Hey guys I have some questions about getting a job working with cannabis. I am a 19 year old girl who lives in Oregon. I recently got my medical marijuana card and would like to start pursuing a career in the industry. I currently work a soul sucking retail job that won't let me dye my hair. And so I humbly inquire to you grasscity: What do? Do I need an OLCC card? Will the OLCC let me aquire a card? Would a dispensary risk hiring me? What do they look for in applicants? Would I be better off starting by selling glass, or working at a head shop? Where should I work to make my resume more appealing to a dispensary? How much do these jobs generally pay? Also any advice/experience/wisdom would be much appreciated. Stay Lifted, Kitty :3
I've asked around the shops about jobs and such. Really, most shops have zero qualifications and hire mostly pretty women (fucked up but true). To get hired based on qualifications, you need a background in growing, the ability to diagnose ailments in plants, knowledge of how to create extracts, oils and tinctures and the ins and outs of growing a plant in any soil. The ability to know the differences between types of strains, indica and sativa and their effects. Knowing this will get you in the door to any store that is worth going to. One of the stores here I went in had nothin but pretty women that didnt know what they were talking about. I was told what makes an indica is CBD and what makes a sativa is having zero cbd's in it...... lol Stuff like that happens all the time, so there are absolutely zero qualifications needed really as long as the guy that owns the place is chauvinistic garbage. I forget, but I believe you must be 21 as well. State law. They pay minimum wage for starting usually unless you're doing something meaninful which in oregon is I think 12 bucks most places. There are no places you can work really to make yourself look better other than growing your own stuff and learning everything there is about how to make it and what it takes to have a successful grow. All in all, weed shops around here go through people very fast. They are always firing and hiring. You can always call all the shops around you and ask exactly what the requirements are.
Working in weed retail settings is not going to be any better/more profitable than working in regular retail, but it is a start to get in. If i was looking for an industry job, I simultaneously would get really good at growing or do something with safe extracts like Rosin. Then you can start selling products for the shelf at the place you work, and go up from there. Not sure on the OR rules on wholesale, but here in CA I have seen two people that were employees at the local dispensary start their own extract company and now are doing pretty well. They got their first sales in to the store that they worked at and the other stores the same owner had. The other weed job that isn't exactly physical is weed blogging and reviews. The reviews on our site I do not do we pay people to do, and this pays more than most dispensary jobs would. Also, you can just go wherever you want without being tied to a phsyical location. Last, there is trying to be a weed personality/weedtuber. These guys are not really balling yet, but I have met some of them and they are definitely making it, and probably in the future will make much more. I also like this over the dispensary position as you can go anywhere. If I could start my career all over again, I would only do things that did not require physical presence.
After watching my friends here in Colorado go through the same thing I have seen this: You must have better than intermediate knowledge of marijuana growing, strains, effects, Like the gentleman said before me. The most lame part is the pay. corporate jobs bring corporate pay. Investors suck out the money because they invested. Sure they should get a return on their investments. So, then brings the dilema I know managers of rec shops here that make $18.00 an hour. That is a joke for all of the knowledge and not to mention the extreme responsibility. I was going to get my card in '08, then I put all of that into thought and decided I would rather be a paid craftsman that I already am. The pot biz is fun. So think about that. Find something you love and do it then you will be provided for somehow. Trust me on that. Dedicate yourself