Bakin' Bagels and Makin' Memories

 Imagine stepping out of your car at work and smelling… blueberries? Here at Pinnacle Foods in Mattoon this is a common occurrence. 

Since March, I’ve interned at the Pinnacle plant that houses production for Lender’s Bagels. My primary task was screening and interviewing applicants for the open General Labor positions. The employee files also needed to be audited and organized. 

A typical day starts off with me suiting up to go back in production, where I clock in. Since this is a food processing facility, employees need to wear proper protective equipment (PPE), including smocks, hairnets, earplugs, hard hats, safety shoes, and eye protection. 

Once I clock in, I go about my responsibilities for the day, which could include phone screens, filing, answering employee questions, and transferring calls. There is never a shortage of people talking to the human resources department! Throughout the course of the summer, I screened more than 100 applicants and set up six rounds of interviews.

My biggest accomplishment was organizing and auditing more than 500 current and termed employee files. It has been an awesome summer learning about the history of the plant and working alongside the 12 managers and supervisors that cover all aspects of the operation.