My weird new job..

So today was my first day at my restaurant job. It has been such a weird experience.. First of all, they made me go through THREE interviews, and on the second AND third, they didn't even know they were supposed to interview me. They thought it was only my first interview both times. Any way, I did get hired happily. However, on my first day (today), they didn't even know I was coming.. They weren't prepared to train me. The guy who ended up training me did not tell me anything and so I just had to watch since it was busy. They didn't let me help out, just observe without direction or commentary. Then he told me he'd be right back. He didn't come right back.. Food was coming out and no one was prepping them! So I had to even though I wasn't trained to help yet, and there were dishes that no one had ordered before. I didn't know how the system worked because no one told me. When the trainer did come out, he looked at a plate that I set up and said, "Good job! I'm just going to do my thing in the back now." And so I had to freestyle everything and keep asking the wait staff and chefs what to do because no one had given me direction... I want to learn quickly but it seems they are very lacking in communication and they aren't prepared to train me (since they don't ever seem to even know about me!!), and so my training will suffer. Is this normal??

This doesn't seem very normal... This seems very unprofessional. When a business hires you, they should know that they're hiring you. Maybe if things go on like this and they are continuously unprepared to have you there, you might need to find a new job.

BluePikachu47 said:

This doesn't seem very normal... This seems very unprofessional. When a business hires you, they should know that they're hiring you. Maybe if things go on like this and they are continuously unprepared to have you there, you might need to find a new job.

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It does seem unprofessional. Which is weird because their company is huge and is well known for being a very good company to work for with an excellent training program. My experience so far has been the opposite but I'm chalking it up to the fact that they are a pretty new location and maybe they just don't have their **** together yet.. The servers and chefs were very helpful at least, although it would have been nice to actually have someone watch me do my job and correct me or confirm when I was doing things right. It wasn't productive for me to have to keep asking the chefs what to do when something came out, since I always want to double check every plate even though I'm sure I did it correctly. It's so important for someone to just be assigned to do that for me, especially on my first day. I felt kind of abandoned But having them on my resume looks realllllly good so I wanna stick it out. Hopefully it improves :/ I don't wanna get penalised for not learning quick enough because no one is really putting the effort to train me. Ugh.

First of all congratulations! Second of all this doesn't seem normal, but I know what you're going through because I'm going through it too at my current job. I've been in it about 6 months and have been told I'm doing really well. Keep your chin up and just keep trying to learn. If you didn't get trained it's likely no one else did either so I'm sure you're not in the slightest alone there. As long as you keep trying to learn I'm sure you'll do great.

First of all, congrats on the job!!

And wow that is weird. That may be a red flag of lousy management, but then again it could just be a fluke. As long as you're eager to learn (which you are) hopefully they'll pick up on that and help you out as time goes on. That is really weird of them to be so unorganized though.

Soda Fox said:

First of all congratulations! Second of all this doesn't seem normal, but I know what you're going through because I'm going through it too at my current job. I've been in it about 6 months and have been told I'm doing really well. Keep your chin up and just keep trying to learn. If you didn't get trained it's likely no one else did either so I'm sure you're not in the slightest alone there. As long as you keep trying to learn I'm sure you'll do great.

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Thank you! I believe they brought most of their staff in from other locations, so they probably received proper training. But I'm going to just have to work extra hard to make up for the lack of training. Hopefully they just start remembering me though, because that's what bothers me most. They just don't seem to know who I am and I want to progress, not always be in a "first day loop." Haha

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nostalgibra said:

First of all, congrats on the job!!

And wow that is weird. That may be a red flag of lousy management, but then again it could just be a fluke. As long as you're eager to learn (which you are) hopefully they'll pick up on that and help you out as time goes on. That is really weird of them to be so unorganized though.

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Thanks!! ^_^ The management does seem really wishy washy, but like I said, it's probably because it's a newer location. I'm not sure how new, but I suppose things take a while before settling in and becoming effective. I'm definitely very eager to learn. I'm already writing down all the menu items to help me memorise, and putting post its for questions I want to ask tomorrow, and notes on how to garnish the plates and just info that is good to know. I hope they see the initiative, because I'm really trying hard. I'll have to just train myself somehow if no one is going to properly train me.

ay congrats! any new job always feels weird at first. that sounds like when i worked at Chik-fil-A, sometimes they just kinda throw ya in there and you learn as you go. it'll be okay! the key thing is, find out what your employee discount rate is on the food!!

Congrats on the job! None of this seems right though, I think that's very unprofessional. If anything you should have just been shadowing on your first day, as is pretty normal for a busy business and then being taught things as you shadow, and only practicing things when it slows down a bit. Every job I've had there's usually one of two days of shadowing and then they start you on trying the stuff you've learned. That's messed up they put you in that situation, and it must have been stressful for the trainer not knowing they were supposed to train you. Hopefully on your next day they have someone prepared to train you so you can actually learn! It's stressful enough being thrown into a new environment and without a map that can make it even harder. I hope things work out for you!

sounds rather unprofessional. I once worked at a place on the first day of opening and they were more organized then that and there were only 2 employees! don't be afraid to ask as many questions as you want, better to be well informed then to screw up!

KaydeeKrunk said:

Congrats on the job! None of this seems right though, I think that's very unprofessional. If anything you should have just been shadowing on your first day, as is pretty normal for a busy business and then being taught things as you shadow, and only practicing things when it slows down a bit. Every job I've had there's usually one of two days of shadowing and then they start you on trying the stuff you've learned. That's messed up they put you in that situation, and it must have been stressful for the trainer not knowing they were supposed to train you. Hopefully on your next day they have someone prepared to train you so you can actually learn! It's stressful enough being thrown into a new environment and without a map that can make it even harder. I hope things work out for you!

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Thank you! It is really weird, but on my second shift today, I told my trainer to please let me do plating and sauces as well so I can learn. I also was more assertive with making sure I asked everyone if I could do anything to help them. Since it seemed like on the first day, I was like a ghost that everyone kind of ignored while they went their merry way, I decided I would just force myself upon them to train me what to do haha. Obviously it sounds rude when I put it that way, but I wasn't actually. People were very happy with me, but I guess they just won't take the initiative to actually train me. Haha Oh well, next week I'll be training as a busser/bartender, so it will be a nice change! Hopefully with better training since now they know who I am. Yay!

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MaddisonGamer6 said:

sounds rather unprofessional. I once worked at a place on the first day of opening and they were more organized then that and there were only 2 employees! don't be afraid to ask as many questions as you want, better to be well informed then to screw up!

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Yeah, I just found out that this "new" location has been open 3 years.. I wouldn't call that new!!

Congrats on your new job and everything but wow... what a ridiculous first day. I would have been making a fuss not knowing what I would if I was in that situation. On my first day they did have me train for a while in a nice and slow pace which was good but my first trainer didn't really explain anything to me and didn't even notice I was their. They had me train with a few other people though and they did alright.

I hope your next few days turn out to be a lot better. Training for a job should take quite a few days maybe even weeks but if they aren't doing it then that's their own fault, not yours.

That would have given me so much stress and anxiety, I probably would have quit that day. I don't think I could ever be a waitress. Sounds like you handled it really well though!!

Millysaurusrexjr said:

That would have given me so much stress and anxiety, I probably would have quit that day. I don't think I could ever be a waitress. Sounds like you handled it really well though!!

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Trust me, I have anxiety so I totally get you lol! I actually wanted to run away and I was on the verge of a panic attack the entire time. I wanted to cry, but I had to fake feeling confident. I really needed this job, and it's a high end place which will look good on my resume. I survived only to save face and I didn't want to embarrass myself by panicking. Haha. I don't even know why I keep applying as a server when I have crazy anxiety, especially social anxiety. But you know, once I got used to serving jobs, it actually helped me deal with my anxiety. It was very therapeutic because it made me deal with my fears daily. When I stopped serving for a while, my anxiety peaked and all my progress dealing with it actually went away.. So I think it really could help some people with anxiety ^_^

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Nox said:

Congrats on your new job and everything but wow... what a ridiculous first day. I would have been making a fuss not knowing what I would if I was in that situation. On my first day they did have me train for a while in a nice and slow pace which was good but my first trainer didn't really explain anything to me and didn't even notice I was their. They had me train with a few other people though and they did alright.

I hope your next few days turn out to be a lot better. Training for a job should take quite a few days maybe even weeks but if they aren't doing it then that's their own fault, not yours.

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Thank you so much It was pretty ridiculous but I'm going to stay positive that the training will improve, like yours did! I think my training ends after the 16th since I'm going to have my own little section of 2 tables on that day. I'm just glad that at least because their training is so bad, I'm actually able to let my initiative shine through, and they noticed it So that's a good thing that came out of it! Lol

First and foremost, congrats on the job! Sorry I didn't see this earlier!

This doesn't seem normal at all, making you do an extra two interviews is wasting your time and confusing for you. Your "trainer" clearly had more important things to do rather than actually training and getting you started and comfortable with things.

It all seems very odd, you'd think they would actually know that you were coming! Again very weird.....

Anyways, good luck with the job and I hope they step up their game and help you out more

It's unprofessional. I would sit down with your management and address your training concerns and scheduling concerns. Get them to layout a game plan.

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It looks better that you actively pursue proper training now than just hoping it'll improve or that you can get by on your own. This is because if you still aren't properly training and down the line they try to make complaints...you point out all those details won't matter because they'll simply place accountability again on you such as "why didn't you tell us". So better to cover your bases and have that meeting now and show them you're on top of your progress even if they aren't. Document the discussions you have and the promises they make for training, document the outcomes,...then if worst comes to worst and they didn't live up to their promises, go to Hr to present your challenges and how they haven't been helping you.