My first job was at an Amazon Fulfillment center in Jacksonville. I worked as an Order Picker, which is similar to a cashier. An order that was placed by a customer would show up on the Amazon IMS machine. It would display which object, and where it was located on a shelf. Then a robot would appear holding a shelf of items. I was responsible for finding the item in the shelf and scanning it with the overhead barcode scanner. Then I would place the items into a bin. When the bin got to a certain fill, or item amount, I would place it on a conveyer belt where it would be sent to the next station. Other connected responsibilities were assessing how damaged the item was to see if it was good enough to sell. Whenever the bin conveyor system was not working properly, I fixed it.
Alongside being an Order Picker, I also worked at DamageLand. DamageLand is the place damaged items go. When someone is willing to buy a damaged item, I would go check to see if the item was there, and if it was in a good-enough damaged condition to be sold.
My last responsibility was as a counter. As I said earlier, robots would carry shelves containing items. As a counter, my job was to make sure every shelf had the right amount of items--and by extension if the items were there.
My work at Amazon was short but rewarding. I gained skills in Quality Control, A fast pace work-force, high independence, high-stress work, lifting heavy objects, and always being on my feet.
Once I got to school at the University of South Carolina--Beaufort, I started working for the school's cafeteria, which was through the food catering company Aramark. At the cafeteria, I got almost every possible work position. My first was at the True Balance station. True Balance is an allergen free station that makes sure its food does not contain the 9 most common allergies. As such, we need to avoid cross-contamination, in the case a student has an uncommon allergy that is not present in every food group. My responsibilities were serving food, educating guests on the function of True Balance, and cleaning the station and dishes afterwards.
My next position was at the cashier station. As a cashier I had to process payments from the school’s Faculty, and outside guests. I also had to set up the register to scan for the student’s meal plans. I had to refill drinks and condiments, and run any errands guests needed. My final responsibility was cleaning up the dining area, and the buffet area once we closed.
I worked at the Salad Bar and Pizza Station. In the salad bar, I had to set up the salad station, and re-fill it when it got empty. At close, I had to dismantle it and clean it. The Pizza station had similar rules. I was responsible for making pizzas, and replacing them when they got bad. The pizzas were either basic pepperoni and cheese, or custom pizzas. At closing I cleaned the Pizza station.
At the cafeteria I gained experience working close to supervisors, and on a team. I worked in a slower-pace environment that had a large amount of change. I gained skills in customer service and communication as well.