I am employed by Forstaff (a temp agency) and I have worked at the following places:
Coles-Myer DC: This was a grocery holdings warehouse. I scooted around on an EPJ (electric pallet jack) and loaded boxes of groceries onto the two pallets that I "towed". This job was my first, and the hardest of all. There were mainly men working there. It required heavy and repeated lifting and every order was timed, so that you had to get the job done in a certain amount of time otherwise you risked being asked back. I started out on night shift 11pm til 7am. After working ther about 6 weeks, I got a 1 month contract. I was offered a further 3 months there, but I had to go back to uni, so I declined. I continued to work ther for about another 6 months on various shifts, but then they changed the casual hiring system around and I could no longer get work there. I liked working there, the money was very good and the people were friendly.
Corporate Express: this firm handles ofice supplies, ranging from pencils and erasers to ink cartridges and waste paper bins. This was also a great place to work, the people were good, and the work not hard. Here I have done order picking, packing and invoicing, back orders, put aways and *editing* of their catalogue. With the put aways, I have used a pellet jack and an electric pellet jack.
HPA: This is a printing place and the handle customers such as Telstra, various banks and other large firms. They print out letter, magazines etc and then package them.
Pacific Brands (Sara Lee): Unfortunetly, they handle clothes at this warehouse, not the frozen desserts. Early starts (6am might not seem bad but I had to get up really early as it is quite far away) but the work was good: picking orders, hanging clothes or doing checks in the quality control department.
Mack Trucks: Two days of stocktaking the truck's spare parts, I spent the majority of my time there up high, in a cherry picker. I went there a year leter and it was pretty much the same...the first day however, I was outside in the hot Summer sun. I ended up scoring a free Mack Truck hat (because I didn't bring one) and I was the last of the casuals to leave Saturay arvo.
Myer: I have worked at the department store on several occasions, folding men's t-shirts, hanging men's underwear and counting and sorting shoes for relocation.
AlphaPharm: I have worked in packaging, where I had to wear coveralls, bootees, hair nets and masks and the wash bay.
Harvest Fresh Cuts: Eight hours of cutting vegetables. Not bad, except the lettuce where a whole crate of them where ridden with gross caterpillas...charming. YUK!
Andi's Appliances: I worked as a *phone answerer*...
Hills: I cleaned the canteen and some other places.
The Warehouse: I worked here one day. It was quite easy and they provided us with lunch. However, it took a mighty long time to get there so even if they asked me again, I would probably say no, depending on how much I needed the money. There was a guy there who said he recognised me from Coles. I didn't remember him though, don't know why not but he just didn't look familiar.
Cantabury Clothing Company: I worked here two days in 2002 to do a stocktake.
Monday, 01 July 2002