Released

Sunday night/Monday morning I was told that I was being released from training in the kitchen. Apparently, the way for Hershey to familiarize you with your new job is to release you after two weeks on the job training and let you make your own mistakes. The person that currently holds the relief/rework position in the kiss kitchen told me he would be there just in case something went wrong and I needed help to fix it.

I don't think two weeks of OJT is near enough time to learn eveything you need to know in order to be a succesful operator in the kiss kitchen. My trainer told me the only way to familiarize yourself with what goes on is to actually perform the duties yourself and have someone around if something happens that I couldn't handle. So to this point in the week, I have been fairly successful collecting samples, measuring temper, cleaning screen check points along with cleaning and replacing magnets. I am able to start the line myself and repair most anything that sets off an alarm on the line itself. However, last night an alarm went off that I had never seen or heard before and I actually went to the wrong screen in an attempt to figure out what the alarm was about. I just needed to go to the "hopper" screen and open up a valve that had been closed in order to relieve pressure from the line. Needless to say, I was given a hard time about it for the rest of the night. I heard plenty of "and you went to college" cracks for the remainder of the night. I will say this, being more hands on has given me a lot more confidence in becoming an operator. I'm not afraid to make a mistake and it seems as though everything is beginning to come together and make sense. I'll see if the feeling has changed by the end of the work week.