I’ve always believed that what truly makes people successful, is not so much just money or fame, as much as it is the ability to set a personal goal, crafting a plan with carefully thought through steps leading to the realization of that goal, and then seeing said plan through to its completion.
I really don’t have a concrete reason for this particular goal but I have always wanted to make subs at Subway!
Now I have been responsible for making my own money for the last 13 years but, when I still worked for other people, I worked for such companies as: Manning’s Restaurant, Marc’s Big Boy, Dairy Queen, Bakers Square and Hardees among other such places. At the aforementioned restaurant, my job duties were to train other employees how to do their jobs, making chicken, according to Hardee’s practices and operating measures.
Even before all of this, I was trained in the military as a cook and a dietitian, and I spent time working in a 1,000 bed army hospital as a result. Also keep in mind that at the time of this writing, I employed someone else. I currently have an intern, and I successfully coached 5 of my classmates on how to program computers while I was still in college. I don’t mean to sound as if I’m bragging while stating any of this information, but I do wish make sure that my readers are all on the “same-sheet-of-music” sort of speak when discussing these events.
Anyway, to continue on with this narrative, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at helping out at the local neighborhood Subway. I shop at this particular Subway quite often and, as you can imagine, I also live close by. So the current employees see me quite frequently. Now, although my hair was slightly below the collar of my shirt, I walked into the store dressed in nice clothes and asked the manager for a job application. I then went home and started filling it out. Obviously, the name and address are pretty simple, but the application process then continues on with your job history, 3 references from people who are not family members, a short math test, and then finally a place for your signature.
Most of my problems lie within the section of the application that deals with my past job history. I have been out of the general workforce for quite awhile now, but taking this into consideration, I still believe that the job history listings don’t go back farther than a maximum of 10 years, but of course I could be misguided about this point. In addition to this fact, many of the companies I was involved with during those times seem to no longer be in existence for one reason or another.
So, basically, I was able to fill out the entire application with the exception of a job history, and of course I didn’t even need a calculator to answer the math part. I then went back to the Subway with my application in hand, and turned it over to the manager. At that time I then explained to her that I could answer any of the omitted information verbally if given a chance to be interviewed.
In the days that followed the submittal of the application I did three follow-ups. Before I even went to the very first one I visited the barber shop and received a hair cut acceptable for working in the food industry. I also shaved, just to make sure that everything was in order for the possible consideration of the job.
On the first follow up I asked for the manager and showed her my haircut as a sign of enthusiasm.
On the second follow up, I was told that the owner was currently away from their store and had not been into the store yet to assess the new applications, but was ultimately expected to return in a day or two.
I waited …
On the third and final follow up, I was informed by the manager that there were no longer any job openings left, as the owner had hired 4 new employees.
After this point I did a little bit of quick math in my head, and here’s what I came up with. In the state that we reside, the minimum wage is currently set at $7.25 an hour. So only working on a part-time basis, in a week of time (5 Days of approximately 4 hours each) you would then make the sum of $145.00, this is of course payable bi-weekly and before any deductions are taken. I currently make more than that amount in just 3 hours of work!
Thus, the question I pose to the reader, is just this then …
Did I meet this particular goal, exceed it, or just fall flat on my face and make a fool of myself? What do you think?