I've only worked a few jobs in my life. When I was in high school, I babysat for a close family friend and when I went to college I worked at an After School Program. Now that I've graduated college, while I look for that dream job, I started working at Panera Bread and to me, I would call this my first real job where my co-workers and bosses depend on me. Two months into the job and I have to say I don't have any complaints but I do feel I've picked up on some things. Here are five things I've learned while working in the food industry/customer service.
1) Be on time to your shift
Things can get pretty fast-paced depending on where you work. Working in the food industry, it usually gets busy around lunch and dinner time so your fellow co-workers really depend on you to show up for your schedule time so when that rush of people come in, you're not slammed and overwhelmed. I know some people have bad time management skills or they're a far distance and might be late sometimes, but being on time is definitely something I'll learned that's truly important at any job.
2) If you don't know, ask.
At my current job, there are a lot of things that are new to me like cash registers and POS systems and baking things in a huge and scary oven. Being there a little over two months now, I feel like I know 95% of things but there are still things that leave me stumped. There have been some times where I just assumed this or that was the right thing to do and it bit me in the ass in the end. So I've learned to not be afraid to ask because even if you're annoying someone who's been there way longer than you by asking all of these seemingly basic questions, they're gonna be happier in the end when you asked and did the right thing rather than assuming and did the wrong thing and made things more difficult for everyone else.
3) Communicate with your boss or bosses
Having a relationship and clear communicate between your boss or bosses is key. If you're feeling sick the night before and think you're not going to be able to come in, always call your boss and let them know. This is something key I've picked up on because I've watched how one person would show up to work sick and then within the week everyone was showing up with the same sickness. So let your boss know when you're feeling sick and need to call out. Also having good communicate with your bosses helps when you have costumer complaints to deal with or you made a mistake. I believe you should always be humble at your job and apologize to your boss when you've done something wrong.
4) Don't be the person to always call out
This sort of goes along with showing up for your shift but I believe calling out last minute is more detrimental to everyone who did show up to their shift than just running a few minutes late. And especially if you're someone who calls out frequently, you're not going to look very dependable to your boss or to your co-workers.
5) The Customer is always right
This tidbit sometimes people have a hard time swallowing but you have to admit it's true. The customer is there to give your their business and it's my job to make sure I give the customer a rememberable experience whether that's giving them a cheerful greeting or making something that had gone wrong, right again. Even if you're 100% positive that they ordered such and such a sandwich or soup, just nod your head and apologize if they come back to you saying it's wrong.
