If the idea of lunch rushes and tickets scare you then maybe look elsewhere.
Working grill is stressful and fries are tiring with the amount of jumping around you have to do. It feels like there could be some display to keep patty count or even just timers for the fries but no, you just have to either touch boiling hot fries with gloves to feel if they're done, or have to go through every ticket to figure out your patty count, just to figure out you're over or off and have your shift leader get mad at you. This stuff usually becomes muscle memory after a while, but still, it just seems like so much could be improved to make mistakes less likely. This might just be an issue with the five guys I work at though.
Managers might stress you out but coworkers are usually fairly chill with you. It really depends on who's "in charge" of the night that'll depend on whether you'll go home in a calm state or have a panic attack as you realize your patty count is off. Obviously having terrifying or just not good bosses is something that happens to everyone, but it can really mess with your head in the moment.
You'll also probably hate closing, but I'm sure opening isn't much better. If you work a shift in between the day you'll be very thankful for that. Closing is just tiring on your neck/back, can take forever depending on how many people are working, and can be just kind of nasty if you're cleaning lobby since there are always peanut shells of the floor and the bathrooms are disgus
Negative and Stressful Restaurant with Terrible Management
I honestly had the worst time at Five Guys. I was hired for part-time but ended up working about 40 hours some weeks because of all the people that quit and/or called in sick consistently. A typical day depended on your shift and what you were working. Prep was obviously for the morning shifts (everything is hand made including the patties). When I first started working there the management was alright and everyone was friendly, although they talk bad about everyone (but that's how work is). We went without a GM for a while and everyone was quitting so I was almost working full-time hours every week. The new management came in and it got worse. The manager hired her friends and gave them most of the hours, which took away from everyone else. I went from 30 - 40 hours to about 12. Her friends would not work, but they did not get into trouble at all because they "Were friends with the manager". We were overworked sometimes having to do a Friday rush with 3 people (one time even two on the weekend) because people called in a lot. During the closing, we were expected to pick up on others slack when they cleaned. We closed at 10, but sometimes we did not leave until 1:30 am. The newer managers always banded together to talk about one manager, who they wanted to quit for no apparent reason. After all of the hard work employees put in, they never get rewarded. There were times when I closed until 1 am, then had to be at work for 7 am the next day. After getting home and getting up e
Productive and enjoyable place to work with benefits but basic salary
Typical day would consist of 5 stations
Station 1: Maning the cash register, welcoming newcomers and explaining how the operation works. You would take orders and money (cash, credit, debit) and return proper change, if necessary.
Station 2: Follow the chit as to what goes on each (toasted) bun, including proper order and placement, attention to detail here is important.
Station 3: Ensuring that the proper number of burgers/dogs are being prepared and prepared properly according to regulations and customer preference.
Station 4: Checking the work of the Station 2 person, calling the amount/type of burger that is next in line, wrapping said burgers/hot dogs when all is ready, calling the type of bag and fries to Station 5.
Station 5: Making sure that the fries are prepared according to Five Guys standards. Ensuring that the proper amount of fries are ready for each order, at the proper time. Putting the finished product in the appropriate bag and delivering to the customers.
You could be asked to work any of these sections at any given time.
I learned to be very flexible and listen to the bosses. Also to work in a fast-paced environment, where details are of utmost importance.
Management is very dependable, kind and are always willing to listen and use ideas given by staff to increase productivity and support.
Co-workers are fun and mostly on track to pursue a higher education. In the fast food industry, it is extremely rare, but here some workers
this is where I truly learned the meaning of multitasking.
depending on how many staff members I had on my line a typical day consisted of prep work in the morning before the store had opened ex: making hamburger patties for the day, preparing fresh tomatoes and other toppings such as pickles, onions, green pepper, jalapeño peppers, cheese, lettuce, condiments.
the next stretch of my day consisted of making sure the store was kept clean (garbage, pop station, restrooms, tables and chairs) the staff was all cross trained so we were all able to work most of the stations (cash, buns/toppings, grill, fries, quality control and expediting) I was mainly on buns/toppings as i could top 3 buns in one hand, i was put on cash only if the cashiers were backed up and i had no orders coming out of the machine, so i would take up to 10 orders then go complete them at the bun station by that time i had plenty of orders to keep me entertained for a while, I was able to run the line by myself which i only ever had to do twice in the 2 years i was there it was hard to do but i managed to do it with a smile and in efficient time, it was challenging and fun all at once. management was fair but could use some more training on following standard.
my co-workers were pretty great to work with we were a great team.
the hardest part of the job was learning the true meaning of multitasking and team work. if something needs to be done rather then ask one of my co-workers to do the job i just did it
Can't understate how self absorbed and soulless this company is.
Was there since day 1 of this location opening.
Pay was good. Tips were good. Management seemed good until it wasn't. These were the opening weeks mind you and like any branch of a business of course it's gonna have growing pains starting out.
Problems began occuring a year into this place opening. Work is heaped on certain individuals who tended to go above and beyond. Rules and regulations changed on a whim depending on how management felt that day.
Many employees, former or otherwise did not recieve fair compensation for their work, nor did many of them get full-time hours though the vast majority of us were hired full-time.
Hours are 'supposed' to be based on sales but the company doesn't seem to realize you need to spend money to make money and they would pay you as little as they can get away with if they could. Also this place has no benefits for regular employees, it only applies to Supervisors, Managers, Assistant General Managers, GMs and above.
Some positives? Hard working staff, probably some of the best people I've ever worked with. Free meals daily and a decently ventilated kitchen.
Five Guys has a lot more potential to be one of the best places to work in the food industry but is held back by complete obsession with it's own brand and the need tobincrease profits no matter the cost to it's employees.
ProsFree food, friendly staff
ConsEverything to do with management, upper management and overall pay.
Great People, Great Management. Not given the hours i was promised in interview.
During my interview in May, the GM promised me that the hours would pick up to at least 30 a week when the summer picked up. I would not be posting my resume on Indeed right now had the GM been able to fulfil her promise of 30 hours a week.
Other than that one concern, everything else about the job has been and will continue to be an excellent experience. A typical day at work is working in an extremely fast paced environment cooking up delicious burgers and fries for massive line ups of hungry customers.
The Management is excellent. My co-workers are largely nice people, and easy to work with. The Hardest part of the job was keeping up with the fast pace of a busy restaurant for myself (however as time went on, that became my favourite part of working in the restaurant! Time flies when you are having fun and working hard!).
The most enjoyable part of the job is probably seeing the satisfied faces of the customers when they get that extra scoop of fries in their meal. When the only complaint you receive at a restaurant is, "you are putting to many fries in!" you know that restaurant is doing something right.
Overall, if you are looking for a fulfilling part time job (I stress, part time. As you wont be getting anywhere near full-time hours at this employer at the Newmarket location) you should look no further than Five Guys Burgers and Fries.
ProsFree Lunches
ConsGM will offer more hours in your interview than you will ever see in practice.
I worked as a red shirt, grey shirt, and AGM in training. Working as a red shirt was often fun and enjoyable, but when first starting out and being trained, it was a hassle because every grey shirt did things differently, and they didn't train Five Guys standards first. The online training videos are fun, and very interactive, and they will probably teach you the most about the job, then hands on training in store, because of the discrepancies between managers. As a grey shirt, it was not worth it. The pay for the amount of stress and hassle you went through managing the store was not worth it and I don't recommend trying to move your way up through the ranks in the company. As training for AGM, it was a hassle too, because I was given personal plans to work towards, but that would be it, there was no other talks given to me. I was not explained how to go about achieving my personal plan, nor was I easily able to talk to the GM when I had questions. I was often disciplined for things I didn't understand, and when I asked for clarifications of what I did wrong, I wasn't given one. It had gotten to the point for me, that I became extremely depressed working there, which was shocking to me, because I loved the standards Five Guys had for their food and customers, and I enjoyed working with my co-workers, but I was having panic attacks before shifts, and calling in frequently when I had maybe called in once before.
If you want a job where you are disrespected every day, this is the place for you. You go above and beyond, which is never enough for management. Management has messed up schedules because they have not respected their employee's availability, and instead of fixing the problem on their end, they still require the employee to come in. Many people have come to work sick because if someone can't cover for you, you will still be required to go to your shift. Funnily enough, for a company that can't keep an employee past the probationary period, it is shocking how often they threaten to fire you. I have never worked in a place where people are so blissfully ignorant and genuinely believe that everything wrong in their stores is due strictly to their employees and not because management often doesn't provide the proper tools for their employees to work with. Oh, and I forgot to mention black shirts (general managers) are always coming from other stores and completely changing things from how you and your store do something every day; they won't listen to anything you have to say. Honestly, this place is just a horrible place to be, and I would never recommend this job to someone in a million years.
ProsThe crew is friendly with each other and everyone gets along easily
ConsAbsolute worse management EVER!!!, they always threaten to fire you, you can't call in without having a guaranteed person to cover for you
Five Guys Burgers and Fries is an unfogettable job experience. As my first real job it was challenging at first but it certainly did not take long to get used to. A typical day at work consists of a varirty of different tasks; mostly repetative and some not. Cooking, cleaning, taking orders, managing staff, paper work (daily deposits, shift reports) and maintaining an overall enjoyable experience for both guests and staff is the list of daily routines for a day at work. Management can confront you with obstacles such as a product shortage and staff issues (Shift coverage, health and safety). Above all, my managent position has taught me how to manage any problems effectively and efficiently by making smart judgemnet calls as well as taking initiative from to time to time if/when needed. My co-workers all cooporate well. Should it be otherwise, the problem with the co-worker is dealt with right away by means of respectively speaking to them to address and fix the issue. The most difficult part of the job has to be the holiday season. When the holidays arrive, many problems arise and sometimes they can be difficult to solve. The most enjoyable part of my job is seeing the guests and staff happy to be where they are and knowing that I contributed to their happiness.
Good place to learn management skills, but will be taken advantage of
Even though the general vibe of working in these stores are good, you will be asked to cover shifts on your days off all the time, whether you are a red shirt or a shift leader. As a red shirt this is a great first job, but as a shift leader (they don't call you a manager there) you will be asked to do endless amounts of extra work including training, working all stations, paperwork, intense deep cleaning, being responsible for people on your shifts, cutting labor/food cost, and passing secret shops; all for only a dollar more than minimum wage. If they would give proper promotions to their loyal staff members then this would be a great place to work as you have self entitlement and face value with the customers. Mornings are super slow to the point the boss doesn't care and seems focused on other stuff and will sit in the back on the computer all day while nights are 3-4 times busier a lot of the time even though they have more shift leaders in the morning and only one at night. Morning prep starts at 8am and ends before 10am and the store doesn't open until 11am so if you like waking up early and sitting down off the clock for more than an hour a day then go for it. The store is constantly under staffed and unappreciated, you wont go far working here. This is a last second employment option to anyone.
All depends if you're working in a corporate store or franchise. Usually corporate pays better, everything is 'by the book', and usually busier stores. Franchises on the other hand... boy...
I worked in franchise store for few years. Started as crew member, things were mostly easy as long you did as you're told and moved efficiently you'll be fine. It gets hard during rushes, when people call out/no show, and working with poor management. This job requires you to be communicative, work as a team to win secret shops every week, and learn about the company/practices for steritect audit (3rd party health/brand inspection). You'll get more hours the more you improve and stay consistent and reliable. If you wanna be a lazy roach this isn't the job for you.
For shift leaders and AGMs, this job is helaaa stressful. May be rewarding depending if your district is making money, and consistently winning shops, quarterly bonuses, and quarterly audits. Its hela money if you're working with a great GM that knows what they're doing. I had the ~pleasure~ to go through 4 GMs in one store with in a 3 year period. You can have a dookie franchise owner that is stingy and lies about bonuses and raises but a great GM that will fight for you and give you hours and work with your availability. But, if your GM is dookie, they will ride you like there is no tomorrow and blame you for everything that goes wrong in the store. You can do everything they ask for within the time period they want it done
Prospaid lunch, secret shops get you extra money
Conscustomers are always right, fight for raises, higher ups lie about rewards, strict and unrealistic goals
Each location is different meaning that whoever is the manager of that store may make your job easier or a lot more stressful than it should be.I worked at two different five guys location.I stay in Georgia. I worked at the camp creek location and that location was fairly fun and no drama at all.The staff was really cool and my days went by very quick.Five Guys does require a lot of prep but that is only because they’re food is fresh.My only problem with that job was they offered to pay me $9 an hour and that was too little for me so I decided to relocate and work in Atlanta hartfield Jackson airport on Concourse D.However that experience was the most horrible job I ever worked at.Ive got so many bruises and scars working at that specific job than any other job I had.The staff over there is really unprofessional.Its too much drama.Its too many micro management that goes on.Meaning too many people telling you what to do even if they’re not mangers and too much confusion.The director of operations does have her favorite crew members aka Shamanda so if your not her favorite you’ll never get your requested time off and the general manager which is Marvin Barber will always pick on the weakest link.Theres never enough employees to work in closing shift because everyone ends up quitting because the people that’s in charge never know how to treat their employee and that is why they never have enough staff.And than let’s talk about the constant yelling because they have this rule cal
ProsFree lunch
ConsBarely get a break, if your a guy get ready to cut 8 full bags of potatoes ouch, it’s soo many
A typical day at work was dependent of which of the two shifts you worked. I worked through the dinner rush mostly.
The morning was easy, prep for the day. Lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, cheese, hundreds of pounds of potatoes, meat for the patties, milkshake toppings. A lot of gossip happened at the patty smashing table, which I wasn't fond of. Then the short 3 hour lunch rush, go home.
The dinner shift was not so easy. I would come in at 2 or 4 in the afternoon. There were the morning dishes, more potatoes to cut, then the longer dinner rush from 5-9pm before it slows down into the evening. Then came breaks, and eventually closing time at 10pm. Frantically, everything is cleaned, from the ceiling to scrubbing the floors, and bleaching the drain. The store was to be absolutely sanitary for the morning crew.
I had never worked in a line cook position before. I was taught to run the flat top grill first, then the potato fryers. Within a month I was given a raise and was told that I would be getting my training binder to become a manager. I never saw the binder.
The managers were fun to work with on the line, but behind the scenes, there was zero professional communication. Schedules were poorly attended to and often times were rewritten once or twice throughout the week. The franchise was also majorly understaffed through the state, and the new hire turn over rate was astonishing. Several people each month would pop in to try it out for a day or two and then just sto
Enjoyable but all positions need to put in the work to succeed
Locations are owned by franchisees not corporate, so every location will be a little different for an employee. Atmosphere is set by the GM. When corporate comes in, they are there to essentially tell you what your doing wrong not what your doing right. Don't take their criticism personally, just make the changes they want.
To succeed, work hard, work fast, try to always be cleaning or training when it's not busy. You can get the store to the point where it's always clean and then there is time to relax, but it requires a lot of good team work and communication.
GM's: Do your do diligence when hiring. It's hard to find good talent that wants to work hard at minimum wage, but there is good talent out there that needs a job. Praise the good ones in public and give them criticism and direction in private to keep them happy. Do the same with the bad ones too. Do 3 month performance reviews.
Make prep time a friendly competition with small rewards to get energy high for the morning shift. Create a cleaning checklist for everyday. Laminate it and let employees decide who does what and use it as a reward for fast prep and above and beyond work. Let them assign you cleaning tasks too. They will love being your boss for once and your not special. Lead by example.
Train all the time!!!! Put crew members on their worst station to practice. When it gets busy, rotate them out to something they're better at. Don't let one person always do one thing. Everyone needs to be great at ev
ProsFree lunches and good fun atmosphere
Conspoor pay requires a lot of energy all day long
good place to work as long as corporate and the gm of your store doesnt ruin it
worked there twice actually, once for two years and the second time for 2 or 3 months, first time i was scheduled almostevery day, 12 hour shifts, on holidays like new years and christmas, pay wasnt worth it, and i got passed up twice for promotion as explicitly stated by management.
second time i came back, covid was resurgent, had a couple close calls while working there and i was called while coming into a shift one day by the general manager of the tilton store in 2022, that "you need to think about if you really want to work here" after being taken off of full time hours for having a covid scare.no information about policy for that was shared directly with the crew, nor was any of the information needed for us to function properly distributed to us until last minute, and only if it came up in conversation. second time i came back i was again, working almost every day, ten hour shifts, covering other peoples shifts on my days off, and capably running the store other then explicitly manager duties.
corporate had promised a multitude of benefits and incentives to work there and have delivered on none of them, there was an offer for an extra dollar an hour every day you came into work 20 minutes early or so, never happened. we use to get bonuses for selling a certain number of milkshakes per day, and secret shopper bonuses happen so infrequently and rarely go well enough to award a bonus, are not consistent enough to justify them listing their pay rate as high as it is, T
Prosfree meal, free drinks on shift, credit card tip pool
Conspoor communication, pay, and employee conditions
A typical day consist of many operations. Any given day could bring 100 different scenarios. Typically, a morning phone call to all the District Managers in the company to follow up with any issues that may have not been resolved. Visit a store and its staff and do a general walk through of the store. On average 50-60 phone calls a day would be answered ranging from raise requests to repair requests for a store. Generally the day would finish with reviewing schedules, end of the day phone call with the District Managers for the company.
I learned many things in my position. Patience, tolerance, leadership, fairness, and organization to name a few things. From the beginning, I learned that if my day wasn't organized then I would have a chance to get through it. In my position I learned that I had to rely on the success of others and that the success of the company would come directly from the work I did in the stores. Training was a constant that had to be accomplished in 22 stores simultaneously, a feat that could not be done by one person alone. Building a team of managers that could fit the bill was one of the first goals to accomplish.
My team can handle any situation that arises. They are hard working , up beat, intelligent men and women. The culture that they work in requires all of those traits, and they could motivate anyone without question. My co workers are the type of people that you would find hanging out on the weekends together or going t
ProsTraveling, ability to make decisions that shaped the company, never a dull day
Quick paced with customer service being first in mind
A work day at Five Guys varies depending on what shift you work. There are three different shifts available.
Morning Crew:
Those working morning crew should expect to come at either 8:00am or 9:00am to do prep work. Everything is prepped for that day so how much is needed to be done varies. Typically, a gray shirt (manager) will cook bacon, slice tomatoes, shred lettuce, and prep other produce while red shirts (crew members) roll meat. The meat is raw meat so don't expect precooked patties. The store opens at 11:00am which gives a two to three hour time period to get prep done. Usually four to six people prep and it is possible to get prep done by 10:30am so everyone have enjoy a break and their employee meal.
Midshift:
Those working a Midshift usually work from 11:00am to either 6:00pm or 7:00pm. You do not open, you do not close, you work the hours the store is open and serving customers. There are five different stations that everyone is trained to work. P.O.S., B.O.H., Sets, Fries and Expo, or Grill. Each station coincides with each other, so if you take the time and effort to learn each station it will be easier to work each station. Midshifts get a break during slow times(2:00pm to 3:00pm), if available.
NIght Crew:
Those working night crew come in anywhere from 3:00pm to 6:00pm depending on availability and leave at either 10:00pm or close. Closers have four stations they can close. Grill, fryers, lobby, or B.O.H., with a manager counting tills and handling the
Typical day at work?
You are required to come in 15 minutes before you are scheduled to start to settle down and have a quick team briefing. Online when you check the rota it tells you exactly what station you are on however don't depend on it as the managers tend to change everyone round so you cannot go in there and expect to be on the tills because they are more likely to put you on something else such as grill etc. Once the briefing is done everyone is set off to go on their stations and the day goes on. As you would expect, there are busy times and there are times when there is hardly any customers. 98% of the shifts are quite fun and enjoyable. Co-workers are always laughing and helping out if it is needed. There is only one 20 minute break included in any shifts which is quite stressful, especially if you are working a long 10 hour shift for example.
What I learned?
The good thing about the job is that there are many stations that you get to be trained on such as tills, grill, fries etc. The biggest push is on customer service, always smile, take that extra mile for each and every customer and definitely be patient. There will be customers who are a absolute joke. However, once you are trained on everything you get not only a pay rise to £8.20 but also you get to train and become a manager. It roughly takes around 6 months for this to happen (as I have been told on the induction).
Management?
VERY, VERY, VERY UNORGANISED.. The rota is being done last minute
ProsFree lunch, Flexible, Paid break, Good salary, Friendly co-workers
Excellent place to work, but mileage varies based on location
Overall I'd say this is a good company to work for. The secret shopper program provides decent bonuses for 100s, and obtaining perfect scores on them are not too difficult if the store has a good crew and management.
The company is VERY focused on cleanliness, and has regular third party audits to ensure cleanliness is maintained. Failure to meet company standards on the audit results in the store being temporarily closed, cleaned, retrained, and restaffed as needed.
Very easy to move up in the company as long as you have good work ethic(move with urgency, willing to come in occasionally to cover shifts, show up to work). They definitely care much more about performance than age, gender, race, and always prefer to promote from within. Corporate bosses all seem to have their hearts in the right place and generally treat the stores and their employees fairly, although they make questionable decisions too like any other company. Upper management and the founders take a very active role in regular operations of the company in visiting and helping locations.
On that note, every store has a different culture and personality, based very much upon the shift leads and General manager of the location, and corporate generally avoids micro managing individual locations unless things go very wrong(I.E. turnover gets high/Secret shopper scores take a big dip). As such, rogue/ineffective GMs can hurt a store's morale greatly, and it may take some time for them to be retrained/replaced
ProsFree meal per shift, flexible hours, good pay, positive environment, good bonus program, job security
ConsBenefits can be difficult to obtain at crew member/shift leader level, upper level decision making can be mystifying at times
Questions and answers about Five Guys
Why did you leave your job at Five Guys?
Asked Mar 20, 2017
Bad management by cypress and horrible attitude towards staff
Answered Sept 16, 2021
The environment I worked in was too mentally demanding for the job I was at. Too much pressure.
Answered Jan 16, 2020
What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Asked Nov 16, 2022
8 hours
Answered May 22, 2023
Good
Answered Apr 24, 2023
How often do raises occur at Five Guys?
Asked Jan 28, 2020
When minimum wage is increased
Answered May 29, 2023
Not often
Answered May 29, 2023
What is the promotion process like at Five Guys?
Asked Dec 1, 2022
If you’re friends with people you get promoted
Answered May 29, 2023
No promotion process
Answered May 27, 2023
What tips or advice would you give to someone interviewing at Five Guys?
Asked Oct 8, 2018
Tell them that you are wanting to improve the efficiency of the business by treating everyone fairly and doing the tasks in a timely manner
