George Copeland

This has been a great first job and has developed some key skills in me that are very important for any career. A few traits are customer service skills, confidence, teamwork, communication, dedication, attention to detail and responsibility. Some of the things I am responsible for at Greggs Bakery are:

• Great customer service that is both cheerful and quick at the same time to ensure we have the happiest customers. This is evident when people come back time and time again. Furthermore it is nice when you get to the end of the day and see you have served 160 plus customers just yourself.
• Excellent cleaning standards that comply with the strict food safety guidelines that Greggs (and the law) set.
• To have a good work ethic at all times as it can get busy and tough and you just need to get on with it.
• Clear communication is key as it could lead to less waste or unwanted mistakes in the shop.
• Making sure everybody knows what each other is doing as this creates a more fluent team where jobs get done quicker and to a better standard.
• Great speaking skills and in jest. Knowing when to have a joke with a customer and not is a great skill and responsibility as you actively make the place seem nicer and more welcoming if you have good staff who know how and when to speak.
• The main responsibility is ensuring good levels of products available to the public, this can be the; drink selector, sandwich selector, Hot hold unit or the counter in which you serve from.

I used to wash cars in Nafferton, the village we lived in at the time, as a way of earning some pocket money for going out with mates and this worked much better than first expected. I built a client base up from nothing to a decent amount of customers who were all happy with the jobs being done. Some weekends there would be around 8-10 cars cleaned and some would be around 3-5 but this could be due to weather or if people just did not want them cleaning. To control this I improved my time keeping and organisational skills by using the calendar on my phone to book people in for certain time slots over the weekend. Most of the time one would back onto the next so there was no rest in the middle as it was a case of walking to that next one. This little job as a whole showed my determination and courage to others around me as I would always try my best with every clean and would do it in the cold and warm weather we had. I would manage the money well as I would need regular top ups of a certain pieces of equipment whether it be micro-fibres, chamois, spray cleaner or soaps.