This is more so catered towards the deli side of Centra. I'm not entirely sure how things operate for the shop and till workers.
Centra is open to inexperienced people. This is a good thing. But like many other businesses, they prefer people with more experience so they can spend less time training them and maximize productivity from the start date of employment to whenever the employee should choose to leave, which doesn't take long in one particular location: Castletroy, Centra.
My contract declared that I would be working roughly 24 hours per normal working week. After the first week of not being able to keep up with my experienced co-workers, this fell at first to 18, and then to 14.5 the week after.
The reason for this is because management prioritises performance and sales before employee progression. Essentially, if you don't match up with co-workers who will no doubt outperform you with their years of experience, your training time will be reduced, and as a result, your performance in the job itself will dwindle. You will get less hours if you make mistakes, even if you don't repeat them.
While your coworkers may seem friendly, they almost only report mistakes you have made to management, leading to the perception that you're not pulling your weight, leading to reduced hours, leading to you not getting enough experience on a day-to-day basis, leading to you doing worse, leading to you receiving less hours.
This is not what you'll hear in the interview, howev
ProsFree Coffee, Paid Breaks, Online Training Programme
ConsUnsustainable Hours, Poor Management, Stressful Working Conditions
Targets are non existent which is positive, ideally you will be a people person as most of your time will be spent at the till. In addition you may also pack shelves, have cleaning duties, product placement knowledge etc. As far as customer service goes, the customer will always be the customer and are not always right. Like most retail outlets expect some rude, and impatient customers but generally speaking the locals are great crack!
Expect a lot of standing, and muscle strains! There are no seats at checkout, and bringing out a stool even when it's quite is not permitted. If you are a smoker, you can take breaks now and again with management, but tough luck of you don't smoke!
You receive a one hour break at set times..However the canteen area is quite small and only has a microwave, you will either have to purchase lunch from the store, or go elsewhere for your break if you are trying to be healthy. The canteen doesn't have a fridge, or kettle. Although the company does provide free tea, and coffee, you will need to go out onto the shop floor to get the boiling water, and milk.
Expect to be asked on short notice or while on shift to make your way to the other Centra across town, out of your own pocket!
Overall I would only recommend if you needed the experience. If you love working constant late shifts then this maybe the role for you, of not stay away! Both staff, and management generally speaking are lovely, and overall very helpful. However the company will dema
I received very little training. I was treated as if i was a child on my first day but on the second day i was left alone and expected to know everything. Management is not the best, one manager quit after a few weeks. Some coworkers are okay, some are horrible and always shout at me and i am left with no confidence due to the abuse I'm given. Every morning i dread going in and it's severly impacted my mental health, and brought back my anxiety after battling it for years. I am even too scared to go into the store as a customer when i know a certain coworker is on shift due to this. Expected to get up during our break and work if the store is busy and we are not allowed to leave the store on weekends during our lunch. There is no benefits except for a partial discount on tea. The pay is not enough to live on your own. Some weeks i am given part time hours even though i am full time. Staff are not appreciated enough and i usually leave my shift feeling depressed and worthless. I also don't think the store is up to hygiene standards. The store room is a mess and flies are often found there. There is also an electric fly killer above a food prep area in the deli which is not allowed. Often found way out of date food on the shelves that should've been removed long ago. I have heard similar/worse things from friends and family who used to work here. I wouldn't wish this job on my worst enemy. Incredibly toxic. Do not work here if you love being alive because that will change if yo
ProsNone
ConsSalary, no benefits, other staff members attitudes
Interview took about 5 minutes, didn't seem like my cv or cover letter had been read at all, had to basically reread it to my manager.
I initially received no training (I had to do manual handling later on down the line which they "paid" for however it cost me more than what i was paid to travel to it) and everyday was the same thing for 8 hours. on my days off i would either be called in to work anyways, or spend most of the day dreading returning. pay is laughable, management are incredibly condescending and would have you think they were constantly under pressure, running around like they're prepping for a marathon but they get very little done with all that running around regardless. Customers treat you like dirt, you're expected to do 3 people's jobs at once more often than not. a part of me has died as a result of just a few months of working in centra. do not under any circumstances apply for a job in centra unless you have very little respect for yourself and think you deserve minimum wage to be treated like a worm for a large portion of your day.
ProsCoworkers tend to be friendly as they're in the same position as you
ConsTerrible hours, abysmal pay, laughable management, only staff discount was coffee being a euro cheaper
The day to day work done in Centra was very simple to do if the employees were trained adequately. It was a typical job in a shop which involved restocking shelves, date checking the products and cleaning the shop.
Throughout the course of the 4 years the main things that I learned were how to work with a deadline, how to train other people in to do specific tasks and how to order what was needed in the shop.
The management could be better in Centra. One of the managers is not a particularly friendly person and I feel that the high layover of staff was in fact their fault.
I thoroughly enjoyed working with my co-workers. Everyone who worked there did so with a great enthusiasm and to the best of their abilities.
The hardest part of the job for me was the immense amount of cleaning that fell on the deli staff. There were 3 counters that must have been cleaned carefully and food correctly stored. And this was to be done in only 2 and a half hours. As well as this a high hygiene standard must have been kept up with put another great responsibility on the staff.
As a supermarket employee, I have found that there are both positive and negative aspects to this line of work. One of the positive aspects is the sense of community that comes with working in a neighborhood store. I enjoy seeing familiar faces and building relationships with regular customers. Additionally, the work can be quite varied, from stocking shelves to running the cash register to helping customers find products. This variety keeps the job interesting.
However, there are also challenges that come with working in a supermarket. The work can be physically demanding, with long hours spent on your feet. Sometimes there are difficult customers to deal with, which can be stressful. Additionally, the pay and benefits can be fairly modest compared to other types of jobs.
Overall, I enjoy working at the supermarket and appreciate the connections I've made with coworkers and customers alike. However, I would like to see improvements in compensation and benefits for employees in the industry.
A typical day at work in Centra was making rolls,preparing the deli and bakery counters,making sure my work station was always clean and tidy. I learned alot from this job as it was all about food and safety, I learned that everything you opened and used had to be written down and recorded I also learned about temperatures of the food to make sure they were cooked properly and not under cooked. My deli manager was a lovely girl she always helped when I needed it and was very friendly, my overall manger was lovely always knew how to keep up all in line, my co workers were the most friendly people you would work with always made you laugh and joke made work fun and made my self less shy. Hardest part of my job was the bakery as it was more time consuming than the deli its self. The most enjoyable part of my job was learning new things and meeting new people.
I always arrive 5 minutes before my shift starts, and then I go to the till to serve the customers. At the same time I check the stock, expire dates of the products and keep the cleanness of the store. After half hour I start doing the rubish (I take away all the recicle and general waste rubish of the store). Then I pack some products if we don't have enough on the shelves. After that I continue serving customers on the till. In the middle of the evening shift I pack all the drinks and do the cleaning of the deposit. Sometimes I have to work on the Deli, just to cover my colleagues on break. We have minimal duties at the end of the shift, like cleaning the coffee machine and swiping and moping the general floor. All the time we check that the products are faced off
ProsFlexible, any time that i needed to travel I never had a problem.
ConsDealing with drunk people sometimes and junkies. I use to do more duties than I'm paid for, and for a minimun salary
A typical day would be dealing with customers and their inquiries and if there is any complaints and working in the office.
I've learned to work tills, Pay point and Pay zone machine and the Lotto Machine, stocking shelves and cigarette’s I have also learned how to do many things in the office (till reads, safe, coin box, ATM, loading details onto the computer, printing invoices and sending packs to our employer Musgrave’s)
The Management are lovely and very helpful if you have any inquiries or problems
My co-workers are like a second Family as it is a small enough shop we all work extremely well together and always help each other.
Hardest part of the job for me would be not getting enough hours.
The most enjoyable part of the job would be dealing with our customers (regular ones and new ones)
I love the experience i got from Centra and the people i work with have become a second family to me.
The people i work with are nice and the mood is always good.
A typical day at work for me would involve opening the shop in the morning and get the tills ready for the day ahead after I organise this I would do the cash office. After iv finished in the office I would more or less be on the shop floor and newsagents making orders and supervising the staff merchandise. Also making sure there's labels on all products and price changes.
Dealing with customers and reps on a daily basis .
Iv learned a lot working with the McHugh group including -
Cash office
price changes
opening and closing
Ambient and Chill orders
I enjoy my job and I feel I have excellent communication and people skills which I think helps me a lot .
My co-workers are friendly and we get on good as a team insuring the standard of the shop is kept .
The most enjoyable part off my job would be learning new things and gaining more responsibility.
A typical day involved a night shift after a week and a half training. You'd turn up and be on your own all night and would have to speak to housing association tenants from some of the darkest parts of London complaining because they smashed their own front doors in and you won't send someone out to them - but they think they're entitled to this because they pay £7 per week in rent.
The hours were a nightmare, they always wanted overtime and guilted you into this. Centra also had a centralised HR team who were incredibly hostile. The centralised payroll team was also useless and averaged about 4 months lead time on actually paying you correctly. I was underpaid for 6 out of the 9 months I worked there.
Management more interested in flogging overpriced equipment and ripping off old people. The Telecare team could be nice at times but had a temper with vulnerable people.
I would never work here again. They knocked my confidence, left me alone at night without a handover. In the end I just requested to work from home and let the phone ring all night, did it for about three months and no-one noticed.
Management monitor nothing,staff don't care. Long standing staff go off sick for months at a time on full pay and completely abuse the system. This is across the board from agents to senior management. Housing associations really know how to abuse things.
A typical day at work - Help prepare food for dinner in the deli and hot food bar
Make pizzas, sub rolls, sandwiches, wraps,
Serve customers – make sure everything is up to satisfactory and the customers are happy, dealing with customers, showing good manners
When the hot food closes at 3, I then clean the whole work area including oven, hobs, cupboards and keep everything clean and tidy for the next day
Wash dishes that we used including saucepans, tin dishes which the food was served in on the hot food bar
Pricing the food we sell on the till
what i learned - how to do all the above, even use it for everyday use as i go home and make salads etc for family.
co-workers - all easy to get on with, helpful, work good as a team
hardest job - when i started it, felt it was really hard to get used too but now i havent anything to worry about
most enjoyable - working with other people, learning new skills, cooking, love preparing food
Proslearn new skills, confidence better, communication skills far better
Consonly work 6 hours a week
Questions and answers about Centra Ireland
What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Asked 19 Nov 2022
Miserable
Answered 20 May 2023
Work with freedom
Answered 28 Apr 2023
What is the promotion process like at Centra Ireland?
Asked 10 Nov 2022
Non existent
Answered 15 May 2023
Sometimes when you deserve but mostly when someone was leaving higher position
Answered 23 Apr 2023
How often do you get a pay rise at Centra Ireland?
Asked 11 Nov 2022
No pay rise
Answered 7 May 2023
Rarely
Answered 23 Apr 2023
How often do pay rises occur at Centra Ireland?
Asked 16 Apr 2022
Every couple of months
Answered 21 May 2023
Monthly
Answered 24 Apr 2023
How is feedback from management delivered at Centra Ireland?
Asked 5 May 2021
Feedback is given in a demeaning manner and it never constructive
