production worker

customer service representative

sanitation worker

maintenance technician

material handler

Jack Links Protein Snacks

this was while I was there. remodeling has been done since i left, Mankato plant has been converted into refrigerated plant, may or may not be running same product as I ran

typical day: 
(light blue frock) cutting operator - cut meat
(light blue frock) packager - package meat
(green frock) utilities - janitorial job
(dark red frock) QA - inspects meat, packaging, and machines
(dark blue frock) maintenance- repair machines as needed
(red frock) management - walk around the plant, watching people work, occasional vocal 'great job", then they leave

depending on the day, cutting operators may be asked to help on packaging. electric pallet training for cutters preferred but not required

every day before workday begins, all employees gather near break room for team meeting to talk safety, and schedule for the day

when I first started, the Plant Manager, Night Shift supervisor, and Foreman were different.They had a "no nonsense" attitude, and expected people to work. They treated people equally and with respect, and understood the needs of their employees. Work was steady, not overly stressful, and was handled equally with everyone
after they left, things went downhill rapidly.
Their replacements dropped the ball concerning rotation schedule and having employees showing others professional respect. more verbal fights occurred and more people quit due to the stress brought on by 1st Shift making orders they were not willing to produce their fair share, leaving 2nd Shift to pick up the rest of the load, work twice as hard, and doing more then necessary. The CEO came in at one point and had a very serious meeting with this plant about taking on more than the plant can handle. it was not a good meeting. 

there is favoritism shown in the plant. Jack links is an equal opportunity employer, and will hire from any creed, race, religion, gender, race, etc., but not everyone will be treated fairly and equally.
certain individuals / groups of individuals have more pull with the floor leads / machine operators and get away with atrocious behavior, verbal assault on others is common, and these individuals shoulder off their assignment onto other people who were temporarily moved from one packaging line to another

if you get a work-related injury, do not expect any help from management. they leave everything to you. the company they go through for work related incidents is horrendous and will deny you if you don't provide a 20 year medical history about your work-related injury
even with a doctors note, management will demand you do a job that will make your injury even worse. i watched this happen to two others.

there is an attendance "point system", 10 points total
3 points - verbal warning
6 points - first written warning
8 points - second written warning, 30 day probation
10 points - termination
call in sick - 1 point
leave early before halfway through shift- 1 point
leave after halfway through shift - half point
no call no show - 5 points

points come off in 6 month interval if they remember to take them off

**holidays**
do not expect to get holidays off. you will work holidays. yes, you get paid OT for it, but at the expense of never spending that day with your family...
WINTER HOLIDAYS
each year i worked there, they shut down the plant for a week or even two weeks. they say it's for repairs, but each time i came back, i never saw the repairs. they advise their employees they can either take paid time off, or sign up for temporary unemployment- yes, you heard that right, temporary unemployment- but that takes a week to go through the system, and is not even guaranteed that you will receive it once you are in the system...
 if you use PTO, you cannot sign up for unemployment
if you dont have PTO, you can sign up, but wont receive until the next time they shut down for a week.since it takes a week to process, so all in all, you're screwed if you dont have PTO

overall, this was a very bad and stressful work environment. the only "advancement" there is, if you can call it that, is being transferred from one position to another, but you're still under the same management, which will not change for anyone. 

I do not recommend working here.

Pulling off HWY 53 north in Minong WI (45 minutes south of Duluth, MN) all you see is farm land, trees as far as the eyes can see and never ending rolling hills. As you take in the landscape there is one thing you won't be able to help but notice, Jack Link's Beef Jerky's World Headquarters. The plant/corporate office combo stands as a beacon among the natural landscape and can be seen for miles around. This is how my day ends and starts, with a family built and bred company thriving in the little town that built it. 

Every day is different, challenging and exciting in the benefits department at Jack Link's. Being a Benefits Specialist my number one duty is customer service and my customers are the people I see every day at work, the employees. Whether it's processing a medical enrollment for a new hire, explaining the leave absence policy or heading up the wellness committee, every part of my day is about making sure the company takes care of its employees. With a company close to 3,000 domestic employees and 3 team members in the Benefits department this can be a tall order, but every day we work hard to meet the needs and expectations of our customers.

After five years with Jack Link's I have learned that you have never learned enough. I've held three different positions at Jack Link's Beef Jerky and all have been invaluable in what they have taught me. With all that I have learned these three things ring true no matter what position I have filled; know the culture of your company, know how to communicate with that culture and create a positive rapport among the culture. These three things can be the hardest part of my job and the most enjoyable all at the same time.

All that I have learned at Jack Link's has built a solid foundation for my future opportunities outside Jack Link's and the motto I will carry with me no matter my destination will continue be: work hard, play hard and always Feed Your Wild Side!

A typical day involved all aspects day to day management of 80+ direct & indirect accounts. Building elaborate fact based presentations. Public speaking in groups as large as 150. hundreds of miles of travel. Retail checks on top of calling directly of big convenience store corporate decision makers & DSD/Wholesalers all over the Intermountain West.

I learned to become a very powerful sales person, public presenter. I was able to apply my previous category management skills to building plan-o-grams for many retailers & maximizing profitability & top line sales while maintaining perfect P&L balance.

Most management was great & I am not one to talk badly but a particular individual 's unprofessional harassment led me away from a career I loved & thrived in. Upper management were great & always had an open door policy to listen to ideas & help in any way possible.

My co-workers were some of the best people I have ever had the honor to work with. We were truly a team across the U.S.A. & no one ever hesitated to offer advise or even give their opinion on ideas & problems. Great team environment that made that company a huge success.

The hardest part of the job was there seemed to be a divide between the sales force & the marketing team which made the sales team's job much more inefficient.

The most enjoyable part was the business relationships I made & the record sales I achieved in 5 year's. Also, with my high level of mathematical skill I was given full responsibility to build 4 other team mates yearly budgets.

During my time employed with this company many things good and not so good I observed through out the months, The communication skills were terrible through out company from corporate down to human resources and down to the supervisors on the floor. The score system is another thing that was not agreed upon within the company points were placed upon an employee for something as small as calling in due to a sickness in the family or as simple as calling in one minute late for car problems is a 2 point deduction. Or clocking in to the time clock one minute late is a 1/2 of point,
Each employee begins with 10 points and anything costs you points even leaving early that is 1/2 a point Most of the supervisors were very good at what they did. About 60% of the employees did not have good skills as far as not only communication but working with there co workers, when an employee filed a complaint on another employee it was not responded to in a timely manner sometimes not at all the product was not always cooked the right way and the supervisor in the pack room allowed it to pass through moldy meat was sometimes gone through and discarded but the meat it came in the same as the moldy meat it was still passed and approved.
However there were some good things like the benefits and bonus checks.

You think this woud be a cool company to work for. It seems like every supervisor is a micro-manager. They want to be called often. And if you don't pick up when they call you get reprimanded.

Everyday there is a some new inane report. They want you to download lots of silly pictures daily, perfectly formatted, after just working an 8-9 hour shift and driving all day. When your micro-manager does a work with. They spend the whole week with you. Yet when you ask that micro manager about, certain accounts, benefits or opportunities they become clueless!

Trying to get any type of updates from account managers is impossible. I found out more information on my own then from those overpaid folks

The territories are so large. At Walmart most of the product are on the mods. So just think how crazy that is working at Walmart registers during the afternoon, CRAZY! Some accounts you have to go in areas where there are mice and mice feces. And don't call into corporate. You just can't get answers

Pros
The benefits are mediocre at best. PTO could be better. The people are friendly and the environment is causal. You receive a free bag of jerky a day.

Cons
The team you are hired onto will greatly affect your success and happiness here. You can love your job, own your role, work hard, and build a great rapport with your co-workers. However, if your managers fail to see your success and credibility, despite your efforts, you will end up micro managed, harassed, belittled, overworked, stressed, and have no sense of job security. Efforts to show improvement, whether or not you actually needed it, goes no where. They take a very long time to hire and are quick to fire without investigating or second thought.

There needs to be some serious reconstruction to the current leadership in this company. Certain managers have way too much leverage over others and because of this, teams are mismanaged and some lose their jobs for unfair reasons. The employees who leave on their own terms don't leave the company, they leave their managers.

A typical work day could be anything from what you were actually hired for to anywhere they need you to be.

What I learned was how to hang jerky in a 32 degree environment without giving up within 6 months; for this is how long it takes to move on to another level or section of the plant. I moved on into the steakline area and became very proficiant in delivering the meat from a meat shoot, even with the speed rack game. 

I next moved on to become a machine operator where we package the finished cooked jerky to which I loved ! I really miss all my coworkers and bosses as well.

The hardest part of the job was at the end of the night about  2am we had to wash everything in sinks that did not fit the parts and in soap that makes you sick over a period of about 4 month.

The most enjoyable part of the job was after my husband died I went there to have some socialization in my life and I realy just had fun.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Worked there for 10 years, and the best part was the 1st 3 years. After that, I had 10 different managers. Went from feeling like a valued employee to " this place is a prison". Never been treated that way at any other company and I was on the leadership team. Didn't know until after I left and went somewhere else how bad it really was!!! Anyone thinking about it, don't do it. Your treated better in prison then u are there.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Being hander the keys while everyone sits at their desk. Never recognized for breaking record case goals, only downgraded anytime something went wrong. Place is a joke

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Horrible, the morale was sickning. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Go in, open up the place get the team set on their job tasks for the day, then observe the team while doing those tasks. Encourage, lift team members up, and help with any issue they are having. Then reflect on anything throughout the day, then go home

The good:  Great co-workers, free stuff, long weekends, overtime, & 2 bonuses per year.     

The bad:  This company will make you work your tail off.  The smarter that you are, the more they will use you.  The harder you work, the more responsibility you will have.  Workers often have to stay late.  Human resources will rip you off every chance that they get & act stupid when confronted.  You have to remind them when it is time for your review or they will skip it.  Management makes up new rules/procedures every single week (year after year) as if they have no idea of what they are doing.  This is one of the most stressful, frustrating, & disappointing places that I have ever worked.  They do give away a lot of free stuff, but when it comes to the topic of raises/reviews do not expect them to be on time.  The shifts are long (12-14 hours).  Management has poor follow through.  This place has a very high employee turnover rate.  You work standing in the cold your entire shift.  The hardest part of the job are the times when you are forced to multitask & perform a multiple person job by yourself.

You are only a number and if you say no to more responsibilities you are marked for termination. Leadership gives you no support and micro manages. They also place who they know in positions they do not deserve rather than hiring from within or listening to the teams’ needs. Goals are set to fail because leadership forgets and again no support to achieve those goals. Want a raise? Forget it unless you’re working the job of 5 people. You can be let go at the drop of the hat but they won’t backfill your position…they’ll just spread your tasks over an already thin team. The only thing they care about are shares and you not spending money. For a company that supposedly knows the increase of prices in the market only the leaders are lining their pockets. If you do decide to work here just know you will do the job of 3-5 after the first year and any years of service will make you a liability they will cut as soon as they can. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Production worker 52 salaries reported	$18.33 per hour
Customer service representative 2 salaries reported	$25.00 per hour
Sanitation worker 23 salaries reported	$20.03 per hour
Maintenance technician 24 salaries reported	$30.76 per hour
Material handler 30 salaries reported	$20.40 per hour

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