Annnnd...I failed all three tests.
I can tell you exactly why I failed.
There are a couple of reasons.
- I didn't breathe. I took 3 tests in 49 minutes. Each had about 40-50? questions per test? Something like that. I breezed through it and didn't allow myself to really relax and just take my time. Probably had something to do with the fact that I took the test an hour and a half before I was supposed to clock in to work.
- I hadn't received the training I really needed to be able to pass--I've been working there since August of 2010 and I've been in the grill area (working production--which is what the tests were about) but a handful of times. Last year, I switched to overnights for the sole purpose of being able to learn production. (Another coworker of mine had learned it overnight and they weren't teaching me during the day. Logical move, yes? We'll go with yes.) I never got in the grill. It was nothing but drive thru the entire year.
- They knew three solid (four, now) months ago that I would be going into management. They've known that entire time that I didn't have the training I needed and I still never got the training.
- I think, subconsciously, I wanted to fail. I wanted to show them exactly how they screwed up. "HA. Look and see what happens when you don't do your job and get your people trained the way they're supposed to be!" (I'm not saying it's right--just that it's probably a thought that lurked in my head for a while.)
- I wasn't at all confident. Why would I be? I'd never gotten the training, and I don't learn by just reading the information. I have to have a muscle memory--something I can connect that information to. All the information that BIGGER BOSS gave us during my Crew Trainer class was stuck in my head because there was a memory to go along with it. I didn't just read it and know it. I could hear her voice telling me, and then I knew it. I could actually have the experience to go along with it, and I remembered. I passed both of those tests with no less than a score 90% (and you need an 80% to pass.).
Well, tomorrow--I retake the tests. Nobody really knows what happens if I fail this time--so I'm going to try and not fail. I don't have to work, so I'm not worried about how long it'll take me. I know BIGGER BOSS will be there for most of the day anyway, so if I need to take 6 hours on it, I can take 6 hours on it. I've got notes and notes to study and I plan on walking in there with the intention of passing those damn tests.
Admittedly, there's an advantage to having taken the tests once already insofar as I already know what's on them. But that doesn't make my lack of training any harder or less frustrating.
When they gave me my tests scores, I ended up crying at Ms. C (one of my favorite managers, who recently left us for another store. I came very close to crying when I was saying goodbye. On top of that, my OTHER favorite manager will be leaving on the 1st. GAH.) because I'd been trying to get the training for months. Literally, months. And no one had done anything for me.
(Sidenote: Whenever I end up crying at work, it's always at Ms. C. Always. Every time I've ever ended up crying at work, it's been to her. I don't know why and I always feel bad about it. LOL)
In other news, I bought my kindle fire today and I'm absolutely in love with it. I may end up using it more often than I use my phone and I use that more than I use my computer!!














