Substandard, Distasteful and downright Disappointing!
Pros
For someone with any small amount of cafe or restaurant experience, the work environment (only when you're starting out) is an easy one to adapt to. The Chipotle concept is straightforward and easy to pick up. Chipotle sets itself apart from other fast-food companies by using fresh, often organic, ingredients which is an easy model to stand behind. The company allows 1 free meal to its employees per shift worked. Chipotle seems to really back personal growth for its employees. Management is constantly looking to help its star employees continue to learn and move up in position. Pay is subpar for the amount of work and skills necessary to be successful in your job (especially kitchen and prep), but it is a bit above average compared to other minimum wage, restaurant jobs.
Cons
Chipotle is a very challenging company to work for, like many restaurant environments, but being the growing and fruitful business that it is, its employees deserve better. Management is hardly just that. They don't respond appropriately or quickly to employee-related incidents or injuries (if the employee gets a response at all), scheduling is inconsistent and employees are often kept much, much longer than their scheduled shifts without any notice, compliance with state labor and wage laws is extremely lacking and store management is not properly trained around these laws, a lot of wires seem to get crossed when it comes to communication between corporate, management and staff. The entire company doesn't seem to have the right people in the the right job in the right place. There is a strong emphasis on marketing but the training programs or the way management chooses to use them leaves quite a bit of room for improvement. If your goal is to move up within the company, prepare sacrifice your personal life. This is the kind of job that attracts people who just don't care about what they do, so be prepared to experience frustration with co-workers and management who lack any interest in getting things done. A lot (meaning way way way too much) food that is prepared becomes garbage throughout the day.
