Practical Training 2 at Fafa’s JKL

My name is Suha Mohammed, third-year Degree Student (Tourism Management). I came from Bahrain to Finland for my higher studies, and I was granted a study place at JAMK in 2020, but due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, I could not travel to Finland until February 2021. Since then, I have been living in Jyvaskyla, Finland. It is my second year in Jyvaskyla, and it is a pretty city.

THE WORKPLACE

Place: Fafa’s Jyvaskyla

Business Strategy: Serving authentic Mediterranean-style food which mainly specializes in vegan and vegetarian options

Area of Business: Kauppakatu 32, 40100 Jyvaskyla, Organization: Stuffed Oy

Personnel: There are two shift managers and two staff in each shift

Special features of the business: Selling products to customers, and maintaining customer satisfaction, it is a continuous process, and profit-making strategies are followed

The recruitment and development of any personnel at Fafa’s is quite a smooth process. When I newly joined the restaurant, I was given proper training for almost two weeks in which I got to learn all the work mentioned in my contract.

I have learned many things related to food at the workplace. Fafa’s JKL specializes mainly in Mediterranean food and hence I learned how to prepare falafels, sauces, salads, etc. My key jobs at the workplace were:

1. Taking customer orders

2. Preparing food

3. Maintaining cleanliness of the customer seating area

The most rewarding part of my job was that I could speak to different customer groups and improve my customer service skills, also I got to learn a little bit of the Finnish language.

For the second part of the practical training, along with the previous responsibilities, I had more job responsibilities added such as customer service skills, managing & setup of purchasing and receiving things, performing essential food production and cost control skills, maintaining restaurant logbook records, etc.

For the second part of the PT2, my job tasks were: • Shift manager • Shortlisting of candidates and holding a primary interview • Roster planning • New staff training • Social media account handling, paid posts on Instagram/FB • Providing training to staff on new product launches.

I am very much grateful to JAMK for giving me this opportunity to do practical training which is a part of my studies for gaining practical knowledge alongside theoretical studies. Thanks to my teachers, my employer, and my colleagues.

Suha Mohammed, Bachelors Degree Programme in Tourism Management