My job is very interesting and close to everyone who lives on campus. I am working in one of the dining centers on campus, and the job is to help the chef prepare and serve the food. Sometimes, I need to wash dishes or cleaning tables based on the shift. The shift is very flexible and I am able to choose the position and time for the shift. I have listed the position description below.
Exactly, I was applying for the position based on my friend’s recommendation. As an international student, I never thought that I could work during college life. My friend told me that I can work in the dining center, and I just imagined the missions of the work. So, I didn’t read the job description until I actually started the application. When I was starting the application, I read through the description, like duties, qualifications, pay rate, etc. I was checking that I qualified to work or not so the description didn’t influence me at all.
I have worked there for more than three years and I worked in every concept in the dining center, I found that the position is very close to the description. I worked on everything mentioned in description. And I learned a lot from the job, like dealing with raw meat, helping customers with allergies information, mixing sauces and juices. However, after applying for the job, students are able to choose their favorite concept to work for every single shift. That is not mentioned in the description. So, if a student only works in the dish room, the student may not be able to experience most parts of the description, like provide customer service, make food, etc. Based on that, I recommend the description provides more details, like which part is for which concept.
Position Title: Student Food & Retail Service
Job Title: UHDS Student Food Service Worker
Position description provided by UHDS of OSU:
Provide exceptional, attentive customer service.
Learn to cook and prepare menu items using raw products and meats.
Learn to use kitchen equipment including knives.
Assist customers and answer questions regarding menu items, ingredients, allergens, the location of retail items, and current prices.
Appropriately portion, assemble and serve menu items to order, including special diet items.
Make and/or stock beverages and ingredients.
Restock guest items and maintain cleanliness of work area
Assist Dining Room staff in cleanliness of seating area near the restaurant in which you work.
Help in all tasks related to the preparation, service, storage, and transportation of hot and cold foods, as well as raw and prepared foods, using the food safety principles of HACCP.
Assist in dish washing, equipment sanitation, and daily cleaning tasks.
Practice impeccable sanitation standards at all times and maintain a clean and safe work environment.
Other tasks as assigned by supervisor.
All employees are regularly reassigned as needed to assist on occasions when the dining center is short in other work area.
Some positions will do the following:
Operate cash registers; process meal perq.s, receive cash, OSU ID Card
for meal plan deductions, credit
Deliver Items to Residents of OSU or to Catering Clients
Your job description seems very detailed and encompasses a large variety of tasks! I didn’t notice any physical demands or education requirements listed, but that may be because it was an on-campus job. I remember having a student job as well when I first began at college and loved the atmosphere of helping other students. The flexibility to choose your favorite type of work is certainly a unique component of the position.
Hi Jiaqi. That’s really impressive that you have had a job for three years while taking classes full time! I have had jobs over summer breaks but not during the school year, aside from a Teaching Assistant position last year which didn’t take up much of my time. You also had good insights about the quality of the job description and the impact it had on your willingness to apply. I agree that they should either add more detail about each aspect of the job, or create distinct job descriptions for each type of job, for example a dish cleaner and a food prepper like you mentioned. Great post!