As the school year ends and many students’ parents are pressuring them to find jobs this summer to spend their time, a new bakery in town offers an amazing job opportunity for rising juniors and seniors. Chip Cookies opened earlier this year, and is placed in a new retail area just 15 minutes from Erie High School.
Chip Cookies showcases a new design for a typical cookie store, with a DIY style cookie bar serving hundreds of flavor combinations. From their signature “Boneless” sugar cookie to a selection of gourmet weekly flavors like Raspberry Beret, Chip has flavors for everyone in the family.
However, Chip doesn’t just offer an array of cookie flavors, they also offer jobs to a large range of people, from little to no experience to highly skilled bakers. Their manager, Isha Rae who has had over 20 years of experience working in the booming baking industry, says that everyone is welcome and has a fair chance at getting hired, “If you don’t have any kitchen experience, that’s perfectly fine as long as you have a bubbly personality.”
Because of the odd school hours of 7:45 to 2:45, Rae says it’s hard to schedule highschoolers because of their limited availability during the school year, “Most highschool students can only do nights, so I kinda gauge that.” But now since summer is starting, more employees can help work the morning shifts opposed to the nights. Applying for jobs every summer is hard because of all the qualifications you may need, but Rae understands that for many it’s a first time job, and they need to gain experience some way or another, “If you love customer service and you love to bake, that’s really all you need.”
Next, Chip Employee and Senior Stella Landis says that Chip was a great way for her to earn some money before college, and is a super easy job for highschoolers, “I just thought it was a great way for me to make some money and its super easy and not draining like some other jobs.”
Landis also says how the shifts are very flexible, and her coworkers make it easy to trade shifts to fit each of their needs and schedules, “Usually we just ask each other if someone wants an extra shift, and almost always someone takes it.”
Circling back to Rae, she says that her favorite part of working at chip, besides the cookies, is her team and coworkers. Rae explains how the owners are very helpful and supportive, and her staff are always willing to lend an extra hand, “I have really great people that are working here…but first my favorite part are the owners, I’ve never worked with people so sweet before.”
Working during the summer may seem like a daunting or dreadful task, but working at Chip offers a great opportunity to improve social skills and gain experience in all walks of life.
