Week 4: Wrapping things up, but also looking forwards

These past four weeks have been filled with long hours and lots of stress, but with them came many learning opportunities and avenues for growth. At the beginning of this project, I set out to improve my communication skills, both in the workplace and when dealing with customers, as well as learning to run the store on my own. I feel as though I was able to reach all three of these goals, having led two shifts on my own (once while closing and once during a Sunday night rush), having been able to see the positive impacts of good communication and leadership can have on the efficiency inside a store, and having dealt with multiple customer complaints, ranging from the raw pan pizza incident to dealing with a lady with a five-year history of making complaints to our store (yes, five years of trying to get free food from our store and calling to complain about their pizza) and having to give her a refund. In addition to meeting my goals and achieving what I set out to learn during this project, I have also learned a few other things in becoming a manager, mainly in learning to open the store.

These past couple of weeks I have been undergoing formal opening training, as I am set to open on my own this coming weekend. This includes lots of prep so that the store can remain stocked throughout the day without running out of certain toppings or products. I have learned multiple new things, from how to prep the different meats and veggies, to the variety of cheeses we offer as toppings for both pizzas and sandwiches. However, this has been not only a good learning opportunity for me, but for the other workers in our store as well, since corporate has asked that all stores transition to a new method of storing and prepping toppings every day. Thus, this past week has been filled with learning the new method of setting up our makeline, prepping bags of toppings rather than tubs (as shown in the photos below).

Before and after prepping multiple tubs of sausage, philly steak, beef, and bacon

Would I recommend this project to another student? It's a tough question. Personally, I've found that working in a fast-food environment has been a humbling experience and has changed my perspective on the fast-food industry and the people employed in it. I've actually met so many really cool people through work that I otherwise would have never met, and there are some very smart and talented people I have been able to work with. On the flip side, trying to manage a fast-food store is very stressful. It also takes a massive time commitment and a willingness to give extra hours. With high employee turnover and employees calling out every now and then, I have to be ready at any moment's notice to help the store, staying late past my shift to make sure the store doesn't suffer some nights.

But to answer the question, yes, I think I would recommend this project to another student, but maybe not going the full mile of becoming a manager, as it comes with many added stresses. I would, however, 100% recommend everyone at least try working a minimum wage frontline job to have the experience, as it can be very humbling and can change your perspective on the fast-food industry. You meet lots of really cool people who come from different backgrounds and if you don't like tipping, working a minimum wage service job could change your mind :)