A Jersey Mike’s applicant issued a public service announcement about the red flags she spotted during an interview.
The video featured TikTok user Sam Ketting (@kettingsam79) where she sat in her car, holding a few sheets of paper. “This video is to review a Jersey Mike’s I just interviewed,” she said. “I have never been more confident in not wanting to work at a place than this f*cking Jersey Mike’s.”
@kettingsam79 Lugonia Ave Redlands, CA location. Jersey mikes sucks
♬ original sound – Sam Ketting
First, the content creator explained how she was “bait and switched.” According to her, the job at the listeds was listed as a “shift lead” and she applied. Then, one of the managers called Ketting, asking her to come in for an interview for that position. However, she was tossed a curve ball instantly.
“‘We don’t hire shift lead right away. Everyone starts as a crew member. Um, if you wanted to be a shift lead, that’s fine. It’s gonna take a year,” the manager told Ketting. “But no one gets hired as a shift lead.”
The next alarm bell was regarding uniforms. It was “required” to wear navy blue pants on the job. But the company didn’t provide them. The only way to find those particular pants was through Amazon. What happens if you show up wearing black pants?” “You’ll be sent home,” Ketting said.
Lastly, the red flag the content creator deemed the “most absurd” was the menu. “The menu must be memorized before you start your first day,” she stated. The entire menu was listed on three pages the content creator was given. Before the first shift, she had to remember “the number of the sub, the name of the sub, and the ingredients in order.” “If you say it out of order, you’d be sent home,” she said. In addition, she had to take a quiz on it and wasn’t compensated for it. To add insult to injury, the manager had to “make little notes” on the paper because the menu she received was “not accurate.”
“Anyway, I’m not showing up. Thank you,” Ketting concluded the video.
During an interview with The Daily Dot, Ketting revealed that she noticed these red flags “immediately” after the manager informed her the company didn’t hire shift leads. She only had a “few hours” to memorize the entire menu. This was the first time she had ever experienced this.”
No. At my current job, the manager had my status as ‘training’ for my first month of employment, paid and on the clock, with the expectation I’d memorize as time goes on and it was perfectly okay and reasonable to not have the menu memorized on day one. He encouraged looking back at the physical menu behind me when the Jersey Mike’s interviewer said this was unprofessional and unacceptable,” she shared via email.
Needless to say, she didn’t show up on her first nor will she ever apply to Jersey Mike’s again. On the other hand, Ketting thought it was reasonable to have the entire menu memorized but only at certain restaurants.
“I think it’s reasonable to memorize a menu before you start at an upscale restaurant where you’re expecting to earn hundreds in tips a night. This is a sandwich shop where the average tip was 3 dollars hourly,” she said.
The video garnered over 46,000 views within 24 hours where viewers shared their similar experiences.
“OMG I applied for a job at Jimmy John’s and part of my INTERVIEW was to take a written quiz on all sandwiches with the same info! INSANE,” one viewer shared.
“Had a job tell me I had to take a ‘work style’ class for 24 hours before I could start. It was unpaid, so I never went and found another one,” a second wrote.
“Chick fil a did the same bate and switch thing with a shift lead position too. I accepted at first but then I backed out of the offer,” a third commented.
