I was going grocery shopping this afternoon at Hannaford in Waterville and was thinking about the job application I submitted earlier this week to Autozone as a fulltime delivery driver. I wondered why I hadn't heard from them about an interview yet. So before I went to Hannaford I decided to stop into the Waterville Autozone store to speak with the manager about my application. I decided that I would show him my 48 5-star ratings from DoorDash customers to see if that would compel him to give me an interview.
I entered the store, spoke with the manager and showed him all of my DoorDash ratings and total # of deliveries to date. I made a point of telling him that I've only been dashing for a little over 60 days and was able to successfully deliver 400 orders in those first 60 days. When he saw my customer ratings, he said he found that very impressive and asked what my name was so he could look up my application on the system.
I told him my name and started telling him about my other experience delivering for NAPA about 20yrs ago and working for DMV in the OUI unit in 2007 suspending and restoring the licenses of drunk drivers (to show him that I can successfully communicate with and help difficult customers). I explained that DoorDash wages are insufficient to pay my bills and that I was looking for steady fulltime or parttime work as a driver. I told him I love to drive, I drive a mean stick shift, I have a clean driving record, several years of violation-free credits and I love working with people. I told him I would easily pass all background checks and could start immediately.
He then asked me if I had any problem being split between the Augusta and Waterville stores, which I said I didnt. I said I was available 7 days a week and can work at either store with little difficulty because I live in Sidney near I95. I then told him I was going to work for DoorDash tonight in Augusta at 4p. He said when I get to Augusta he wanted me to stop into the Augusta Autozone store and speak with the manager. He told me to tell the Augusta manager that he wanted me to have a dual interview with both stores asap, and that he would call the Augusta manager before I arrived to tell him that I was coming. I thanked him, shook his hand and said I would stop at the Augusta store before the manager left for the night at 5p.
I arrived at the Augusta Autozone around 4p and started to speak with the manager. I explained my conversation with the Waterville manager and that he asked me to stop by. The Augusta manager said the Waterville manager had not yet called him so he called Waterville at that moment to check my story. The Waterville manager immediately said he forgot to call Augusta and proceeded to explain our conversation and what Waterville wanted Augusta to do.
As I was "selling myself", the Augusta manager decided instead to take me out back and summoned his Asst. Manager to join the interview. He felt compelled to give me a full interview on the spot instead of scheduling it for the future. The 3 of us sat and talked for about 30min about the job duties, pay, perks, each of our expectations, etc. As we were talking and I was listening to them explain that they will bend over backwards for customers, and they will do whatever it takes to fulfill a customer's order, I found that to be a perfect segway to my telling them a story about a DoorDash delivery I made recently where I went out of my way to make sure the order was successfully delivered. They both found my actions to be impressive and aligned with Autozone's policy to do everything possible to help the customer.
It was at that point that the Augusta manager offered me the job on the spot and asked what my wage requirements were. I told him I just wanted to earn enough money to pay my basic monthly bills which is about $2000/month right now. So I asked for a wage that would give me $2000/month take-home pay. He said they usually start at $14.50 but would give me the maximum starting wage of $14.73 because of my experience. He said he will start me as a parttime delivery driver until I learn how the store works, and if it works out for both of us, he will promote me with a pay raise to fulltime delivery driver in a few months.
We then completed some paperwork so they could do my background checks, and he gave me a uniform shirt to wear. He was processing my application and discovered that Headquarters would not allow him to give me $14.73/hour, but he assured me he would give me a raise as soon as I was trained and promoted to fulltime delivery driver. He said before I can start working, I need to go to Bangor for an all-day training session and I need to be in full uniform for that training. Luckily, the next training is next Saturday, the 29th! He said he will schedule me to work the next day on Sunday the 30th for my first shift and will expand my schedule accordingly over the next few weeks/months. Eventually, if all works well for both of us, I will drive fulltime and will help customers in the store when no deliveries are needed.
Moral of the story: If I had not followed my wisdom and intuition to stop at the Waterville store and show the manager my 48 5-star DoorDash customer ratings, I would not be writing this story right now, or be preparing myself to go back to work at a real job with steady pay and hours!
Always follow your intuition ~ it will never lead you astray! My life is proof of that. Ray Carney Gary S