Hi there Frog and welcome. I imagine you will get more feedback about your post. Off the top of my head I would say that your test should include the following.

1) Questions about personal hygiene.

2) Questions about proper food safety and sanitation, like what chemicals need to be used.

3) Meeting certain physical requirements like lifting.

4) At least having a high school education or GED.

5) Knife sharpening skill, 

6) Leaning the company cutting specifications. 

7) How to use equipment and how to set  up and break down.

8) Customer Service skills 

9) Understanding of the ordering system

10) Knowing how to read a scale, and how to wrap meat items.

11) Understanding department labeling.

12) Understanding proper temperature controls in the coolers, cases and cutting rooms.

13) Understanding company rules and regulations, if a union shop understanding their rules.

14) How to check in deliveries and understand box weights

15) Know about protective gear.

16) An understanding of taking inventory and its importance.

I know you will get more feedback but this is what I can think of at the moment. You did say you have the good hands on skills that is why I didn't put anything down about that.

 

 

Test their customer services skills. Present different situations involving customers and the questions they might ask. Ask the employees how they would handle each situation. Possibly give multiple choice answers.

Test their knowledge on how much to  trim steaks and chops with multiple choice again.  

How many times to run the trim through the grinder or how long to mix it. 

Are certain safety gloves or equipment required when using a knife?  Those would fit nicely into a true or false category.

Do they help keep an eye on cooler and case temperatures?  Test them on what those temperature should be.

What to do when a piece of equipment is not working properly.  Make it multiple choice (for example: call 911,  report to your dept manager, page the store manager, unplug and lock it out..etc.)

 Test their knowledge on meat discoloration.  (for example "What color is on beef when it starts to go bad  (A. Brown, B. Red C. Green, D. Pink)

Welcome to the Meat Cutter's Club.  We are happy to have you with us.  

Admittedly we never had a written test to pass an apprentice to Journeyman status, but I certainly see the value in it. When I took my test it was given by my meat manager, witnessed by his second man, and the president of our union local (I liked the guy, and sorry that he finished his career in federal prison as did every other president of our local during the 28 years I was in the trade).  Lots of great suggestions here, but I'm struggling to understand how Coalcracker's suggestions #3 and #5 could be expressed as part of a written test.

Jim

Fred,

 Where are you nowadays?  Maybe we should do lunch.

fdarn wrote:

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jimhenry2000 wrote:

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Admittedly we never had a written test to pass an apprentice to Journeyman status, but I certainly see the value in it. When I took my test it was given by my meat manager, witnessed by his second man, and the president of our union local (I liked the guy, and sorry that he finished his career in federal prison as did every other president of our local during the 28 years I was in the trade).  Lots of great suggestions here, but I'm struggling to understand how Coalcracker's suggestions #3 and #5 could be expressed as part of a written test.

Jim

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 Well Jim, we used to test our knife edge on a sheet of paper.  

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fdarn wrote:

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jimhenry2000 wrote:

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..............but I'm struggling to understand how Coalcracker's suggestions #3 and #5 could be expressed as part of a written test.

Jim

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 Well Jim, we used to test our knife edge on a sheet of paper.  

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 Another method, according to the book Sharpening Made Easy by Steve Bottorff, is to taste the blade for sharpness. Lick the edge of the blade. If it tastes like metal, it's not sharp. If the blade tastes like blood you know it's sharp. 

Jack Daniels was always on the floor under the block. But that was then, not sure about the right answer  today...

Burgermeister wrote:

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fdarn wrote:

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jimhenry2000 wrote:

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..............but I'm struggling to understand how Coalcracker's suggestions #3 and #5 could be expressed as part of a written test.

Jim

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 Well Jim, we used to test our knife edge on a sheet of paper.  

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 Another method, according to the book Sharpening Made Easy by Steve Bottorff, is to taste the blade for sharpness. Lick the edge of the blade. If it tastes like metal, it's not sharp. If the blade tastes like blood you know it's sharp. 

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 Do you actually do that?

This might be part of what Coalcraker means on item 10. Super simple math, you'd think. But we have a new clerk that needs help figuring out what three quarters of a pound is when a customer asks for it, or eight ounces, or 4 ounces. I'd think it's common knowledge that you get from life experience, but this guy has to keep asking. The ounces, maybe that's excusable, but why doesn't he know that three quarters (of 100) means?

As journeyman meat cutter suggestions from CoalCracker are completely accurate. But forget Journeyman's test what about basic meat cutting skills. I find the cutters I work with claim anywhere from 10 - 20 years experience - and it takes 3-4 weeks before they understand how to cut a single item. Very frustrating to say the least. Cutters these days do even understand what it is to properly merchandise a certain cut of meat and what is expected in its yield. When it comes to the numbers both young and old have an extreme difficulty understanding profitability. So, to me testing a cutters skills along with understanding the expected return - is extremely important

I wasn't really into drinking on the job but many old timers kept a bottle under the block. The exception was that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving everyone got loaded in the cutting room, including the store manager. At one phase of my career though we all went to lunch together and many would have 6 beers on their lunch hour.  To fit in, I would have one or two. My style was to have two double martinis every evening when I got home.  Never wanted to drink at work.

fdarn wrote:

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I was finding bottles of whiskey in meat boxes as late as 2002. I also had a meat manager who got fired for going out back every day to get drunk then he threw the empty bottles on the roof.

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Great answers. The people that take this test will have to prove themselves on the block before they get this. This will be more to prove knowledge to upper management, we give a $2 a hour raise. Also help give the knowledge of the times pass, as we only use box cuts.

-- Edited by Frog on Sunday 30th of August 2015 09:49:21 PM

No doubt, but times are different now.  My era was 40 years ago and you wouldn't believe what went on in the coolers, mostly by the generation prior to mine! 

So what was said to her?

Burgermeister wrote:

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jimhenry2000 wrote:

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LOL!!  As to store managers, we referred to the management training program as "dick school", another reason I turned it down.

For the female employee question, the correct answer was, "Let's have a drink after work."  !!

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 Yes, you're right, but the reason I wrote it down is I know a store manager who got demoted to checker (lucky he wasn't fired) and transferred out when he did something other than a-e. The female (according to the rumor), sued and won $50,000.00

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