ideal answer?

If you don’t have any experiences with difficult customers, that’s okay. If you do, tell them the story (if you handled it well, and it had a positive outcome). If the situation ended up with you screaming and yelling or getting fired, that’s not a story you want to share.

They want to hear that you did your best to make the difficult customer happy. Or, if you couldn’t fix the problem, you notified a manager and had them help you.

Benefits of Working at Whole Foods Market 

All Whole Foods Market team members receive a 20 percent in-store discount, plus discounts with partner companies like Apple, Yeti, and AT&T. However, benefits are mostly for full-time workers only.

Benefits include:

• Comprehensive health insurance
• Dental, Vision
• Mental Health Coverage
• Competitive Pay
• 401K and HSA
• Paid Time Off
• Employee Assistance Program

What it’s Like to Work at Whole Foods Market

How to Apply at Whole Foods Market

If you are interested in working at Whole Foods Market, you can apply online, and the most up-to-date site for job listings is the company website. Whole Foods Market receives 1.5 million applications every year, and their acceptance rate is lower than Harvard University. 

To make your application stand out, they recommend that you complete the application in its entirety, even if you are attaching a resume. This will help showcase your effort and interest in the company.  Applicants are also encouraged to think of unique ways to draw attention to themselves, and not be afraid "to go above and beyond." For example, one person created a webpage and a video specifically for the role they were interested in.  

Once your application is submitted, one of the Whole Foods Market recruiters will reach out via email to let you know it's been received. They'll also give you timelines and tips to get you ready for the next step.

Your recruiter will schedule a quick, informal 15 minute phone call so you can ask questions and tell them about yourself.  Depending on the role you are applying for, you’ll talk to your potential manager on-site or over the phone for a more in-depth conversation. 

Finally, you'll attend a panel interview, which is a long-standing tradition since the first Whole Foods Market Market. You'll speak to a group of your peers in a single interview, and the panel decides whom to hire.