you should narrow that down a bit......i know hack jobs that are now meat specialist..lol.........do you mean excel as an amazing meat cutter or excel in the business perioid.....
my list would be
1 you have to care about and take pride in what you do.......dont put out garbage you wouldnt buy and expect it to sell...... 2 be organized and clean 3 and devote yourself to customer requests
1. If you wouldn't eat it don't expect someone else to..trim it off! 2. clean clean clean did i mention be clean 3. know your product inside n out..start to finish..the more your informed the more you can inform your customer... did i pass? lol
when i say clean I mean..sanitary i suppose...don't cross contaminate...drop your knife dip it ect..I'm not a retail cutter soooo...slightly different enviroment..:D
1. Get the grind out early. 2. 1/4" trim. 3. Don't piss ANY customers off.
The all inclusive overall trait: Don't get on the managers badside.
LOL, you're so right. If he likes you, you can be the biggest POS in the world and you'll be OK. Some of these managers are pretty hard to respect and I'm not good at faking it.
That's how it should be, to a point. Not directed at you. People in general:
I still say we should all work cleanly. I worked for an idiot who would cut one boneless loin strip (we call em New Yorks in California) on a perfectly clean boneless saw that we weren't going to need at all that day. It probably saved HIM 2 minutes but the cost the night man 20 to clean it nicely to the store's standards. I say if you slice fresh beef on the slicer, clean it NOW while it's easy. Don't leave it to dry and take 10 times as long. Don't play musical tables. Cut everything in one area if possible. No need to wash 3 tables when you only need one. Don't be a pig. Try to keep the floor clean. I like to break down a box and stand on it. Later, throw the box away and the floor is already clean. Put your own apron away. Put your dirty towels away. Be courteous. In another thread, someone asks what's the good things and bad things about our jobs? Well, one of them is sometimes you work with slobs.
Touché and well said...and Clearly a huge difference between retail and wholesale cutting...When we cut anything boneless we do it by hand...No saws involved where I am..But we try and plan our cutting with the saws so we don't cause the clean up anymore grief then we need to (we also have to plan out around SRM material ect)..When I said clean I was meanin more sanitury...Were I work if it doesn't hit the barrel oh well floor works..it's a plant lol We try to hit the barrel but if it doesn't we don't pick it up either..
I keep my area and case clean but I started as the night closer. Once I proved myself, meaning I did a good job and didn't complain, I was asked to be a wrapper. When I started wrapping I learned all the different cuts we sold. I proved myself in that arena and was asked if I wanted to start cutting meat. I said yes. Once I proved I could cut properly and not come in under margin, I was asked to manage. I'm still learning stuff everyday. And I love it everyday, even the tough days. Hell, right now I'm taking a break from compiling numbers from inventory. What am doing on my break? Talking meat. LOL
lol you know what we all missed...lol... KEEP A SHARP KNIFE..aahahahaha
I read an old joke in the book "sharpening made easy". It said that you can test sharpness by taste. If the edge tastes like metal, it's not that sharp, but if it tastes like blood, it's sharp."
I think number one is most important and I'm kind of surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet. I've seen many, many people come through the market who were friendly, neat and smart--but just couldn't be promoted because they couldn't get anything done.
I'm still amazed by the number of replacement cutters we have come through with years of experience and little or no craft. They're just "hack it and rack it" and walk out the door...
Customer service was my weak point for many years. I don't have an out-going personality, but I've found that being sincere and knowledgeable makes up for my lack of personality.
I didn't include cleanliness on my list because I'm something of a slob myself. (Larry would hate working with me). It's not something I'm proud of, and I really am working on it, but it never ever stopped me from being promoted. I do take health department regulations seriously. Unlike my neater co-workers, I actually use the sanitizer throughout the day!
I think number one is most important and I'm kind of surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet. I've seen many, many people come through the market who were friendly, neat and smart--but just couldn't be promoted because they couldn't get anything done.
I'm still amazed by the number of replacement cutters we have come through with years of experience and little or no craft. They're just "hack it and rack it" and walk out the door...
Customer service was my weak point for many years. I don't have an out-going personality, but I've found that being sincere and knowledgeable makes up for my lack of personality.
I didn't include cleanliness on my list because I'm something of a slob myself. (Larry would hate working with me). It's not something I'm proud of, and I really am working on it, but it never ever stopped me from being promoted. I do take health department regulations seriously. Unlike my neater co-workers, I actually use the sanitizer throughout the day!
I agree work ethic is No. 1, but also agree that (sometimes) if the boss likes you, nothing else matters, you're safe. No one else will like you, but you're safe.
I'm not big on sanitation or cross contamination. I don't like having a towel in a bucket of sanitizer just for show. I don't like a rule that says you may not leave ONE towel on the block, but at the same time, I don't want 10 dirty towels all over the place. I'm for safe handling. I don't want to touch cooked ready to eat foods (shrimpmeat) with gloves that's touched raw foods (chicken). I don't like thawing at room temperature and then leaving it out long past when it's finished thawing. That's common sense. I think some things go overboard like when your company makes you sign papers saying you won't cut beef on a band saw followed by pork without first taking apart, washing and sanitizing it. But then don't give you the help to clean the saw 7 times per day. Don't get me started, I could write a book.
-- Edited by CarniceroLarry on Saturday 9th of April 2011 05:41:08 AM
Larry brings up a good point about the cross contamination regulations goin above and beyond over board...It's the same at the plant...We plan our days around what n when to cut what..Because if we cut 1 pork item we have to wash n sanatize the entire room pretty well...Heaven forbid an inspector see's a hog graze a side of beef when your pushin it down the rails because out comes the ladder and let the trimmin begin...I don`t miss bein in packin because of the allergian issues they have it the worst..If they package a product with dairy (mozza smokies) EVERYTHING is sanatized ect..It seems the powers that be with all the books they have read n rules they have written have a MASSIVE lack of COMMON FREAKIN SENSE lol
