Driving home about three months ago, I passed by a giant red sign that read “IN-N-OUT HIRING,” and I was in desperate need of money, so I applied to my very first job; I was hired after a three-hour-long process two months later.
I got to In-N-Out Burger half an hour early on March 23 for my very first day of work. After I changed, it was time to clock in. I did five minutes of stretching, and then I was lost. They had only told us what to do up to that point. Looking around like a child lost in a store, I spotted the shift manager on the other side of the kitchen. Carefully walking so as not to hit a chef or someone using a knife, I made it.
After clocking in, I changed from my white T-shirt and jeans into my white high-waisted pants and white shirt with puffy sleeves. I tightened my black belt and tucked my hair into my red-and-white hat.
After putting my bobby pins in my hair to hold the hat into place, I grabbed my apron. Thankfully, I sharpened my giant safety pin the day before, so I only struggled to get the apron on straight for five minutes instead of the usual ten.
I learned how to use the machine that peels the potatoes, and I took out all of the brown spots. The worst part about the peeling job was the fact that the machine uses water to peel the potatoes. When you open the latch on the side of the machine to let the potatoes out, potato juice shoots all over you.
I also made fries. My favorite part about my first day at In-N-Out was using the fry-maker. Although it could be tough with the bigger potatoes, it was my favorite because ever since I was little, it was my dream to use it.
Overall, the three hours that I worked only felt like ten minutes. Everyone sang and hollered while they worked, and we all joked around with each other, which made the time pass by quickly.
Opening day, one day earlier, was awesome. We took the picture and did a cheer for BurgerTV at 8:30 a.m. I was front and center holding the microphone. By 9, the drive-thru was packed with cars and the line was out the door. There were about 6,000 burgers sold on the first day.
Along with In-N-Out in California, it is also in five other states: Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Texas and Oregon, and the Seaside In-N-Out is the 312th store.
Because 32 of us were new hires, there were five days of training, four hours each day. However, we didn’t actually do any training. We watched modules and took mini quizzes. Two other Carmel students also got the job: senior Dana Elazar and junior Ariana Flores.
Along with Elazar, Flores and me, 29 other people were hired out of over 1,500 applicants. Twenty associates from Salinas transferred to Store 312, making it a total of 52 employees.
-Kim Burns