Craig Walton, the Night Shift Associate of the Month.

Each month, each WalMart in town chooses two Associates of the Month, one for the day shifts and one for the overnight shift. These folks aren't chosen by management, but are voted on by their peers, which makes this a pretty big honor. Tara Newberry and Craig Walton are the current Associates of the Month for the Prescott Lakeways WalMart. They receive a cash stipend, a plaque and a pin.

Walton's shift starts at 10 pm, and he gets off at 6:30 am. He's the nighttime Electronics Sales Associate. Walton (presumably not related to Sam) said he really likes working on the night shift, because there is, "A little less customer traffic, so I can spend more time with those who do come in. I like that. [Customers ask a] lot of questions, so I can spend the time to help people solve problems or pick out what they need."

The night crew definitely works closely together, Walton explains. "It's smaller, seeems to be less turnover." He estimates that they have about 50-75 people working overnight.

When does he sleep? Walton shrugs. When he gets off, he said, "I sleep about four hours in the morning, and then I do my daily stuff, whatever I have to do during the day, which is great, because you can do your doctor's appointments, your banking, everything's open when you're off. I might catch a couple more hours before I come into work at 10.

Walton plans to stick around WalMart for quite a while, and is considering going into management. "I like the flexible hours and I really like the benefits," he said. "I like the health plan."

And how does he feel about working while the rest of us are trying to sleep? Walton grins as he replies, "Night shift's great!"  

Tara Newberry, on the other hand, says she is absolutely a day person. She works from 6 am - 2 pm, Monday - Friday as the Daytime Direct Associate. That means that she doesn't see customers very often, since her job is based in the back of the store. "We basically unload FedEx, UPS, and then after we're done unloading them we hand scan into the Gemini each and every product that comes into the back door. On a daily basis, we receive anywhere between a hundred and two hundred boxes of merchandise. And each one has to be opened and hand-scanned in."

Tara Newberry, the September Daytime Associate of the Month.

If Newberry didn't do her job, it would be tough to maintalin the proper inventory of critical merchandise. What kinds of things come in by UPS and FedEx? Newberry just about bubbles with enthusiasm, "I check in all of [Craig's] new releases, all his movies, all his iPods... I get to see the first of every merchandise in the store. Any seasonal? I get to see it first. That's what I love about my job. I get to see all the new product, all the seasonal product, any time Christmas, I'm the first one who knows Christmas has come in. That's kind of cool. It's like Christmas every day, you get to open up new stuff every single day."

When asked how she feels about her job, Newberry answered eagerly, "I love this, I love my job. I LOVE my job. I've been back in Directs for five years. Love it!" 

Newberry has worked at WalMart for 8 years now, and if she has her way, she'll be there another twenty. She has no intention of going anywhere, "I'll probably still be doing directs, if they let me. I love my job!"

Both Newberry and Walton said they'd recommend people get a job at WalMart. They did point out certain character traits that are just about a necessity, however, such as people skills and patience, especially during the seasonal times. Reliability and dependability are also critical, they noted. "You've got to be willing to work," Newberry said. "If we don't all work together as a team, it's never going to work, ever."

Editor's note: This article was sponsored by WalMart, a company that is very proud of its Associates and their hard work.

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