Where to start...
For those who will be working in the lab... be prepared to get your feelings hurt. A lot. There is very little training. You are shown twice and you better figure it out quickly. I'm not sure if it is because they have little time to spend training or what, but there is no excuse on just dropping someone in the center of it all and expect them not to have issues. I've seen 3 new hire lab techs just got up and quit on the spot. They were there a week or two and we're constantly belittled and yelled at for scratches or prisim. Recently one more quit as she was tired of her hours being cut and being belittled so often. I have also witnessed lab techs cry, and front house staff cry after being scolded and shouted at by lab managers and "inner circle". It's terrible. I have gone home and cried a few times myself.
Hard work and the attempt to better yourself by learning more and asking more questions annoys them. The chemistry tests you eventually take are all open book, however they are written poorly. Be very careful taking those. Also if you want to succeed in this line of work, I'd use eyemart as a spring board to something better.
They are quick to write you up. Quick to place blame on others (breakages) to get themselves out of trouble. This happened to me a couple of times but thank God I had saved text messages showing I was given the ok by management (the night before!) to be in an hour late for a doc apt.
I think the thing that ticks me off the most is that the machines are very old and we find ourselves trying to "make it work" because they are expensive. These machines are killing our breakage. Yet they tell them it's the staff breaking it, not the equipment. Staff is replaceable but the machine is 10000 and guess which one they would rather do?
In truth I love what I do. I find it interesting and rewarding at times. I really hope my experience is only at a store level but I am willing to bet that corporate is just as bad since they tolerate
this kind of behaviour from a 2m store.
Also open door policy is a joke. On of our staff quit when she tried to get help from the GM after the lab manager just kept on degrading her. Within minutes of that meeting, lm knew about it and suddenly her hours were cut back. They tried to inconvenience her enough that she would quit.
I like my GM, and the regional GM and regional lm. However It's such a hostile environment for new comers and for folks that come to work to work. Not to gossip and talk like a sailor.
