cafe assistant

baker

retail supervisor

barista

videographer

Muffin Break

I was 15 when I found casual work at Muffin Break in Townsville, and was hired on the spot after the owner had scanned my resume quickly the same day I had handed it in. I was given a brief overview of my role, expectation and a bit about the franchise.

I started soon after and was rostered on as a casual while I was still a full-time student, and I was given a great amount of hours that afforded me a social life but enough money to support myself (I left home early). I would work late-nights for late-night shopping, and either 1 full weekend day, 2 half weekend days, or occasionally 2 full weekend days. 

The pay rate was good (at the time, and for my age) and there were never any issues with late payments, incorrect payments or payslip errors. 

Rostering was done efficiently too, which is something I didn't realise would be important but now I'm older, I appreciate the complexities of rostering on a full team of staff with different needs and expectations.

I personally think the work was fun, fast-paced and lively, which I love in a workplace - I don't like having nothing to do. I was trained and inducted relatively early and comprehensively and performed all-rounder duties, which was great as I was able to always occupy myself. The systems in place for taking orders, relaying orders/stacking orders, plating orders, preparing orders etc. were all really efficient and to this day I have not worked in a cafe that runs as smoothly as Muffin Break did. Every element of running a cafe had a process that seemed highly efficient.

I was able to progress to barista duties about a year into my position, although this was moreso to relieve the full-time baristas during their breaks etc.

I worked with a variety of people, spanning from my age (15) to 50+, and we all got along well. 

I ended up leaving during a time of crisis however my boss even went to the length of trying to provide extra support to me before I left for good.

Pros: Started off as a step up to my previous job. Great coworkers, friendly environment. Free coffees (!!)

Pros: learned a LOT about cafe operations, gained excellent coffee skills, developed customer service and organisation skills. Training and tips provided to enhance barista qualities. 

Cons: weak rostering. Just because one/two employees are well versed with the cafe work and can handle a high volume of customers, it does not mean that will always be the case. Sometimes, you just need an extra pair of hands! 

Cons: Working close is where the problem starts. Unrealistic expectations are put on you in regard to time efficiency in checking off the closing list but also making sure that customers are being served until the very end. This meant that the staff had to stay back multiple times after closing for anywhere between 15 to 45 minutes (personal experience). You wouldn’t get paid for it regardless of your job type. Wage theft. 

Cons: Cleaning process on longer days is INTENSE, above the pay grade, and the company does not really put many WHS procedures. 
Burned yourself? “sorry, we don’t have anything for burns in our first aid kit. It’s only small tho so you should be okay. Look, I burned here last week.”

Cons: Team not always supportive and tries to throw one another under the bus. High school like drama (but that only reflects on a specific store and not the entire brand).

Overall, I happily stay in touch and good relations with some coworkers but I wouldn’t want to go back to working there again. 

A typical day at Muffin Break as a junior staff member would be arriving to work on time, and immediately attending the cash register serving customers. Towards half way through the shift, cleaning and maintenance jobs would be required to be carried out such as cleaning the muffin cabinet, washing dishes, cleaning out the dishwasher and thoroughly cleaning cooking utensils. Then, once closing time comes, everything at the back section of the store would need to be cleaned and closed off, final dishes put through, dishwasher turned off, floors swept and mopped and till counted and cash banked. Over nearly four years at Muffin Break, i have developed excellent customer service skills, barista qualifications and advancements as well as great communication and interpersonal skills. Being a small business, the Manager is very understanding and generous in terms of shifts and pay. She is approachable at any time and extremely hard working. One of the hardest parts of the job would include making sure all equipment including coffee machine and cooking utensils are cleaned thoroughly and are ready for use the next day. However the job is very rewarding in the aspect that positive feedback and customer satisfaction is at a high.

It would be a really bad idea to work there, unless as I did you don't have any choice.

Expectations for my role were truly bizarre, impossible to meet within the time allotted and were constantly expanding. Whenever I felt like I'd gotten fast enough to complete my tasks new ones would be added, setting me back. As a result I was constantly made to feel incompetent for never being fast enough, despite the frankly rapid and remarkable improvements I had made considering the severe lack in training.

Despite everything I enjoyed my work and I genuinely appreciated my team, but at the end of the day there just is no making up for bad management. I wish we could have been able to do our work under better, more appropriate circumstances. I wish we'd had any amount of care and support. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and to feel safe in the workplace - plain and simple. I'll leave it at that.

Sometimes things are tough and you have to take what you can get but keep moving forward, take care of yourself, and bide your time.

I am a store manager at this company, and I have been managing cafe or kitchen for approximately 5.5 years.

Typical day at work will be organise and maintain daily productions, helping other team member during peak periods, guide, explain and encourage team member to tell customers of what promotions or deals we have going on at the time, stock control, making coffee, etc.

I have learned a lot about the management level in this job, e.g. managing staff, stock control, training new team member and so on as they are parts of what I am doing on daily basis.

The management is not too bad, could be worst I would say, but fortunately we have a great team member to support each other. 

The hardest part of the jobs would be miscommunications, unprepared, poor stock control, late stock delivery.

The most enjoyable would be come in the morning and be able to start work before the shop opens without any distractions.

Great Coffee, Best Barristers, Beautiful fresh food amazing aromas to be surrounded by day in day out.  Too many dishes  thou & thinks too many people drink coffee lol.. Its Busy Its Hectic Mad & Crazy but always had fun.  We  Had Crazy Lovely Friendly, Beautiful  Happy Grumpy & odd Head Case customers but over all great fun &  always ready to chat.  Hardest part job just cleared the tables and 3 tables get up leave & looks like u did nothing.  Most enjoyable rewarding..  meeting the different aray of customers  & serving coffee. Just not sure about the bell ding.. Making customers days with either it be with extra cream or froth on there coffee..   butter on the side with there muffin .. Over all Muffin Break ran smoothly .. with the odd Hectic  moment but we all always had fun great team work...

My experience at Muffin Break was a great one. A typical day at work would be customer service, wiping down benches, doing dishes, mopping the floors, food preparation, shopping for the company and making sure the place always looks clean and lovely. I learned that the most important thing is making sure the customers always want to come back so it is important to be very friendly. My co workers very some of the loveliest people I have ever met. It's a great environment to work in and would recommend to anybody looking for a job in a friendly environment. I found the hardest part of the job was balancing four coffees on a tray as they are very easy to spill. The part I loved most about it was that when I arrived, everyone would help me if I needed it.

A typical day if you were working a morning shift would be making food for the rest of the day, but this is typically for the bakers only. The muffins are made fresh everyday. Throughout the day is mostly just coffees, serving food, and serving customers. And any spare time in between is cleaning to help out the girls that close that night, usually i would be a closing person. Closing consists of locking everything up and making sure every closing job is done. My co workers are my favorite part of the job! i get along with everyone there and have never had any trouble with anyone. The hardest part id say would be closing, or getting called into work unexpectedly, as well as only getting paid a fortnight, Other than that, its a great environment to be at!

The manager of this company was new and had no idea how to run the place. Employing 16 year old's as they were cheap who did not care for the company's standards or hygiene. The employees put items back that were dirty and giggled about it, they walked out the front saw mess and left it too waste time. The manager called me up at 10,30 pm one night and did not know who I was and laughed about it when I came in. They were very unprofessional and I would love to be in an environment where the employees care about the standards they produce.
I was thankful to only be doing work experience unpaid for one week and chose not to be employed by them.

The pay is just the bare minimum- The doncaster lady owner gets quite stressed herself so it’s not an enjoyable work environment. Baristas are nice and will teach you basic coffee skills  etc. The coffee is great too made by them, as well as the muffins. You might get to take home an unsold muffin at the end of a shift. Overall good for a first time job to gain hospitality experience. Lot of washing dishes. Not hygienic, got really sick many times from there being no gloves use etc and manager won’t rly bother to tell u to wear gloves either, so quite an independent and stressful job. Customers are nice though. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Cafe assistant 2 salaries reported	$32.71 per hour
Baker 3 salaries reported	$31.48 per hour
Retail supervisor 1 salary reported	$57,500 per year
Barista 2 salaries reported	$27.73 per hour
Videographer 1 salary reported	$60.00 per hour

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