line cook

server

host/hostess

dishwasher

sous chef

The Common Man

        It was like being in high school all over again when I worked at the common man roadside diner! I loved it at first because I truly bought the whole "we're all a family here" speech! I thought the way I was being treated at first was just because I was a newcomer and they had to get to know me more before I'd be fully accepted there as a team player. But it never changed for the better it just got consistently worse. Anything I confided in my co-workers in with was always shared with the whole team by the end of shift and I was constantly being treated badly by my team members. There's constant favoritism being played by the managers, if you're not one of their favorites, you get treated horribly!!
         To start off with when I was hired I was told that I'd start off as a dishwasher but it would only be for a few weeks until they found another dishwasher to replace me while I got used to the place. I ended up dish washing for almost 8 months before they finally told me I could move to a line cook at the fry station, i was so excited at first but that was when I realized all the move did was make me their little errand runner; the one who was constantly left having to do the cleaning and stocking which consisted of going to the basement to get A LOT of supplies and bring them upstairs to the diner kitchen, including 30-40 lb. boxes of potatoes for the fresh cut fries. This all happened after telling them I couldn't lift heavy things due to an umbilical cord hernia I got during the birth of my son about a year prior. At first I didn't mind because I thought it was just during rushes until I got my speed up and I was out of the dish room but it started to get to be too much after doing it every day alone for weeks which turned to months even during extremely slow times and it became frustrating when we're all supposed to share all of the responsibilities. 
           The training there if horrid because one person will train you to do something one way and you'll get used to doing it that way and then all of a sudden a manager, or co-owner in my case, will see you doing that particular task that way and you get yelled at for it because it's not the way we're supposed to do it. I'd tell them I was trained that way and it's like they didn't hear me it was just well this is how you do it with customers right there watching and listening the whole time. It was very embarrassing when I'm making their food for someone to come over and make it completely obvious that i'm doing it "wrong", makes me look like I don't know what I'm doing as a cook. They don't give raises or reviews anywhere near when you're due for them. Also, they make you work double shifts with no break or with 1 short 10 minute break. Then you get attitude for asking for that 1 10 minute break when you get back from it. Even when you go to the bathroom you're rushed told to make it quick!!!
          Everything about this place is horrible do NOT work there!

I strongly recommend NOT working at the CMC. First of all, you have to go through 2+ weeks of training and a dinner test before you're able to wait tables. Not to mention they will throw you in a 3-table section, which is extremely limiting to the amount of money you're able to make. The Common Man is extremely OVERSTAFFED, with the laziest and most unreliable servers and bartenders. If you ever need your shift covered, don't count on anyone to pick it up because they won't, regardless of the amount of staff they have. Even if you need to call out, it's always almost impossible to reach a manager. Also, the amount of running, opening, and closing side work they assign is absurd; especially since almost no one is willing to help. If you are a hard worker, expect everyone to take advantage of that. Bartenders there take 10+ minutes to make service drinks, even when it's slow, then will get mad at you when you ask for them. Some bartenders will pull tickets, forget about them, throw them away, etc. Then get mad when waitstaff tip them like garbage, even though they make more money than servers. Management is extremely biased and unapproachable. There's only one solid manager there that actually stands up for servers and listens to their frustrations. The line cooks have the worst attitudes and constantly complain about literally everything. Also, the clientele is awful. You will be serving the rudest, most demanding, stingy, miserable old people. This isn't even HALF of it. The only good thing about working here is the benefits, which I guarantee you are not worth it. Do yourself a favor, and do not work here. 

Employees from bottom up or top down are miserable. But people stay because they need the benefits. Common Man takes advantage of this, resulting in high turnover, and low morale across locations. All the things you hope a corporation will not do, they will do.  You will need a few months to experience this first hand, as their upper management, interview process, and training will paint the picture of a company mindset and culture that does things differently. They do not.

I was able to learn quite a bit while I was there, and put out a high quality product for guests - to their credit. Additionally, every person I worked with directly was a reason to stay as long as I did. They recruit amazing, skilled, caring, thoughtful, and thorough professionals for every position in every store. I loved everyone on my team, and would have poached them all if I could have.

Yet, the obstacles presented in day to day operations, and lack of support,  transparency and communication, ultimately outweigh any advancement, career benefits or store comradery and cohesiveness (in my opinion). 

For people who need what they offer on paper, it can be a viable option. Otherwise, you will disappointed, as I was. You will not be respected, and your time will be wasted. There are many other options in NH, despite the far reach of Common Man across the state. If you can afford to keep looking - do so, and avoid settling for Common Man.

This is for the Meredith location I can’t speak for the others, worst job I’ve ever had and I’ve been working as a server almost 15 years, the staff was HORRIBLE, so mean and constantly making your job harder, management does NOTHING and actually usually gossip and act that way with them, you don’t get to take your own tips home, they go into a weekly check that always seems off, management doesn’t want to hear you at all, spent many days trying not to cry in the middle of a rush, the people who have been there the longest are the worst and again they seem to almost condone the behavior from the veterans of the place- mean people! Stay away! Heinous work environment! They made me train for almost 2 weeks before letting me go on the floor, and then other new people trained for a day, so unprofessional. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Great customer brand loyalty.   Traditional hospitality pay which is horrible. Most facilities are dirty and gross.   Management loves to brag about their retirement, but no loyalty to their employee’s.   They would rather give two million to Ukraine then pay their BOH or FOH employee’s.  High turnover.   80’s type management approach to their employees.   

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Trying to find employees.   Bad reputation

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
As mentioned, old school management.  Don’t care

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Typical.  Now a days, there is never enough time to get the “little things” done.   No employee commitment. Low pay.   Its kind of a joke

Very stingy with their money. Had no benefits and but a little discount. Never felt appreciated by the management. Managers only give good tables to workers they like. There is an issue with favoritism within the managers. They are awful with communication. They don't give their employees second chances on fixing something. I did not enjoy my summer working for this company. They even put me un-hirable in the whole common man system just because I missed one shift. They also never told me that I was not asked to come back, because of that one mistake. The managers will be out to get you if your not on their good side. But co-workers were really nice and respectable. I felt unfairly treated while being part of the common man.

In terms of coworker culture and the ability to get along with coworkers, this company is 2nd to none. Unfortunately management throughout the entire company is lackadaisical and apathetic. No matter how many issues you bring to management, whether it's broken equipment, food quality, service quality, management quality, they will do next to nothing to address the problem. Good luck getting a decent raise from them - they have one of, if not the most, profitable restaurant in the state during summer, but they will literally laugh in your face if you ask for a raise even if they know you're a valuable employee. 

arrive at 2pm punch in check the prep list begin prep set the line up for hot service cook from 4pm to 11pm break down the hot line clean front line wrap and date all food sweep mop take trash out then punch out, and any other tasks that a manager  needed done

I learned nothing my skill level in food service was well advanced then was required there.

typical management do your job and what they tell you and everything is fine.

coworkers were standard did only what they had to do or were required to.

hardest part of my job was during peak service hours

most enjoyable was being able to create specials and see them sell out

My opportunity to work with the Common Man Family of Restaurants began early in the history of the Common Man.  I worked with Alex Ray at the original Common Man in Ashland and also the Pine Shore in Holderness which operated during the summer.   Since the original restaurant, Alex has expanded north and south of route 93.
I had the pleasure to run his bar and found the experience to be invaluable.  The food was great and the staff was exceptional.  I learned a lot about the hospitality business and later took my experience to Hart's Turkey Farm Restaurant in Meredith where I ran the bars there.

Coworkers have ranged from ambivalent to an absolute joy to labor alongside.  Management is mostly-hands off, and not overbearing. They tend to intervene only when employees need help.  The average day at work here will have me bouncing from station to station, making burgers, sandwiches, fried foods, salads, dinners, and of course taking orders.  The most challenging part of the job stems from the fact that the business is located on a major highway, and as such we see a large amount of non-native English speakers, and it can be difficult to communicate with them and help them to get everything they are looking for.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Line cook 83 salaries reported	$20.90 per hour
Server 53 salaries reported	$906 per week
Host/hostess 25 salaries reported	$17.06 per hour
Dishwasher 33 salaries reported	$16.41 per hour
Sous chef 17 salaries reported	$60,941 per year

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