Worst job I've ever had in my entire life (story time)
I began working for Aramark at KVCC summer of 2018. I was hired to manage the "coffee den". I was told that I'd be working 32 hours/week, & I'd be working with an older woman who had been working there for 17 years. They told me that I was to come in for training during the school's summer camps, & they didn't describe what that involved. Training involved them putting me on a cash register, & that was all I did. So, instead of being a barista, I was a cafeteria cashier for 2 weeks, & it wasn't at all what I signed up for.
We got a new head manager for our location in the fall semester.
When the "coffee den" opened, I had to deal with the old woman & manage her & everything else. She was, honestly, the most ignorant person that I have ever worked with (besides our head manager). She had been there for 17 years, yet she did not know how to make any drinks to Starbucks standards... AT ALL.
She violated SO many health codes & did so much wrong, but everyone loved her because she had been there for so long. They had no idea that she:
- made their drinks however she wanted to & not according to recipes
- was using BLEACH to clean milk pitchers, etc.
- used a bucket & dirty mop to clean the coffee den & dumped it in the sink used to rinse milk pitchers, etc.
- let a cup of rock salt sit out all summer (uncovered) then put it in a shaker when school started, & she used that to top the salted caramel mocha INSTEAD of the Starbucks sea salt topping
- NEVER kept in trac
Absolutely the worst place to work if you want to have a life outside of work. Indentured Servitude
Absolutely terrible experience working for this Company. I gave them 6 long hard years of my life and they just decided to kick me to the curb once my body finally broke down due to being overworked. Upper management has no clue what they are doing and they only promote the least qualified individuals to upper management positions. Rather than promoting the most knowledgeable and hardest working candidate to a position in upper management they just hire an unqualified member of the team that best suits the look that they are going for. Basically old White men or old Black men. You are not judged by your skill set or overall knowledge of the job. I often found myself having to show my boss how to do his job or ended up doing his job for him while he just sat back and enjoyed being praised for doing a job that he actually didn't do at all. The company would rarely allow me to take vacation yet if I didn't use my vacation hours by a certain date they would take them away from me and I would have to start all over again trying to accumulate vacation hours and PTO hours. The human resource coordinator was an absolute terrible person as well. She would constantly talk down to other managers and you felt like you were going to the principals office every time you had to meet with her. The company is so bad that in my 6 years of working for the company I have had 4 different human resource managers. God forbid that you sick or injured and cant work because they will try to fire you i
Prosinsurance
Conseverything that you can possibly imagine besides insurance benefits
3.0
Accounts Receivable Clerk | Lexington, KY | Jun 5, 2019
Decent Job, but not always honest and had some issues
I interviewed for this job in 2016 and having a degree in accounting, I was intrigued by the AR role. However, upon committing to employment (I was hired on the spot), my real position was revealed as a "Collections Associate". This is a call center position. The training was three weeks long and was exceptional; you learned every aspect, and are ready to have your own Market Center when training is completed (I was a floater for two months, then had my own MC - I thoroughly enjoyed my MC). There is ample space at your cubicle and they allow you to eat and drink at your desk as you please. I still use many principles that I learned at this job presently.
Point system was fair when they modified the system. If you had vacation or sick time, points did not start to accumulate until you exhausted all of your time, or elected to not use vacation/sick time. Prior to the adjustment, you received points regardless.
While most days went without any issue, everyone dreaded the price increases, as we spoke to many frustrated customers (we love those SRC's). Furthermore, there were often egregious off-cycle price increases which caused further issues. Many customers still wanted statements and invoices MAILED to them.
After six months, you are allowed to transfer internally. I asked to be moved to Cash applications; my Manager would advise that the training class would be on a certain date. Later, she would advise that the training classes were being postponed, w
ProsManagement used open door policy well, Good environment, the work day just FLIES by, set hours, exceptional training, establishing relationships with Market Centers and Customers, allowed to disconnect calls to abusive customers (with ample warning), Friday meetings were informative
ConsDishonesty from Management, took the blame for weird pricing, lack of support, Town Hall Meeting was a waste of time, could be fired at any time, other co-workers often refused to follow through with their customers, passing them on to someone else, lazy/incompetent supervisors
In the position I was in, it was difficult to really do anything without feeling like the work was ever enough, and when you did do good enough, there was always more to be added the next day. We were understaffed 2 of the 3 years I worked there and the 'new hires' we were promised continued to dwindle from 4 new employees down to *none* being hired even before the virus outbreak. Once Covid hit it was even worse as workers became complacent with the lower volume of customers, but the utility work increased as our need to clean the facilities increased. Very little was implemented to combat the virus as well location wise, outside of a single *shared* hand-held temperature reader, sanitizer dispensers for the customers and masks for workers. social distancing is rather difficult to implement when working in food services, after all.
Daily work involved doing pretty much everything. From dishes, pots, pans, and utensils for both customers and cooks at our location to mopping floors, walk-in freezers, fridges, dry storage, changing trash cans, restocking bathrooms... There was very little time to breathe and sometimes you even missed break due to how low on staff you would get through the year. They even began using utility members to serve customers when it got bad enough.
You were given a 30 minute break which you needed to clock out for, even if you were doing a double-shift, which made it that much more stressful to deal with, especially if you were unable to pull yourse
ProsNone of importance.
Consexpensive healthcare, low pay, high stress, low staff regularly
I went to work for Aramark Uniforms after retiring from the military. I was excited at this opportunity to finally see the "other side of the fence" after a long military career. I accepted the position even though the SALARY I was given was much lower based upon my experience and leadership/management qualities. I quickly learned why the position was paid salary and not hourly. Beware, uniform companies like to bring in salaried employees for one reason - they can overwork you (50-60 hours weekly was not uncommon) and not have to pay you for it. If you object, they threaten your job stating you are not a team player. All the while other management positions reap the benefits of YOUR hard work at the end of the year when bonuses are paid smiling all the way to the bank. The bad part is that not once did the GM ever give an honest "Thank You" to those employees who actually made the job successful for them. Now, as a retired Officer, I know more than most what it means and takes to be a leader! Aramark has way too many young people in management positions who have no business being managers. They do not possess the requisite experience nor maturity yet were assigned such positions based upon education or nepotism. Most seasoned veterans and employees know that education alone does not make a leader - experience does! Furthermore, the company failed to recognize people (non-management) who had good, sound ideas that would benefit the company and simply dismissed the
ProsThere are some good people who try to do the right thing.......
ConsUnderappreciated, rundown facilities and machines, unionized
A Typical day working For Aramark involved a vast amount of understaffed stores, constant product shortages, improper training and certification and Little to no Reliable management. I was hired onto this job in the summer of 2014 as a shift supervisor for their licensed starbucks location. having been a barista for the company starbucks three years prior, i had a complete understanding of proper procedures when it came training, Cleanliness, and Beverage Crafting. within a week of starting it became very apparent that this company management was unreliable with assuring proper training of each employee, Cleanliness of stores was never enforced leaving constant roach problems and the malfunctioning of machines. beverage crafting was an irrelevant notion to them, as they were always running out of Starbucks certified product to assure high quality beverages. After being one of the first to manage the very first starbuck truck on ASU's campus, it came as a shocker that care for employee's well being was not there. when they opened the truck for business they failed to tell partners working on the truck that the AC does not work and they had improperly wired the truck. within days employees were refusing to work on the truck due to the constant heat that was produced and at a point had a fellow employee collapse due to head exhaustion. after being taken off the truck i was put as a morning lead for their PV location to where i got a glimpse at the type of managers they find fitt
ProsNothing
ConsEverything this job had to offer is a perfect example of a Bad place to work. No way to move up, managers see you as an object instead of person, rule enforcement was a joke
Work-life balance
If you’re planning vacations or stuff like that, don’t do it, especially if in accounting or in an important role. Family life? Yeah...forget about that unless it’s a weekday job only and you’re working the mornings. They’ll work you to death and not pay enough for it
Overall
Let’s get right to it. Most Aramark accounts are HORRIBLE! They hire all these “deserving” managers and controllers, etc., just for a super high turnover with the hourly workers AND with some management. They treat hourly people like they don’t know what respect is. Overwork them for pennies on pennies, and never really bother to advance most workers unless you’re “liked”. Even then, you can get thrown under the bus at ANY given moment and that “cool” manager/supervisor won’t admit it but it was them.
If deciding to be an hourly worker, don’t make friends. Do your job and pray management isn’t flaky or trash. They’ll move you to new locations and claim you’ll be “running the store” or promoting you but not paying you running the store money. You’ll keep asking and eventually they’ll ignore you or give you a .50 raise because money is “tight” OR they’ll find a way to make you quit or fire you. Promise, they’ll do whatever it takes to save face.
If deciding to be in accounting, just know there are a lot of times when you will NOT get Thursday or Friday off, even if it’s an emergency. You can break a leg, some fingers, it doesn’t matter. Work is work and your livelihood, your family,
Aramark is a good company if you're just a highschool student trying to make extra cash, but it's not a good career choice.
I worked for Aramark for a little over six months. I first started as a cashier in the retail department at their local facilities at Columbus State University. The retail manager was very kind and considerate of the hours I needed and did his best to give me more hours without breaking protocal. Of course working minimum wage when you're trying to pay bills wasn't enough. The manager in charge of kitchen staff saw my hard work and offered me a position as an assistant chef. He stated that I would recieve a pay raise and my hours would be increased if I took the position. Now, young woman trying to make it on her own, of course I took the offer after considering it for some time. When I started working down in the kitchen, my raise was only 7 cents and I actually recieved less hours than I was getting in the retail department. So, naturally I was very upset. I made less money and it put me in a very bad position financially and I eventually fell behind on my rent payments.
Now, the general staff that worked there were very nice and we always found ways to make the day go by faster and take our minds off the fact that we were not making enough to get by. Even though the people working there were generally very kind, there were several issues of sexual harrassment that have gone unreported.
Most of the low wage employees did the supervisors's jobs for them without compensation. Meanwhile, supervisors would typically hide out in the office or in the back room of the cafeteria
Prosfree lunches, fun and interesting co-workers, flexible scheduling
Conslack of sufficient pay, not enough hours, healthcare coverage, poorly organized, supervisors that were not good at their jobs, lack of proper disipline
1.0
Customer Service Associate / Cashier | Gainesville, FL | Feb 23, 2019
Service at the Speed of Blight
Aramark is an exceptional choice for positive, motivated individuals committed to paying for the right to work. During the profanity-laced, unpaid training and orientation session, I learned that I would have the opportunity to pay for these mandatory items (without which I would "not be allowed to work"):
— Campus parking permit: $180+
— My uniform: +/- $100
— "Approved" non-slip shoes available from only one vendor: $25-$100+
— Various an sundry items like name tags deducted from my first paycheck: $25+
A typical work day begins before I clock in, generally with vague and semi-disciplinary mass emails from any one of my six (or eleven?) managers or supervisors. Immediate and comprehensive responses to said emails are required. After clocking in, I'm promptly insulted, shamed, and/or encouraged to quit by coworkers and supervisors. After enduring the two-cent snark and whatever passes for witty cut-downs in this place, I'm assigned to a certain position and required to meet performance standards which all of my managers agree are "impossible to achieve."
Management can always be relied on to tolerate racism, sexism, favoritism, ageism, and threatening language from both coworkers and customers. Supervisors are, perhaps, even more reliable. Any time I need guidance or assistance, I can find my supervisors playing on their phones or chatting with non-employee friends in some back room...as far away from customers as possible. This ensures consistency, as leadershi
My schedule was always constant they never changed it randomly like in other restaurants. There were, however, multiple problems, the entire management team was new and composed of people that knew each other personally and had the "hook up" with the main manager of Fresh Foods. There were times we were not busy at all in the restaurant and everything that needed to be done (dishwashing, sanitizing, maintenance, etc...) was completed early. Heck, even the display cases were cleaned. And most employees would wait at their station and often times mingle until customers had arrived, we even stretched our legs after a hours of standing. but this new management team was just horrendous they were basically big brother, outing anyone for anything just to look good in front of the boss.
Then there was the false info of their "fresh food" before I applied I was told all the food was made fresh, but after four months of working with them the food we served was days old, sometimes weeks, it was horrendous, when I confronted the manager about this he basically said "Don't worry about it, the food is still good." yet we had many complaints on social media about how terrible the food was, even the pastries were bad.
Another issue we had is that people were always quitting, five people in the four months I worked at Fresh Foods quit because of poor management. And the management team decided to place the workload on the new employees, who never trained and left to go with the flow, w
Everyday at work was different, I learned something new everyday. Most jobs have the same boring 8 hour cycle but not this job. The LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC Games was hosted by ARAMARK who provided the athletes from all over the world a place to stay, food, exercise rooms, relaxing rooms, games room, cafes,and other facilities. Because there was so many different ethnic groups that is why I learned something new everyday as ARAMARK Staff were the only staff able to communicate with world top athletes face to face. I learned about so many different cultures and traditions which school didn't tell me about. I also learned how to deal with people if I am found not to be comfortable around them which was remove myself in a non suspicious and a kind way. I have also gained a huge amount of customer service skills. I worked the night shift so it was a lot less hectic from the morning and afternoon shift.
The overall management of the whole company during the LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES was excellent. ARAMARK had provided prayer rooms for all religions which athletes as well as staff were able to use. The workplace was kept clean and tidy at all time. Everything was in top kn och. All the managers had a great relationship with all workers.
All my co-workers were so lovely the permanent staff helped the temp staff whenever asked. I came across the loveliest people who I am still in contact with, we all grew very close and fond of each other, There was people
What is there to say about soul-sucking Aramark? I could write an entire book on the company, how awful it is, how little they put in to their products or care of the elderly, and how much they exploit their workers. They expect too much from their workers for very little reward or pay. Stress levels were always at the maximum level whenever I worked there. People were always fighting with each other and gossiping about each other. The job itself is a lot to learn in a very short amount of time, and with basically no proper training. Benefits are good, and you do get great things like paid sick days and free lunches and/or dinners. However, the company is obviously doing the bare minimum in order to keep workers around longer than a couple of weeks (and many of my co-workers only lasted that long, some only a few days before they quit).
People there were also constantly overworked (I only ended up working 7 days in a row at one point, but there were a few people who would take 14 days in a row or more). This is pretty good if you need to make a moderate amount of money very fast, but there is basically no work-life balance with this job. One of my jobs was to make dishes for residents with allergies or dysphagia, and part of that was not only to work an overly stressful shift (where you sometimes could not take your break because there was so much to do), after that, you had to go home and spend 40 minutes to an hour writing out the labels that would go on the food (unpaid
ProsFree lunches, good health benefits, paid sick days
ConsExpectation to be there all the time, toxic work environment, back-breaking labor for minimum wage.
Questions And Answers about Aramark
What would you suggest Aramark management do to prevent others from leaving?
Asked Mar 15, 2017
Definitely quit showing favoritism in employee’s!! Quit talking down to employees and quit demanding overtime!!
Answered Oct 26, 2021
Give the management better training
Answered May 3, 2021
What is the best part of working at Aramark?
Asked Dec 2, 2019
Depending what's department do you working. For example i working to cleaning cabin cleaning,
Answered Jan 15, 2021
Nothing!!!! Waiting to start a new job after the first of the year🤗
Answered Dec 15, 2020
Are employee meals free?
Asked Jun 20, 2016
Yes we do but management needs work loosing too many good dedicated workers
Answered Oct 26, 2021
We get 1 free meal per shift and a 2nd meal if we work a double. I work for Aramark via Jacksonville University College
Answered Apr 14, 2021
What is a typical day like for you at Aramark?
Asked Mar 15, 2020
Overwhelming underpaid and treated like you are a piece of trash
Answered May 3, 2021
The Best part about Aramark is the on time services of distribution within Ups.
High quality business ethics. #1 Rated Company
Answered Mar 25, 2021
How flexible are your working hours at Aramark?
Asked Mar 15, 2020
You can request off in advance then in 3 to 5 days you will have your answer when your schedule is sent to your e-mail.