| 2008wagon |
My job search has taken me to every conceivable occupation, I swear to God it has.
I've explored all kinds of stuff, and the most recent offering in my area is surprisingly a job that I always thought would be really fun, and it pays relatively well; a Frito Lay Route Sales Driver. They need a couple of them here in Ohio, so I applied. Got a letter now that's telling me to come to Akron and take a sales aptitude test for this position. Cool.....I guess.
My question: does anyone here know anything about this test? Does anyone here by chance work for this company or maybe know someone who does? |
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| skipjack |
No idea about the test. Probably more on people skills, crisis management, integrity,the usual HR thing, unless they have a test specifically made for the position.
At any rate, GOOD LUCK!!! |
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| The_Lizard |
I think it would be your responsibility to set up and stock the floor displays. I worked for a company who wrote the ordering and inventory software for the military commissaries, and in that setting at least the soft drink and snack guys tracked their own inventory. As far as the store's ordering system was concerned, it was sold as soon as it was checked in.
I briefly delivered salad dressings to restaurants, it's warehouse work taken out on the road. You learn to rotate for freshnes, keep track of loading orders, and leave the box labels facing the same way *G* but at least the merchandise is light - not like you're delivering kegs. |
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| Marbleyard |
| I used to drive a beer truck around and got to meet and get to know the other vendors. With chips and confections it's pretty cut and dry. Rotate stock and the obvious. The sales end of the job makes up selling "end caps" and displays. You will offer a discount on quantity if you can put a display by the front door, end/beginning of an isle, a rack of .99 bags at the register and so forth. It's a fun job and it pretty nice working by yourself at your pace. The one thing I can almost guarantee is, you will learn to hate Wal*Mart if it's on your route. |
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| Dave Mueller |
| Frito Lay is one of those companies that people use as an example of "this is how you should do things". If I remember correctly, this job will be as much about PR and putting a corporate face in front of the customers as anything else. I believe they were studied in the book "In Search of Excellence" way back when. |
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| superu |
Frito-Lay is said to be a solid company with a very well regarded on-boarding and training plan.
Not sure of the current situation, but years back they required all new employees regardless of level to start out on a route so they fully understood the business from the ground level. |
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| The_Lizard |
Yeah we have the Wendy's HQ here in town, and at the location in Shawnee Hills sometimes you'll see someone who looks like a new executive hire, working the drive-through window.
I've talked to people in the hot sauce trade, there are all kinds of deals with retailers about who gets how many facings on the shelf, at prime eye level, etc. |
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| bheinz57 |
Well I think it would be a fun job. But you have to remember, you will more than likely have two immediate bosses...
The store you are in at the time and your Frito Lay one.
I have heard horror stories of store personnel ruining an otherwise perfect job.
Brian |
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| 2008wagon |
| I just wonder about this aptitude test. I never had to take one for a job, and I can't remember the last time I took one period. They allow us 2 hours to take the test, so there's no telling how long it will really take me. |
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| ron917 |
I hear it's a simple, 3 question test:
1. What is your name?
2. What is your quest?
3. What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Seriously, don't get yourself worked up over it. Best of luck and hope you land a job you like. |
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| bheinz57 |
I would not worry.
I would, though, ask for the results or their interpretation no matter what...
Brian |
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| 2008wagon |
See, I've heard that if you take it, pass it, and get called for a job, then you know you did well.....or at least well enough to gain employment. But I guess if you never hear from them it doesn't necessarily mean you didn't do well, but that in such case there's no way to find out exactly how it was interpreted and how you really did.
Essentially, I guess if they never call then you're forever left wondering if you did well or if you're a total lame brain :8:
I'm not worried about the test much, and if I may be an arrogant piece of sh** for a minute, I'm pretty sure I can do well. I was just really surprised when I got this letter saying come and take this test, because in some ways I only applied online to fill my quota for the number of jobs I must respond to each week in order to keep getting my unemployment benefits. I honestly never thought I'd hear anything from them.
I really miss my old job though. Man, I look back and I had it made. I had a great position that I liked, I made great money and had better than average benefits, worked in an office with a couple of HOT babes, and had a really cool boss. Now look at me.....totally desolate and getting more depressed every day. With each interview that I don't get chosen, it's diminished my confidence more and more. I've never been faced with a situation like this, and I really never thought I would ever have to try so hard to prove myself better than the next guy for a job.
I don't believe there are very many "careers" left anymore. A career to me means you spend a lifetime doing primarily one thing. Anymore, it's almost second nature for most of us to have to jump from job to job just to make it, and the jobs are usually not in related fields because you do what gets you through for the time being. Even though I'm not old, I'm old school. The lack of loyalty and respect and gratitude from employers these days is terrible, and I only wish there were SOMETHING I could do on my own, I'd love to be able to be my own boss in charge of my own damn destiny. |
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| The_Lizard |
| I've sat in cubicles for 20+ years and I've had my fill. I'm turning my efforts to becoming a watershed advocate. |
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| Dave Mueller |
quote: Originally posted by The_Lizard
I've sat in cubicles for 20+ years and I've had my fill. I'm turning my efforts to becoming a watershed advocate. | |
After being chained to a phone for 8 years doing tech support, I quit and became a whitewater raft guide for 2 summers :D
They may be using the aptitude test to weed out some of the people who are too lazy to go. Sony opened a plant near Pittsburgh way back when, I think 2000 people applied for less than 200 positions. We took a standard aptitude test at the state unemployment office. It was geared towards hourly, skilled laborers. There were some hands on co-ordination tests, "which piece fits this drawing" stuff, and the usual math and grammar questions. Don't sweat it. |
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| ETC |
I just took a test for a county job. I took a State test for the highway patrol when i was 20 and that was the last test i'd taken for a job.
The test was partially about the job itself [water management] but mostly reading comprehension, problem solving and the "are you a psycho" questions about how you would handle situations with other employees and the public.
I worked for pepsi as a merchandiser when i was 19 for awhile, much heavier product and yes, there is politics and competition even in what you would consider a "low stress" job. The store managers would try to get you to do things way beyond the scope of your job under the "threat" of losing shelf space, back room storage space etc. If one of the store guys accepted your load and put in in front of coke, more than likely you'd get a case "accidentally" damaged on top of your stack which soaked all the cases [fun, fun].
Basically a job is a job and people can be cool or they can be jerks in any field you get into, it is what you make it i suppose. I was a foreman for years and never really got over 30-40 yr old construction workers whining like 5 yr olds.
anyway, i wouldn't worry too much about it. if you see a frito lay truck, at your local store, ask the driver. |
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| 2008wagon |
To sum everyone up on what's going on with this matter, I went a few weeks ago and took this aptitude test that they scheduled me for. It was in a room full of people, and you had to fill out background check papers, a few other things, then lastly we all took the test. You were allowed 80 minutes to do it, I had it done in about 45.
So finally yesterday (Wednesday) I get a call. It's a woman from Frito Lay. She wants to know if I'd like to go ride with one of the guys on their route next week right in my own town of Wooster, Ohio. It took me about 1.2 seconds to say HELL YEAH!!!!
So Next Tuesday I go with this guy named Mark on his route. Beyond that, I have no idea what happens. I do know that she told me I did exceptionally well on the test, and that the background check was fine.
I've read alot about this position in various job forums and stuff, and a lot of guy/gals don't like the job, but some do. I don't care what they THINK about their job, I only wanted to know what they actually DO every day. If I get the job, I'll make my own conclusions as to whether I like it or not.
But anyway, so far so good. Let's drink to my seemingly good fortune at the moment :7: |
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| Marbleyard |
:5: Doritos for everyone, YAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!
Grats!! :7: |
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| ron917 |
Congrats, 2008wagon!
Tell 'em to bring back Baked! Doritos Cool Ranch - they were my favorite. The normal (fried?) ones are too greasy for my taste. |
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| The_Lizard |
| Great news! Now we have the answer to the question: "Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms - who's bringing the chips?" |
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| 2008wagon |
| The thing is, I found a Frito Lay Forum on the internet. It's actual employees from all over this country. I gotta say, most people hate this job. I mean, they hate it to the point that after a year or two they can't even stand to go to work. Nasty bosses, inability to get hardly ANY time off, poorly maintained trucks, cuts in commission, working weekends and holidays for 8,10, even 12 hours, restructuring of routes that make damn sure every driver makes less money, and all kinds of other crap, including stories of drivers going into the back of their truck and balling their eyes out because the stress is just too much. |
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| rockhopjohn |
| Well, keep in mind that most people that get online to talk about their job are usually dominated by people that have something to complain about, and not people that love it. Hopefully you will find that it is tolerable for you, and that the complainers you have met are at one end of the spectrum. |
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| ron917 |
There were similar online communities for two of the employers I previously worked at. Lots of stories about how bad and awful and evil the employers were. None of it matched my experience.
Disgruntled employees post on those forums. Those who are happy, or even just OK, with the job don't post.
Definitely don't take what's posted on those forums as the whole truth.
And if you do take the job, and it turns out to be bad, NOTHING forces you to stay with it. Find another job. |
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| ETC |
Just went on an interview for a county job .
Basically it was three guys who looked like they didn't want to be there asking me questions that seemed remarkably like a psych profile downloaded off a "how to screen potential employees".
"How would a fellow employee describe you ?"
"Describe what a former supervisor might say could use improvement in your job performance"
I should have expected as much since it was a county position, some completely unrelated person in some completely unrelated office somewhere most likely wrote the questions and more than likely will interpret the resulting answers.
My last job interview was basically a half dozen questions related to my abilitites in the field i was in and ended with, "now go out and prove all that stuff you said is true"
hopefully i didn't come off as "duh duh duh" as it felt like ;] |
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| 2008wagon |
Yesterday I went on a route ride with a Frito guy from my area. This is part of the hiring process.....I should say the "potential" hiring process, because this "ride-along" is the first thing they do after you pass the test to determine if you still even want the job after seeing first hand what it is. Many people come back from this ride and say "no thanks, not what I expected". And that's because these people think you load up some chips and go put them on a shelf......man, there is so much more to it than that.
As it turns out, the facility here in Wooster that I would be working out of is UNION. Frito Lay facilities that are union are VERY rare, and guess what? These guys at Wooster are perfectly happy with their jobs too. Wooster seems to be the total opposite of all the crap I read on that forum where everyone hated Frito Lay and where one person even said that the job made her want to blow her brains out!!
The Wooster guys have all been there for many years; 11 years, 14 years, 21 years, etc. The only thing the guy I rode with told me is that the job kinda sucks in the winter if the there's lots of snow and slick conditions, because the big box trucks can get very hard to handle in those conditions. But other than that, these guys say very few bad things, and they all agree that Frito Lay has been very good to them, as evidenced by the long tenure of each driver.
And hey ETC, I had a couple of those interviews too, with those stupid unecessary psych questions. They were relevant to NOTHING in this one interview I had, I'm glad they didn't call me for that particular job cause that dude I would have been working for was a freak. |
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| 2ohno |
| Hope you get the gig ! I know a couple of guys who do route sales work and they are doing quite well - :7: |
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| 2008wagon |
| Another update: they finally called me in for a formal interview now. I go next Thursday for this. Then if that goes well it's then time for the drug test. Sure is a lengthy hiring process, but I'm just thankful for the opportunity. |
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| MrDimple |
2008Wagon please give me a call in case you need to make extra money!
Your last post was a while ago so you may not be interested in what I have to say.
Cheers |
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