Agreeable food standards and company vision, disagreeable management
Pros
-Opportunities to work many different hours (as early as 7am, as late as midnight). -Opportunities to work different positions and not be perpetually stuck in one place. -Free meal every time you work, no matter how small (eg. 2hrs long) the shift is. -Training manuals clearly outline expectations and timelines to get certified for each position. -The interviewing process ensures that you'll get along with the majority of your coworkers.
Cons
-Erratic scheduling. Management will expect you to come in during times you aren't scheduled to work. I didn't feel empowered to put my foot down, at first...I thought I was screwing up and putting down the wrong dates and times in my calendar. But after the 3rd time I was told to cancel obligations to come in and work, I began taking home a hard copy of the schedule each week. To my shock (and relief that I wasn't imagining things after all), I realized that management would change or add shifts behind my back and not tell me until the night before or (more commonly) the day of. There were even a few times when I came in to work a scheduled shift but wasn't listed on the sheet that divides tasks among everyone working that shift. After the 5th+ scheduling mishap, I quit. (See "Advice to Management" for more.) -Frustratingly slow to move up the ladder. During peak hours at a busy restaurant, it makes sense to assign respective tasks only to those that accomplish them fast and well. Unfortunately, this makes training very challenging to get through on time, even if you are following up with management on your progress. Training for one position I was assigned, according to the manual, was supposed to take about a week. It took me a month. -Inconsistent standards. One manager may teach you to do something one way, and when another manager sees how you accomplish the task, they berate you and tell you to do it their way. Only to get criticized again by the first manager, when they see your new way of doing that task. -Little to no tips (customers can't tip with plastic, only cash)...and we're serving literally hundreds of people. -I noticed that male Crew Members are generally assigned to back of house (kitchen) positions, while females hold front of house (line) ones...
