Here Everything's Better

Well, several interviews, tests, pokes and prods later, I have accepted a new job with one of the largest private companies in the US.

For the last ten years I have been working in the restaurant industry. It treated me well; I was always promoted quickly and made enough money to support myself through college. It is a great career for a college student, but since graduating I have felt somewhat less than challenged as a bartender. Directly after graduation, I intended to start my own restaurant, I had a talented chef a business plan and a lot of experience, but with the economy the way it is, my financing backed out and I was forced to reconsider all of the job opportunities I had turned down. Ruth’s Chris (the company I work for now) was willing to place me in management, but the abundance of late nights and direct customer service have already taken their toll on me.

H-E-B looks like the change of scenery I need right now. H-E-B is a supermarket chain with over 300 locations throughout Texas and Mexico. They have regular grocery stores, superstores, and the product driven high end Central Market which sells all of the specialty items and wines I like.

They have offered me a position in their School of Retail Leadership. This is basically a fast track to becoming a Unit Director or GM. I have to work in three departments of a store(I am in the produce section first). I will have six weeks of training for each one and then I will manage the department for three months. After I have successfully managed the three departments, I am an Assistant Store Director and eligible for promotion to Unit Director. The hours are long, but in the daytime mostly. I will have great benefits and very competitive pay and bonus structure. The company is very healthy and the employees all seem content.

This is my last week at Ruth’s Chris, and hopefully my last week of bartending (professionally). Monday I’m off to H-E-B in hours of the morning I stopped believing in long ago, but I am hopeful that my new job lives up to its slogan of “Here Everything’s Better”.