truck driver

maintenance technician

production worker

production

production technician

Cargill

- STARS if I could..
a typical work day- 10-12-14 hours  . There are some months were you don't make 25 hours per week. All depends..

what you learned- voice record everything because the General Manager all the way to HR  Lie. Upper management gangs up on you to get rid of you!   If one manager does like you, they get all of the other managers to help make things up to force you out! Voice Record Everything!

management- is dirty, don't care about your safety, you are yelled at, threatened with your job if you witness anything bad. Don't come forward because its all over after that! Find another job and quit don't say why ! Just leave as quick as you can!

workplace culture- divided 

the hardest part of the job- Management doesn't care about Cargill. If they did none of the non sense would be going on! Employee's are threatened, assaulted and  treated poorly! To be honest I don't think corporate really cares. See below..

the most enjoyable part of the job- Never coming back!

When people tell you after your hired to make sure you voice record everyday that really does not make much sense at the time. You are taken  back by this statement.  Unfortunately, they were right!  
I was told by another employee do yourself a favor and record everything said everyday you walk in that place! I found myself in a position were I had to listen! I'm glad I did!
Good supervisors, good employees have been forced out of their jobs in the last 26 months for caring and trying to do the right thing! Supervisors and employees  have just walked out because they were forced to do things they could not and would not do. 
They  knew nothing can be done about the situation and just gave notice, they walked out! 

Employees have gone to the General Managers and said things are not right! Those managers said" (if you don't like it-  LEAVE!)" After awhile employees who came forward are threatened to the point they just left!

Cargill VA is not a safe place to work! You can find yourself threatened, assaulted and treated poorly working here! 
Cargill VA only wants evil people in charge who don't care about peoples well fair. 

Cargill Corporate has these " investigator's" who look into things. These people call and threaten (employees) people who come forward with their jobs. "If you don't say what I need you to say I will tell X not to let you come back". ( If you find yourself in this position make sure you tape these conversations to).
What the investigator said is a threat! At that point your scared to death everything you have will be lost. Do employees really  have a choice ? Should they just say what the investigators tells them to keep their jobs? 
Many do...
I'm sorry but that's just wrong!
Why should you have to say what these investigators tell you say to save your job? Management and HR should do the right thing to start with.
Unfortunately, things have gotten worse in the last 11 months!
Do yourself a favor and stay clear of this place and if you work here record everything! The right thing is not done here!

Arrived at 08:00AM. Evaluated injured employees, providing appropriate treatment within the company's standing protocols. If  injury above acuity that could be treated onsite, referred to contracted primary care physician. The difference between "Recordable Days", and "Reportable Days". To be completely honest, the vast majority of the management team were very professional, fair, supportive, and approachable. Unfortunately my direct manager onsite was grossly lacking in management skills. There was a tremendous difference in the treatment of the 2 nurses working onsite that was evident to everyone, to the extent that comments were made to me directly-it was very embarrassing. I realize that we all start out at the novice level and advance to the expert level-we make mistakes in judgment. However, no matter how young and inexperienced a manager might be, his common sense reflects one's value system. In the Occupational Medicine Department, everyone was fearful of losing their jobs, resulting in staff splitting, and a total lack of teamwork. No comradity whatsoever. My salary was announced throughout the United States-when I informed my manager 3 days after I started work-he asked me "what do you want me to do, lower your salary?"-I guess he didn't know discussing an employee's salary with co-workers is illegal. The hardest part of the job was to show up, sit 2 feet away from my co-worker with no verbal communication between us for the entire shift-this was not my doing, I would attempt at conversation-she admitted that this was done intensionally to make me feel valueless-it worked. The only enjoyment was to interact with the injured employee, providing appropriate medical care, and watching them recover. Unfortunately that was the only enjoyment. I have every reason to believe that Cargill, in general, is a very fair, reputable company. My experience was the result of 2 individuals, that I feel represent the company in an extremely negative way. They have had lawsuits against them initiated by the employees. They have also been on TV several times for different reasons. It would be my fear if any nurse with any education, good critical thinking abilities, solid experience, would accept a job with this particular company (a certain location) and wish she had never filled out the application. This was by far the absolute worst job I have ever had-I wish I had never laid eyes on the facility. I do however have souvenirs from my 1 year employment with this company, 3 gross peptic ulcers, and end stage renal failure (3 points from going on dialysis) from the tremendous stress of being a part of this ? team. My labs were completely normal at the pre-employment physical. Thanks. 

Truthfully, no day is ever a typical day. We always start with a pre-shift start-up meeting in which we discuss the tasks for the day and assign people to said tasks. Most everybody is cross-trained in many various positions so you really never know what you'll be doing from one day to the next, which isn't a bad thing because it keeps things from becoming monotanous and complacent. There are always opportunities arising to be able to learn new jobs, skills, and knowledge in general.
During my time here I've learned a lot I never realized about the grain industry and agricultural supply chains from field to store. I've learned how to load a barge, operate numerous types of mobile equipment, drive a locomotive, become more interactive with customers and contractors, welding and use of a plasma cutter, and how to better make split decisions on the fly.
I have mixed emotions about management. Some of my supervisors have a very keen eye for detail and are very aware of how the plant operates and how to handle problems that come up. Others don't seem to really understand everything that is involved in keeping our plant running and are quick to pass judgement when "hiccups" occur. They are all good people, but I do question some of their reasoning behind some of their decisions. They are all very understanding when it comes to problems that need to be attended to in our personal lives and continually work with us to allow us to take care of those things even though we work 60+ hours a week on average.
My co-workers are really a unique bunch and have made me feel at home here and part of a family, granted there have been a few that have come and gone that really just seemed to stir the pot. I have no issues with any of my current or past co-workers and have become very good friends with most of them. They are all really hard working people and everybody works very well together as a team.
The hardest part of my job is trying to plan/schedule things in my personal life. Often times we don't know what our hours will be from one day to the next and are typically changed at the last minute. I'm ok with this for the most part, but as a single divorced parent it does make it difficult for me to make plans and arrangements with my children. However, if an emergency does arise or if I can not make other arrangements (i.e. babysitter, grandparents) I have been allowed to leave early or come in later without penalty as long as I give proper notification. This has been extended to my co-workers as well.
The most enjoyable part of my job is having the opportunity to do different jobs on a daily basis. I like the fact that no day is ever the same.

The good: The assignments are great for the beginner accounting assistant, yet things can become challenging depending on what you learn in various software systems. The training is very detail oriented as long as you ask a lot of questions. You will work in a modern office; every work space is brand new and remodeled. Multiple monitors at each workstation make your job much easier. The cafeteria offers a lot of options with stations designed to create your own meal or you can find plenty of grab-n-go items. There are a lot of opportunities to be social at work including after-work happy hour, holiday charity events, lunches, team building events, etc. There is a walking path outside and an onsite parking ramp for you to park in. The building feels secure with guards and turnstiles at most entrances. The culture is very relaxed, almost too relaxed. The best part of the job is cross-departmental team/work relationships, working hand-in-hand to get things done. You meet new people that way and it makes your days very enjoyable to help others with tasks. Most of the time you can leave work early with pay before major holidays. The process team manager is very good at her job and handles employees very professionally (one of the best I have ever had) - very intelligent person - knows how to handle employees and work demands without freaking out or being nasty. The upper management rubs off as flaky and uninterested in the team, which leads into my not-so-good comments: 

The bad: Plan on never being promoted. There is no tuition reimbursement offered. A lot of knowledge leaves Cargill's doors often; people are constantly leaving and being hired at ALL levels. All of the employees notice it and get a bad vibe from it. You feel like you are just a number. The pay is substandard in relation to the work you do and there are no bonuses for accounting assistants. Maybe Cargill should think about labeling the title of this position to match the actual realizable compensation benefits. There is basically no opportunity to work from home but competitive companies offer it. There is a lot of paper-pushing in this position when it could be EASILY eliminated.

Summary: I hope my comments show that I mostly like the company but have the guts to admit where Cargill can improve so that they can promote employee retention in the future. I would love to come back to this company someday in a new role because I do like the company and believe in it! It is still a good place to work (but the compensationin this role is not even competitive). I hope Cargill considers offering the accounting assistants more $, tuition reimbursement and promotion opportunities to retain valuable employees and MORALE.

A typical day depends on what shift you are on. Day shift is responsible for the daily maintenance and the permits that are neccessary for the work. The lockouts must be verified and permits issued to the personell preforming the work. Safety is always first, a lot of companies say this but this is the first company ive seen practice what they preach. Once all of the maintenance is taken care of you have to see where each department is on starch and where each batch we have is on its reaction time. Each sub department must have starch ready for them to dry.
Second shift will usually come in once all of the days maintenance is finishing or already done. They will close the days permits if the work is complete or store them if the work is to continue tomorrow. Once the work is complete they will use the lockout attached to the permit to restore the equipment to use. Once all of the days maintenance is complete your job is to coninue modifiying corn starch and providing it to other sub departments for drying.
Third shift arrives and checks the maintenance schedule for the next day and prepares the equipment for lockout once it has been emptied and/or cleanes. Once the equipment is down and cleaned, it is to be locked out according to the permit. If there is no permit for the work one would be created detailing safety instructions and a drawn or printed lockout attached and if any chemicals may be contacted their MSDS will also be attached.

Ive learned many mechanical trouble shooting skills, pump valves, etc. The ability to read and understand a MSDS. How to use proper PPE when dealing with chemicals. How to walk down a piece of equipment and properly isolate energy to that equipment to prepare it for work. I learned process flows and the ability to read blueprints. I learned basic chemistry and tests to check viscosity.

Management were mostly young interns and a few supervisors who actually had plant time. All in all they were very helpful. The only issues that arose were usually union related.

The coworkers were all solid people, they grew to almost be family as you worked with your team quite a bit. This would also be my most enoyable part of this job. Working together to reach a common goal is very rewarding.

The hardest part of this job is the swing shift. Seven midnights starting on a Wednesday, then two days off. Seven second shifts starting Friday then one day off. Seven day shifts starting Saturday then four days off. If youre shceduled a holiday, you work it. If someone is on vacation we work 12 hours to cover that persons vacation. If someone calls off you stay and work 16 hours to cover it.

good company to work for.
•	Standardizing 8 plants in TPM and TPR.
•	Standardizing all 8 plants to world class KPI standards and Maximo use.
•	Implementing BBS and strict safety at all 8 plants.
•	Training maintenance management at plants in cultural change process, standardization, TPM, KPI structure, Team building, and World Class requirements.
RELIABILITY AND CI MANAGER (Charlotte NC)
•	Converted Entire Charlotte Plant to Food Grade Oils & Greases eliminating contamination at a cost of $25,000.
•	Installed a 7 railcar load-out station at a cost of 1.3million with a quick return. The Charlotte plant produced and shipped to a profit of 10Million for the entire division equaling the highest return.
•	Reduced parts inventory from 1million to $650,000 by creating a criticality parts list and out sourcing inventory.
•	Installed and integrated Maximo with the Kanban system of tracking parts and reordering.
•	Increased PM & PDM in Charlotte plant to world class standard of 98% completion within 5 months.
•	Decreased Reactive work from 65% to 12% in 7months.
•	Held a total of 8 FMEA at Charlotte plant.
•	Held a total of 7 HAZOPS at Charlotte Plant.
•	Standardized all systems within the plant with the world class and corporate outlook.
•	Several Reliability projects in the production packaging line facility from install of a Kuka Palletizing Robot to re-engineering the packaging box erector.
MAINTENANCE MANAGER (Fullerton)
•	Implemented TPM, which includes RCA, FMEA, 5S, CI, maximizing Maximo and SAP PM & PDM use.
•	Reduction of Reactive/EM work from 45% to 12% World Class Standard.
•	Increased PM & PDM to a KPI and standard of 97% weekly completion.
•	Tracked Throughput and OEE for production efficiency.
•	Reduced Maintenance Budget from $900,000/month to $500,000/month due to implementation of rebuild program, parts reduction, 98% PM & PDM weekly completion.
•	Project Management to Demo old refinery and build new 4.3 Million dollar refinery at the Fullerton Plant.
•	Implemented a total of 6 FMEA for the year, which included maintenance members, engineering, and Production.
•	Implemented a total of 6 HAZOPS for the year also included Maintenance, Engineering, Safety, and Production in all HAZOPS.
•	After all Failures an immediate RCA and Incident Investigation process taken place.
•	Implementation of BBS program that is run by Maintenance techs and Production. 
•	BBS program eliminated Lost Time Accidents, First Aids, Near misses.

Imagine being the new guy, going to break, seeing the contractor you recognize standing in the rain locked out. His contact wasn't suppose to be there for another 2 hours. Getting on the radio to call for someone just for the day shift manager to get so mad and so loud over the radio, the contractor sincerely apologized to me. I did everything I was suppose to do. I later found out why I got yelled at, the Manager didn't want to deal with someone else's problem. 

Imagine someone taking your scissors so you had to go to the vending machine to get a new pair, but all the scissors fell over when the screw spun. Going to a Lead and informing him of the machine mess up and asked if he had a spare pair. Just to be later screamed and cussed out at by the trainer saying I wasn't allowed to go to the bosses. (He thought he was the boss). Training so inadequate, He would tell you once a 5 step process, very fast, 20 steps adding 4 other things all jumbled together and miss 3 steps, then get furious when you didn't know it. I brought a pen and paper the next day, he just said it even faster so I couldn't even write it down. Being told safety is #1, but being trained and told you have to skip safety or you won't be able to keep up.

Imagine being stuck with co-workers who would try to pick a argument every time with you, just to do your job. Be denied breaks by the same co-workers and Lead person who took half hour breaks and 45 min lunches, just because they dreaded your job. Being screamed at and told off by the person that was assigned to help you. To have the lab/quality/safety person constantly belittle everyone over the radio and pick arguments, the same person to report safety concerns to walk behind forklifts withing inches of the forklift, while lifting or lowering, then screaming at you about trying to hit them.

Imagine trying to go to Management who was also HR, about anything,  just to be told I was the problem instead of trying to fix it, allowing that culture to remain (a lack of wanting to deal with it). The pay could of been better, I loved the job itself, it kept me so busy they day flew by, but by far out of the 25 years working in factories, retail, carnivals, fast food, and I have worked in some very bad places, by far the worse experience I have ever had. This was just the tip of the iceberg. I could write so much more and i was only there 3 months.

Checked daily emails for order of products/shortage of order, etc. 
Checked for customer orders and release loads in the systems
Communicated company and division information to teammates
Received and unload trucks both manually or with equipment such as forklifts and pallet jacks
Checked for damaged goods
Verified quantity and quality of order
Verified items received with order; wraps, packages, and ships meat products, tags and issues, stock shelves, operates computer to access, enter, and correct information
Recorded shipment data, such as weight, charges, space availability, and damages and discrepancies, for recordkeeping purposes
Deliver or route materials to departments, using work devices, such as hand truck, conveyor, or sorting bins
Pack, seal, label, and affix postage to prepare for shipments
Provided directions and feedback to team members
Experienced with driving shuttle truck
Carried out department procedures to meet those standards, and promote them to and gain buy-in and positive results from teammates
Ensured department procedures will cut unnecessary costs, add value for customers 
Supervised and manage daily work of department teammates
Maintained schedules and job assignments of department teammates
Maintained all departmental paperwork
Provided training as needed to maintain an efficient and knowledgeable workforce
Provided coaching/corrective action, training and development for teammates
Enforce all Distribution Center policies and issue 
Ensured proper operational and safety procedures
Relieved shift supervisor during vacations
Complied with company work and safety rules
Work independently and in a team environment
Maintained a flexible work schedule to meet the changing needs of the Distribution Center
Receives, inventories, distributes and ships merchandise
Logged merchandise information into System. Helped update and maintain database
Assisted in shipping and receiving, unloading trucks, checking in merchandise, placing materials or items on racks, shelves, bins, and pallets according to programmed sequences such as size, style, type, color, or product code
Gathered and maintained all data records relative to shipping activities

I have worked at Cargill Meat Solutions for 7+ years as a maintenance working. Starting on 3rd shift overnights in a wash-down environment with extreme temperature changes throughout the night. Now I'm working the hours of 3pm to 11:30pm 6 days a week most of the year. For around the last 2 years I have been working 3pm to 3:30am 12 hour shifts to cover for 3rd shift lacking electricians. I have learned a vast majority of skills and problem solving strategies. Being in an ever changing environment with in excess of 5 different languages and continuously changing rules and regulations, I find it a welcomed challenge trying to keep up to date with these hurdles. 

My co-workers are amazing, We all work together and get the task completed to keep the facility running. Doing so in a safe and time efficient manor. We are all able to laugh and joke even on the worst of days and help each other when times get tough.

Hardest part of my job is trying to juggle my personal life with my work schedule. We are required to work 6 days a week the majority of August through February. Including Christmas, Thanksgiving, and other holidays. This leaves little time to be with your families at these times. 

The most enjoyable part I would have to say is when I am given a task that tests my abilities and makes me really focus and reach for skills I rarely have to use. Being given an electrical drawing and parts to retro fit a piece of equipment that no one else can do is a way that lets me know my skills are needed for the task at hand.

Most of my boss's are amazing and will gladly come out there and help you with a task if you ask them. My previous boss I worked for in the plant would have to be the best person I had the please to work for in my 7+ years at the plant. He worked with you and would constantly follow you to a job to help or offer advice. During his time with me on many jobs we over came many obstacles and utilized our combined skill set to maintain a low amount of downtime and exceptional preventative maintenance report for the area we were in change for.

where can I start  we do get a lot of internet lead and walk in and most coworkers are nice people but we do have popcorn coffee water available for costumers a free car wash the only thing is it may scratch you vehicle it happened to me no ones will pay service department is the sales enemy any way 1.sales have to much responsibilities take care the lot too for no pay show days ++ it should be some one at the lot like lot guy but they always go they get push  around to much so they do not last, sales do not have a inventory in good condition that is the worst every time you sale a use vehicle need to get fix before get sold in service for days if is not weeks and no ones cares or a 90% of the time we the sales team still convince them to still buy no one said thanks good job !! we are an amazing sales team for that you do not advance here only a some one special they like !! we use to get pay base on Gross or profit but now every sale is a lost without discount yet haha now is a $200 minimum it use to be a lot more I use to sale one make $800, $600 or $1000 now need to sell 5 cars for $1000 even knowing in some cases what we pay for it the gross disappear like magic hahah  overall 50k is most you will make or sale 20 cars a month yea right only 1 or 2 guys can do that a lot of hand out and free ones when you sale a car  to much requirement in top of all the paperwork for the sale. no is not a fair pay  I think every sale man here can't pay there bill on time if you ask one by one because is not a stable income unless you are very young came out of Hight school no wife no children no bill live with mama haha there is a base salary a week $300 yes but every where every dealer there is this days, only the Managers get a fair pay like 100k  Managers always knows everything but people on the field are the ones who really do it day by day sales is not what it use to in  sale the customer want discount every time if you said this is the best or lower price they came to fight is  a hard work a lot of hours if you happy with 50k you be fine here apply but I have been here several years I have seen more them 20 sales go away as soon they can  if you want to get pay more then 50k maybe not here

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Truck driver 418 salaries reported	$75,000 per year
Maintenance technician 70 salaries reported	$28.86 per hour
Production worker 15 salaries reported	$21.70 per hour
Production 36 salaries reported	$21.01 per hour
Production technician 73 salaries reported	$22.18 per hour

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