Marijuana Jobs Near Me: Cannabis Careers in Your Neighborhood

Now more than ever, the legal marijuana industry is infiltrating states and municipalities across the country. With widespread legalization comes a narrowing focus on cannabis job creation. You, yourself may be wondering: where can I find marijuana jobs near me?

Largely, the marijuana customer service industry presents viable opportunities for employing individuals at dispensaries as budtenders and receptionists. As the proliferation of cannabis shops continues, the possibility of finding work in your city and neighborhood is rising.

Aside from marijuana dispensaries, every sector of the legal cannabis industry must meet increased demand for cannabis products, requiring further industry development that comes with job opportunities. To give you an example of the diverse nature of the cannabis industry, there are job opportunities in cultivation, cannabis extraction, administration, delivery, security, consulting, marketing, edibles creation, glass blowing, tourism, strain reviewing, entertainment and much more.

The game is changing and there is no better time to find a marijuana job near me than now.

Where Do I Begin?

The process of finding marijuana jobs near me was daunting at first. Complex state and municipal legislation entrench the cannabusiness in so many convoluted regulations, making it difficult to clearly understand local marijuana policy.

Know the Laws

The first thing to do, even before putting together a resume, is conduct preliminary research on your locality’s cannabis legislation and how the marijuana job sector is regulated. While the underground marijuana industry has operated around the country for years, illegal distribution of cannabis products is enough to send you to prison, sometimes for life.

For that reason alone, make sure that any and all job leads you pursue are part of the legal industry. You’ll likely be able to tell if a business is legal or not based on how strictly they adhere to compliance measures.

The best way to keep current on weed laws is to visit your state/municipal government website, like colorado.gov/marijauna for example. Cannabis advocacy site Norml is another excellent resource that helps to break down all the confusion to offer a more succinct overview of marijuana legislation. Norml also succeeds in providing their audience with state-specific breakdowns of marijuana policy measures entering congress and how you can help advocate for comprehensive marijuana legalization.

Know “Marijuana Jobs Near Me”

The marijuana industry has far reaching arms into mainstream culture and it pays to know how this affects local economy. When asking where marijuana jobs near me are, it’s important to make a distinction between cannabis industry jobs and jobs working with cannabis.

Cannabis industry jobs involve any positions that reinforce and contribute to the industry as a whole. This obviously includes marijuana dispensary jobs and growing, but it also includes cannabis tourism jobs, marketing, regulation and other careers that may never involve direct interaction with cannabis plants or products. While jobs of this sort might have less mainstream appeal, they are legitimate, integral factors engendering a successful industry.

Cannabis industry jobs that work with cannabis on the other hand, are widely pursued positions that allow opportunities for employees to interact on a regular basis with the hands-on facilitation of cannabis production and distribution. Typical positions that work directly with cannabis include cultivation, trimming, budtending and strain reviewing. The allure of working with cannabis comes as no surprise, however, many of these positions receive fairly low hourly wages and salaries compared to other marijuana careers.

You may also be interested in…

• Cannabis Industry Salaries

What Job Do You Want?

So, now it’s up to you to decide: What marijuana jobs near me fit within my interests and skillset? You might have some pressing fears asking: Am I qualified? How do I put together an application? Lucky for you, there are many informative services and forums to help you approach each job application with confidence.

Below, I will detail the ins and outs of some of the industry’s hottest jobs.

Marijuana Dispensary Jobs

Marijuana dispensaries shine like a beacon of hope and happiness for enthusiastic cannabis patients and passionate recreational users. Pot shops have already become a fixture in major cities like Seattle, Denver and Portland, Oregon, and have fulfilled the dreams of applicants like you, asking: Where are marijuana jobs near me?

Each dispensary is different, but there are some job consistencies you can expect from nearly any store. I will attempt to give an overview of what positions you will find in a dispensary, and what it takes to get an interview.

Dispensary Reception Job Description

It makes sense to start with the dispensary receptionist, as they will likely be the first person you see upon entering the store. Not all dispensaries have receptionists, though many shops maintain this position as it facilitates a well organized business.

Receptionists have the dual job of working in customer service, while also performing administrative work. Employees greet customers and process any forms of legal identification, entering information perfectly into online databases. Receptionists are major players in making sure a dispensary is complying with all state and local regulations.

Some receptionists are responsible for ensuring basic security measures, especially online. Additionally, they may assist with marketing by updating business websites and menus, Leafly and Weedmaps accounts, as well as any forms of social media the dispensary engages in. Ultimately, receptionists assist dispensary managers with any service and/or administrative tasks that require their attention and aptitude.

Dispensary Receptionist Job Qualifications

For receptionist marijuana jobs near me, dispensary hiring managers are looking for strong communicators and organized administrators. Not only are receptionists tasked with interacting with customers in person, they must also communicate online via email or social media, as well as by telephone. For this reason, having a background in customer service and sales is a huge asset to your application.

On the clerical side, applicants for receptionist jobs should highlight any and all experience working in an office, at a front desk, or as a receptionist, even if it wasn’t in the marijuana industry. Showing employers a proven history of compiling and organizing data helps to give you some credibility.

For any job in a marijuana dispensary, it definitely behooves you to have a background working with cannabis. However, since prolonged marijuana prohibition has made it difficult to achieve relevant experience, the applicant must at very least be knowledgeable about cannabis products and legislation. They must also have a real passion for the marijuana industry. Dispensary owners and hiring managers are not looking for people who don’t care about pot.

Dispensary Receptionist Wages

Receptionist wages are in keeping with most entry-level customer service work. Pay begins around minimum wage, but often ranges between 10-12 dollars per hour.

Budtender Job Description

What is a budtender? Budtenders are the face of the legal marijuana industry. It’s been said before me and could not be a better indicator of the job. Budtenders are the customer servers of marijuana sales; they use their expertise on strain differences, medical implications and aroma profiles of their products to assist patients and customers in purchasing their ideal product.

Budtenders lead customers through an entire sale, inquiring into the patient’s marijuana habits and opinions, in order to compile suggestions of products that the customer may like. In addition to educating the customer, budtenders are responsible for weighing, packaging and labeling products, as well as guiding consumers through point of sale and distributing all necessary legal literature in order to comply with regulations.

Budtenders also perform basic store maintenance tasks including filling “pre-roll” joints, cleaning the showroom and product displays, as well as contributing to online marketing.

Budtender Job Qualifications

For budtender marijuana jobs near me, dispensary hiring managers are primarily looking for customer service oriented individuals with a background working with marijuana. People are applying to budtender jobs across the country with such vigor and frequency that employers literally can’t review every application. Especially when responding to online postings for budtender marijuana jobs near me, hiring managers in cities like Portland, OR receive over one hundred applications in less than a week’s time.

Since there is such competition for few budtender positions, it helps to know what employers are looking for when reviewing applications.

A background working with marijuana is key here. While not all budtender marijuana jobs near me call for direct cannabis experience, it is a massive help in at least getting your application noticed. I sometimes refer to budtending as an entry-level marijuana job, yet it often involves a knowledgeable, experienced cannabis enthusiast.

Make sure to highlight any and all legal experience working with cannabis if you have it. If your experience with weed is illegal however, let’s just say you don’t want that in writing. In cases like these, it’s better to dazzle hiring managers with your knowledge than tell them where you got it from.

Service with a smile is paramount for budtenders. Like bartenders, budtenders should have a knack for customer service. Even if you haven’t worked in budtending before, be sure to detail any history working as a bartender, barista, server or other position in selling a product. Hiring managers may look at your success in customer service with even more weight than having marijuana experience. This is because cannabis is a consumer driven industry and more than anything, dispensaries want their customers to keep coming back for more.

Budtender Wages

Like receptionists, budtender wages can start anywhere as low as minimum wage and as high as fifteen dollars per hour plus tips. Experienced budtenders who work their way up to a leadership position or management sustain even greater opportunities for raises.

Dispensary Jobs: A Final Look

When searching through dispensary listings for marijuana jobs near me, keep in mind that you may have to send out several applications in order to be selected for an interview. The nature of the customer service industry means there will frequently be new positions and businesses opening up. At the end of the day, hiring managers are looking for passionate people they can trust. If you already frequent a local dispensary, introduce yourself to the staff! Ask questions! Make yourself known and you may find that you’ll establish some personal credibility.

Trimming Marijuana Jobs Near Me

Marijuana trimming has a long history of employing masses of eager stoners from across the country in farms throughout rural California and southern Oregon.

Marijuana Trimming Job Description

Marijuana trimmers are a necessary cog in preparing marijuana flower for sale. In essence, trimmers snip any excess plant matter from trichome-rich buds in order to maximize cannabinoid concentration and create a worthwhile, aesthetically pleasing product.

Trimming is a unique job in that it is not necessarily difficult, but can be mundane and tedious at times. Despite this, trimming jobs are a highly pursued position as it provides opportunities for making decent money and learning a marketable skill.

Experienced trimmers are able to assess and snip buds at an incredible rate, producing pounds of marijuana flower, acting as a major asset for cannabis production.

Marijuana Trimming Job Qualifications

Having spoken to many bud trimmers over the years, one qualification for acquiring trimming jobs stands out from the rest: Know someone. You’ve probably heard this many times before when applying to schools, jobs, or other pursuits, and fortunately or not, the sentiment remains true here. Especially given the cannabis industry’s black market history, being friends with an industry insider helps to establish credibility.

Marijuana Trimming Job Wages

Compensation for marijuana trimming jobs ranges vastly based on experience. While wages start out similarly to most other entry level jobs, (10-15 dollars per hour) there are trimmers who make over twenty dollars per hour based on the volume of trimmed flowers they produce. It is not unheard of to make forty dollars per hour working for major grow operations.

The Future of Marijuana Jobs Near Me

The legal cannabis industry can be hard to navigate, but there is hope in finding employment in the booming business. When you ask yourself where to find marijuana jobs near me, consider all of your options for working in direct and associated cannabis jobs. While you may not acquire your dream position right off the bat, securing any position is a great place to start from!