For many high school and college students, summer doesn't just mean time off from school -- it also means landing their first job.
Tim Calderone, owner of the newly opened
Kilwin's Chocolates and Ice Cream franchise in downtown Grand Rapids (McKay Tower, 146 Monroe Center NW), is happy to employ first-time job seekers as well as those who have minimal work experience.
"We hire a lot of first time jobbers," Calderone says. "We've got seven or eight people who have never had a job before. One of our fudge makers, probably our best guy who works in the kitchen in production, never had a job before. Both my wife and I have a lot of leadership experience in our professional life, so we look forward to being able to help develop some of these young kids as we build the business."
The new franchise, which opened in May, currently supports 17 part-time workers and one full-time management position, most of them high school or college students. Calderone says he is still looking to hire additional part-time customer service and production employees for 25-30 hours a week.
Employees hired for production positions will work in the store's show kitchen making fudge, caramel and hand dipped chocolates, while customer service employees are in charge of all ice cream and chocolate sales.
Calderone says he is looking for outgoing people who enjoy interacting with customers and are willing to help create a unique experience for shoppers.
"The product is good, that's a given," Calderone says. "But the experience when people come into the store, we want them to go out saying, 'that was a really cool place to go because of the people.'"
For an application visit
www.kilwins.com/career-opportunities.
Source: Tim Calderone, Kilwin's Chocolates and Ice Cream
Writer: Charlsie Dewey, Freelance Reporter
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.