quality assurance technician

product support

intern

event assistant

content writer

Murrays Cheese

Great place to work, lots of educational experiences, always something to do, fast paced, plus got to try everything.  I learned how to build lasting relationships with customers, we were frequently called the "Cheers" of the store.  Managers go through extensive training, starting from the bottom and earning their way to the top by proving themselves through a series of actually tests on standards, merchandising, knowledge of the product, customer service skills, and up-selling.  I will say it is hard to hire for the cheese shop, but that's because it takes a special sort to really want to know the ins and outs of everything cheese.  If you weren't willing to try everything in the shop, and be able to sell it, we didn't want you.  We held ourselves to a very high standard, and because of that, we often went months understaffed.  It wasn't hard work, but it was very detailed work, and relied heavily on a commitment to food safety, and proper maintenance of all tools keep a sanitary, safe, and organized work environment.  The hardest part of the job is convincing that the cheese that smells like wadded up locker room sock tossed under a teenage boy's bed and left to fester for 4 months, is actually a really tasty morsel, the most enjoyable part is when they trust our knowledge, knowing we would never lead them astray, and they love it, taking it home to enjoy that night!

I've been working at Murray's for the past 6 months and its been interesting to say the least.

Positives:

- Pretty much as much cheese as you can eat. Tons of unique foreign and domestic cheeses and accompaniments.
- Many opportunities to interact directly with, and educate,  customers
- Will work around school or second job
- Fairly easy work.

Negatives:

- Horrible pay. Just barely above minimum wage for providing a specialty product. I walked into my interview with over 4 years of food service experience and was offered minimum wage.
- Hours cut based on low sales. A specialty shop, especially one as niche as cheese is not going to do well all year round. For the holiday season our hours were cut to 120 for four employees!
- Non-performance based favoritism. I was the best employee in terms of demoing new products, sales, and production, yet all vacation time, days off, and preferred shifts went to those who had been working there longer. Even though their performance at work was at or below the bare minimum.

Headquarters is run more like a store than a corporate environment.  Limited time off/vacations/holidays, minimal benefits, no 401k employer match, poor structure and culture.  Having cheese in the office is great, but that along with your 35% discount for product/20% discount on classes and "free" cheese classes (which you have to volunteer to help set up and clean up before and after) are your only perks.  (You don't even need to be an employee to volunteer for classes, so this isn't really even a perk.)

Murray's Cheese is a great fit for a store employee who wants to progress into corporate, but if you have any level of experience, you should probably look elsewhere.

My day starts at whenever they want, which is fine but I find it challenging not to work a set schedule and to balance my life because I wanna try to do online classes at least but the company is not good with change. 

I have learned about different types of cheeses from other countries and how exactly they are different, and different types of sells technique. 

My coworkers where great, they come and go mainly but the ones that choose to stay are great despite the occasional slacking off which annoys me. 

The hardest part of the job is keeping all the cheese straight and to act like you know everything about said job. 

The most enjoyable part is learning and tasting all the new things they bring to you and getting excited when it is something you enjoy.

While I was there the serving environment was supportive and helpful with generous training events and approachable management. That was before the sale to Kroger. 

If anything they were overstaffed with servers which should aid in a more elegant service with support from the other servers. Often times this was not the case. A dedicated busser, expeditor or back server would have made service smoother. 

The gentle balance between quality cuisine with elegant service and well made thoughtful pub fair with unpretentious yet unengaged service was the most successful I have ever seen in an establishment before. The inherent conflicts were problematic though. More servers mean less money in tips unless better service increases sales at times that has happened but may not.

The job itself is fantastic.  You learn about and eat cheese all day.  What's not to love about that? The downfall is Kroger has bought out Murray's so although you are hired on as a cheesemonger the management seems to have a constant lack of communication and threatens Murray's employees repeatedly to leave their kiosk and help elsewhere in the store.  When I left it was getting to be quite the fight (hence my leaving).  But despite all the politics the experience is unique and unlike many other occupations one could acquire without certificates and/or degrees.  Great part time (~12hrs/week), don't recommend putting in more than that.  It's physically hard work and mentally draining.  Speaking of mentally draining, prepare to be unsure of anything and in training mode for at least the first 6 months of this job.  There is one massively steep learning curve for any positions in their kiosks.

Murray's is a fine and historical "cheese kingdom."  It's really interesting, getting to know about the world's cheeses, but there are so many marketing opportunities they're missing. Helping customers with the outstanding quantity and quality of products is the BEST part of the job.

The management, through Krogers, is horrible.  They place more importance on how clean the floor is than extraordinary sales skills...they favor males and don't provide the training necessary to be promoted.  High school antics and juvenile gossip and behavior, at times. They continually give more hours to new trainees than loyal associates who have been there longer.  

They should be more open about how to be promoted, both at the store and the Murray's corporate level.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The group  that I worked with were the most kind, helpful, non bossy, non condescending  generous with their time & knowledge people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. Would work with them in a nano-second. First class crew!! 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
There was non!!!  Never had a bad moment with them.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very non stressful. The workers  there are so knowledgeable, very easy to teach & all  it w me to know more about the business.  They all really  know their business 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It was amazing!!  Easily one of the better jobs I’ve had!!

So much to learn and share with customers and the daily productivity is fun, preparing product for customers while answering their questions and delighting them with samples and "new" ideas of how they might use a product. The team is fun to work with and we work well together. It is an enjoyable work environment-even when we work trucks!

Typical day at murrays cheese would be you walk in clock in greet the people there, take your time to get dressed and all. Everybody is all friendly so it's no weird feeling walking in to work, it's fun to work there, they are able to help when you need it, but when it's time to work, it's time to work, overall a great experience.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Quality assurance technician 1 salary reported	$25.50 per hour
Product support 1 salary reported	$66,300 per year
Intern 1 salary reported	$18.50 per hour
Event assistant 1 salary reported	$61,500 per year
Content writer 1 salary reported	$37.50 per hour

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