Shift Leader Review

My role as a bar shift leader involves the management and everyday running of the pub, assisting senior management with office admin and being a port of call for staff members. Generally, I run opening or closing shifts, managing a team of 6-10, including kitchen staff members. Being shift leader requires you to be a key holder for the pub too.

Everything that I learnt through the apprenticeship programme, I had already learnt through the company’s shift leader academy programme. If I’d have started the apprenticeship at the same time as getting promoted, I feel that I’d have maybe gained more from it. Similarly, much of the information within the programme read as if it had been written 15 years ago and copied and pasted over and over again and never updated to suit the changes within hospitality.

I enjoyed the programme but I feel that the onus was very much on the leader individually to take as much as you could from it. I felt very misinformed when signing up to the programme and only after meeting my trainer properly for the first time did I fully understand what I’d signed up to.

It definitely could be better. Some of the modules on Aptem could be moved around because I felt that I was jumping back and forwards with some things at points and some aspects of certain modules were scattered throughout the middle of other modules. I also think that the business project could be done sooner.

My pub manager was very misinformed about the apprenticeship scheme so once it had been properly explained to them, I got the support and time that I needed within the working week to complete my apprenticeship and online training to go alongside it. Similarly, my pub manager was really supportive with my business project and helping me think of ideas.

My Lifetime training coach was great and very supportive. If I ever had any questions, I was always encouraged to just drop her a message and she was always super supportive, including about my decision to step away from the hospitality industry and onto something else. I always felt listened to by her.

I genuinely don’t think it has helped me, as I feel that the training programme that my employer provide is better and more in-depth. Similarly, the qualification is very broad about the hospitality industry as a whole and a lot of the information didn’t actually apply to JD Wetherspoon, as we do things differently to industry standard.

The company once a year do a football and darts tournament for charity. They also do charity hikes, cycles and indoor cycles. They have recently started a few different networking groups, via Zoom, including for LGBT and female employees. As a team, we try to arrange staff gatherings, for drinks or people’s birthdays.

Yes

If you want to work within the hospitality industry, JD Wetherspoon is definitely the company to work for. After having worked for other pub company’s before JD Wetherspoon, there are many perks of choosing to pursue a career with JD Wetherspoon, including pay, shift patterns, shares and supportive management.

Definitely just be yourself. The team I work with are very lovely and accepting and it really feels like a big family. All managers are willing to give you support, if you ask. Make sure that you remind your pub about getting time set aside for training shifts, to complete the online work, and do not do it in your own time, as you’ll quickly fall behind.