Tag Archives: first job

How I learned to be professional by making sandwiches

Posted on by
Reply

I joined my first job at Ike’s Sandwiches when I turned 17 and continued to work there until I graduated high school. Ike’s is a popular gourmet sandwich chain in the Bay Area and its sandwiches are well loved by Apple employees and Stanford students alike. When I started working, I was the youngest person in the restaurant and felt extremely out of place amongst the hipster older guys and the few older women that worked there. I spent most of the first month keeping to myself and trying to learn the names of all the sandwiches (there are hundreds so this was quite a feat). After I passed the initial learning curve, I was able to open up to the people I was working with as well as to the opportunity of gaining great work experience while making great sandwiches. Here are some things that I learned at my first job:

  • Learn as much about the product that you are selling as you can. In my case, this meant that I had to learn about all the dietary restrictions of our sandwiches, all the names on the secret menu, what the secret sauce was made of, and what sandwiches were popular amongst customers. I quickly realized that people would ask me a lot of questions and that I needed to have answers to give back to them. In another work scenario, this might mean knowing all about the technology you are working on or the case that you are in charge of presenting. No matter what you are working on, it is important to know it from beginning to end and to ask questions when you are confused about any aspect.
  • Work on your communication skills- I had to spend a lot of time talking to customers, receiving their orders, and answering questions so it was important that I remained personable and communicative. This is true in any work scenario. Whether it is with a customer, your boss, or coworkers, it is vital that you have good communication skills so that you can make the point that you are trying to carry across. (This is especially true when you are asking for a day off from work and need to keep open communication with your boss so that they know this.)
  • Show up on time- This seems like common sense, but it was especially important in my position because if I did not come to my shift, there were no backups for my cashier position. This was the first time in my life that I was being paid to be on time and it was a lot of pressure at first. Not only did I have to physically be at work on time, but I also had to mentally stay engaged with customers as part of my job. This ended up being an important life skill that has helped me in many other internships and work situations. If I did not have this pressure during my first job, then being on time would not have been ingrained in me to such an extent.
  • Finally, try your product to make sure you are giving customers good advice. In this case, this piece of advice meant that I ate lots and lots of sandwiches J

Here is a picture of an Ike’s sandwich that will hopefully incentivize you to go try one when you are in the Bay Area!

sandwich

“Can I Help You Find Something?”: Learning about life and work in Target

Posted on by
Reply

I thought to make this post a “Thanks-giving,” but each time I brainstormed a list of the people I could/would/should thank, it became a might unwieldy. I know I could never choose only a few from the mountain of people who have made me.

But, there is another “holiday” this month that got me thinking. Black Friday.

I wasn’t aware of Black Friday until I was sixteen. I was a junior in high school and I had started working at Target the month before, in preparation for the holiday season. I was assigned to come in at 6 a.m. and work the registers, even though I was normally a “soft-lines” team member, meaning I worked primarily in the clothing sections. I was both nervous and excited. I was wearing my comfortable work shoes with my red shirt and khaki pants. I was at my station and ready when they opened the doors, and customers jogged towards electronics.

Busy days like that were a blur of adrenaline, smiles, and morale-boosting food in the break room.

Target was my first place of employment, and it made a huge impact on me. I never played sports in high school, or participate in typical extra-curriculars like theater or model UN, but the last year and half of high school I was working 12-24 hours a week as a Target team member. Under those fluorescent lights, I had my first experiences with responsibility, diversity and teamwork. And yes, I also experienced the entitlement of American consumers. My job at Target was the first time I witnessed and really comprehended racism.

One of the most important things I learned at Target, though, was the importance of co-worker relationships. Even in retail, a field known for eating minimum wage worker’s souls, the right people can make the job bearable. The right people can make waking up at 6 a.m. for the Black Friday rush fun.

Target has such a high rate of turn-over that in two years, I experienced good, bad and mediocre teams. Good teams create energy, and that energy turns into productivity. They make work fun, even if you are stuck in infants organizing the bottle aisle for the third time that week. Mediocre and bad teams, don’t support each other that way. There’s drama, or maybe just apathy, that drains the energy and makes the atmosphere miserable. You avoid co-workers by taking on the long and unenviable task of organizing the clearance racks by percentage clearance and then by size. Time moves slowly. Bad teams blame each other if one section is taking longer than the others to clean after closing, instead of just helping to finish it.

Changes in management reverberated through the store. I worked best with a supervisor who allowed me my independence, who encouraged problem solving. If something didn’t work one day, or took too long, I could try something different the next. After a year and a half of working there, a new manager would tell me to go by the book, every day, even when it wasn’t working for me or a particular clothing section I was in. That inflexibility to try new things or look for better solutions was extremely frustrating.

Target was my first experience in work-place culture, and it taught me which management styles and team relationships I value most. Retail gets a bad rap. Sure, by the end of senior year I was ready to leave, and it took me a long time to be able to wear red and khaki together again, but as a first job I could not have asked for better.