Customer Service Representative 

(Female, Age 21) from Carlisle, PA

This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 21 who works as a Customer Service Representative in Carlisle, PA. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.

At a Glance

Current Job

Basic data on your current job

Job Title Customer Service Representative
Salary $13,000
Other Compensation None Set
Hours/Week
Company Size (not answered)
Location Carlisle, PA
Years Experience 5 years

Career Ratings

Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)

Years in Career 0
Education (not answered)
Income Rating 0 / 10
Interest Rating 0 / 10
Work-Life Rating 0 / 10
Fulfilment Rating 0 / 10

Current job Q&A

Describe the type of organization you work for.
Vinny’s Restaurant is a family-owned business operating out of the center of the town of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for over twenty-five years.

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Not only do I host to customers, but I assemble food, wait tables, serve the food, have receptionist duty with the phone, and handle light restaurant maintenance.

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
No benefits except food discount

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
Undercompensated

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
I work with a select number of fellow employees, and have a wide range of customers. I don’t mind the customers, but I do not get along well with my co-workers.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
I work in the back of the restaurant, and I hate it. It’s hot and disgusting, I smell like pizza for hours afterward, and while the restaurant is very clean back there, I am always cleaning it.

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 2
Benefits: 3
Hours: 1
Co-Workers: 6
Supervisors: 7
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 5
The Actual Work: 4

A day in the life of…

Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:

5am to 6am
6am to 7am
7am to 8am
8am to 9am
9am to 10am
10am to 11am
11am to 12pm Arrive at work, finish putting away dishes from the night before. Begin lunch rush. Assemble food, take orders over the phone, assist managers in getting out deliveries.
12pm to 1pm Rush slowing down. Less people eat in, most call in or take out. Dining room gets cleaned. Fill napkin holders. Fill sub and salad tables. Wipe down everything.
1pm to 2pm Continue to fill and answer the phone. Orders become few and far between. I watch the news and carry dishes back. I wipe tables.
2pm to 3pm
3pm to 4pm
4pm to 5pm
5pm to 6pm Arrive at work, finish putting away dishes from this afternoon. Begin dinner rush. Assemble food, take orders over the phone, assist managers in getting what they need for their tables.
6pm to 7pm Rush slowing down. Not many phone calls. Dining room gets cleaned. Walls get scrubbed down. Fill sub and salad tables. Continue to make food.
7pm to 8pm Continue to fill and answer the phone. Orders become few and far between. I watch the news and carry dishes back. I wipe tables.
8pm to 9pm Start sweeping at 8 o clock. Lift all of the mats and chairs at about 8:30. If dishes are finished, put some away. If not, continue to take orders while others are busy, but as the night dies down start filling the bathrooms and wiping them down.
9pm to 10pm
10pm to 11pm
11pm to 12am

Table of Contents

How you got your job

How did you get your current job?
I became friends with an employee

What was the application process?
I came in, submitted the application, and was interviewed on the spot and handed the job

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
It was a mild interview. I was sixteen at the time, and my boss seemed to try to intimidate me. I spoke with almost every member of the family before I was hired. All at the same time.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
I recall being asked if I planned on staying for a while. I was also asked if I could take on overtime for the busier weekends of summer when the town has car shows, to which I agreed.

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes and No. I was hired at a young age and had never had this type of responsibility before, so it was an excellent opportunity to get out there. They pushed me out there and I learned as I went. I hated it at the time, but it made me better at what I did.

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
Yes, I shadowed other employees. I followed them around, learned where everything was, found out where all dishes went when put away, learned prices and ingredients in food.

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Not really. Grade school only prepared you for so much.

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
I don’t have any.

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
Be very flexible. The responsibility assigned with this job is not very big. There are a number of easy ways to get into the restaurant/customer service industry. It makes a good first job, but I would not recommend it as a career.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
You must have firm social skills. In order to not turn customers away you must be outgoing and helpful, as well as kind. You must be able to work under pressure and multitask QUICKLY.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
No.. a ten-year-old could do it.

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Other than flexibility being an issue, there isn’t much other detail I would attach to that advice. The people I work for are a family, so they treat you like family. They demand respect and must always have control. You must not cop an attitude or be careless.

Long-term career plans

Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
This is not where I am going to be stuck the rest of my life. Everyone is meant for better things with a little bit of motivation, and they can get there. Sure we will always need restaurant workers, and restaurants are in demand, however I can only wish someday my managers who choose this as their life careers will look back and wonder why they didn’t do it differently. School is not that horrible. It can be done, and so can a better paycheck and stability. You cannot have a full-time job in the restaurant business, maybe if it were a franchise. For small businesses and family-owned, there simply are better choices out there.

What are your current career goals?
I would like to obtain an entry-level position with full-time hours and amazing benefits. I am currently trying to get a number of jobs in call centers, insurance companies, and reception because that is what I am decent at, and it will help expose me to other things, new opportunities, and the chance to broaden horizons as well as get out of the glass ceiling enclosure.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
It’s worthless.

Educational background

Please list your educational background:

High School GPA:2.1

GPA School Degree
College (Undergraduate)
or Technical/Vocational
Graduate or Professional
(Masters or Doctorate)

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