Workplace 23 - The Barista and the Boss

Back to peddling that glorious accepted Western addiction that is coffee. In 2007 I started studying again and got one of the traditional student jobs to help fill the time around classes. Making coffee and microwaving food at the Gloria Jeans near where I lived. This place had only recently opened and my cousin Rachel got a job there as well which made shifts a lot more fun. It gave me someone to bitch about the owner to for one thing.

Let’s start by saying that the owner was a lovely lady who took on a massive task that she was completely unequipped for, and my cousin and I no doubt made her job not as easy as it might have been with our sass, previous experience, and opinions. Right, so with that out of the way - prior to opening the store, the owner had been a mother, and many years prior to that she had been a dental technician. It would be incredibly hypocritical of me to say that a person can’t change careers, particularly given the nature of this blog, but I feel strongly that a person should work in an industry before being a boss in that industry.

So for those of you who have every worked for a boss that has not got a complete grip on what they’re doing but are determined not to take advice, you may know what working at this place was like. That said, I think I lasted somewhere between 6 and 9 months at the Gloria. The other staff were fantastic and it was a fun place to work when it all went smoothly. As always, I recommend hospitality for anyone looking to have fun but work hard. 

We did used to get a few junkies that came in every so often when they ran out of their favourite substance of choice. They'd order giant triple shot coffees then empty half our sugar sachets into it until it was more of a syrup consistency. Any port in a storm I guess. I also got to know the regulars, by beverage not name, became a pro at cleaning the coffee machine due to the OCD nature of the boss (not a bad thing in hospitality) and was treated to the soap like drama of the happenings of staff in a small shopping complex. So it was pretty good.

However eventually, as happens, the boss and I reached a mutual agreement that we couldn’t be around each other anymore and amicably parted ways. I believe the Gloria Jeans is still there and the owner and I do that fake “Oh, how are you!? It’s been so long!” thing that women do on the rare occasions that I grab a coffee there. So one of the success stories I feel.

Working at Gloria Jeans is pretty good. As part of a franchise, there are procedures in place for everything so that keeps it simple. The coffee’s ok (in my opinion better than Coffee Club but not as good as Zarraffas) and the food is…there.

If a job around studies or other commitments is what you’re looking for and you think a café might be the answer, go forth, resume in hand, to Gloria Jeans with no fear but the usual. (Crazy bosses, crazy staff, crazy customers, giving someone food poisoning, making flat whites that look like lattes….)

Workplace 22 - Juicecore

Heyyyy! Welcome back to another inconsistent episode of Heather’s Work Experience.

Remember this blog about working at a Juice Bar at Woodford? Well, the owners had another festival to do in SE QLD and contacted me to ask if I’d like to get a bunch of mates and do it again. The answer was a definite yes after the blast I’d had last time so I bundled up my little sister and my cuz Rachel and off we went. Woo!

The festival was called Earthcore. According to international mind trust Wikipedia,  “Earthcore was an Australian outdoor dance music festival and electronic music events organisation.” In reality it was a farm paddock with a couple of stages set up and a dozen stalls of mixed offerings. And our giant juice tent. The paddock was hilly and contained a dam and several hundred ravers and their various versions of accommodation for a few days. We pitched our tents and made a nice outdoor shelter by stringing tarp between trees and our cars. This was fortunate as it was so freaking hot we spent most of our sleeping time here.

We made friends with some other festival goers nearby who had brought a giant army tent that looked more like a domed shed. This was a great hangout for the next few days.

On to the juicing! The organisers had arranged a few other staff members and we all rocked up to help with setting up and getting ready. You can see a great shot of the tent here. The stages started up and didn’t stop for the next 2 days. As I had no interest in the festival – don’t like the music, find the people amusing but annoying – I ended up spending almost the entire time at the juice tent. Even the owners were rarely there, mostly off dancing or tripping in their van like the rest of the staff. I was pretty happy about this tho as it meant I made the most cash from the two days and had something to do.

As far as festival’s go it’s definitely the smallest and simplest I’ve ever seen. Tickets were handled by a guy with a bum bag at the front entrance, taking $50 of everyone in the car, the land was obviously normally used by cows, and the stall holders weren’t really interested in selling stuff. Two food vans, bunch of portaloos…. It was pretty clear that the organisers had arranged music but not much else. 

Sorry, off topic there. Anyway, making juice, drinking juice, serving juice. All good fun, and healthy. While Earthcore isn’t around anymore, if you can get a gig at any vendor at any event, I think it should be similar fun. And if you’re really lucky you get paid to be at the events instead of having to pay – win!

Workplace 21 - Family Engineering

I feel this will also be a short little post, I promise a job saga is coming! Those of you with A.D.D, this is for you.

My super awesome Aunty Bev works at a....place. An officey place. With office people and filing cabinets and carpet. And phones. According to my Aunt (who still works there and should know) it was and is called GWB Engineering. Fancy!
Memory of this particular venture is a little hazy (apparently I didn't pay much attention when I was 20?) but I believe that there was a huge amount of filing and archiving paperwork to be done so Aunty Bev got me in to do it. Later, when I was unavailable, she also got my lil sis Meg in for the same thing. We are handy nieces!

It was only for a few days but I remember it being an intimidating amount of paperwork to be sorted correctly and a vague concern that if I did it wrong Aunty Bev would be the one in trouble. All the offices filled with officey people were up on the first floor and I was on ground level which was quiet and cool and the work required concentration in an OCD kind of way which becomes absorbing to the right kind of mind. So it was pretty relaxing. And then Aunty Bev took me out for lunch - WIN!
Apparently food and success are very closely linked in my mind - Thanks Western Culture! (<- this is sarcasm)

No speculation of the type of people that might enjoy filing giant piles of paper - you know who you are. But maybe some ideas about looking to relatives for jobs. What contacts you might have that you don't even really think about. Unless your family is all in the same business, there could be a lot of diverse opportunities around you.