Panera Bread Careers – Job Application, Salary, Age & Interview Questions

Do you aspire to work as a pastry chef? Are baking bread delicacies your specialty? If you would like to build your career as a pastry chef or as a pizza master, you can apply for a job at Panera Bread Careers. Panera bread has a huge presence in the United States of America and is quite popular among the masses.

Job Description | Panera Bread Careers

What does a Panera Bread employee do, you ask? Before I can answer this question, you need to know what Panera Bread is. Panera Bread is a café or a restaurant. They offer an array of pastries, Italian delicacies like soups, pizzas, etc. It is also a coffee house. You can work here as a chef, server, line cook, cashier, or janitor, depending on your expertise area. You, as an employee, will help promote the restaurant among the masses with the work you do.

Preliminary Requirements To Be Panera Bread Employee

• You should be at least 16 years of age.
• You will be required to work 12 hours a day. The time period may vary.
• You should have organizational skills, and you should be a great team player.
• You should possess excellent vocabulary skills.
• You should have analytical skills and interpersonal skills.
• You should be detail-oriented.
• You should possess customer service experience.
• You should be able to handle various tasks handed out to you and be flexible to accommodate the business’s requirements.
• You should have the quality of taking up initiative and doing a job with little to no supervision.
• You may be asked to work for long hours, including evenings, weekends, or holidays. You should be comfortable doing this.
• You need to be confident in what you do.
• You should be punctual.

Application Process

To apply for a job at Panera Bread, you can go to their careers.panerabread.com. The site offers various job opportunities such as restaurant team members, restaurant delivery drivers, restaurant bakers, restaurant managers, support centers, and manufacturing and distribution. You can select a job area that interests you and apply there. You will get to see a description of the job. Then select apply. You will be asked for your information like country, date of birth, name. Then they will ask you your experience, application questions, additional application questions, voluntary disclosures. You will be asked to review your application. Finally, you have to agree to their terms and conditions. Once you are done with this, you will complete your application process.

Top Employers Before Joining Panera Bread

While applying for a job at Panera Bread, you may be a beginner or an individual with extensive experience in this field. If you are the latter, you can check out some of the top employers where you may have worked and get an idea of your chances of landing a job at Panera Bread. The more experience you have under your belt, the higher are your chances are of securing a job at a top-reputed company. The benefit of this is that you will receive great pay.

The first employer in the list is the one that has a higher percentage of hiring you, whereas the last employer in the list has the least percentage or chances of hiring you. The statistics are approximate and will differ over a period of time.

1. If you work at Walmart, you have an 11.4 percent chance of landing a job at Panera Bread.
2. If you work at McDonald’s, you have a 19.6 percent chance of landing a Panera Bread job.
3. If you work at Target, you have a 5.5 percent chance of landing a Panera Bread job.
4. If you work at Burger King, you have a 5.5 percent chance of landing a Panera Bread job.
5. If you work at Wendy’s, you have a 5.6 percent chance of landing a Panera Bread job.
6. If you work at Subway, you have a 6.3 percent chance of landing a Panera Bread job.
7. If you work at Pizza Hut, you have a 3.6 percent chance of landing a Panera Bread job. 
8. If you work at Macy’s, you have a 4.3 percent chance of landing a Panera Bread job.
9. If you work at Starbucks, you have a 4.1 percent chance of landing a Panera Bread job.
10. If you work at J.C. Penney, you have a 2.5 percent chance of landing a job at Panera Bread. 

Job Opportunities Available At Panera Bread

The job opportunities available at Panera Bread are plenty. You will get a chance to work in a diverse range of sectors. Not only do they offer you the opportunity to work as kitchen staff, but you can also opt to work in the management team. If you want to know more about the jobs available at Panera Bread, you can go through the posts available below and check out each post’s duties and requirements.

1. Restaurant Team Members: A restaurant team member works in unison with other departments of the restaurant. Your contribution to the restaurants working is what helps Panera Bread rise among its peers. As a restaurant team member, your job mainly focuses on maintaining the decorum of the restaurant.
   
   
   • Duties:
     • You have to greet the customers once they enter Panera Bread. You are the first person the customer meets, and hence you must set a fine tone for your customers to enjoy a better dining experience.
     • You prepare the food such as entrees or pre-made foods or desserts. You may work as a line chef or sous chef and chop vegetables or meat before the restaurant opens up for the day.
     • You will have to serve your guests. Keep in mind their order and table number when serving their meal.
     • You have to maintain all the bill transactions by the policy of the company.
       
       
2. Restaurant Bakers: As a restaurant baker, your job involves you taking charge of the bakery aisle of Panera Bread. You have to design a menu that meets with Panera bread’s approval. You have to prepare the desserts or bread as per the menu and display these delicacies with a price tag for customers to purchase them.
   
   
   • Duties:
     • You have to prepare the desserts or bread with the standard procedure.
     • You have to prepare fresh bread early in the morning before Panera Bread opens.
     • You have to arrange the delicacies so that it appeals to the customers, making them want to purchase them.
     • Prepare new variants of baked goods as per certain occasions like Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.
     • You have to source the ingredients and machinery required for your bakery aisle.
       
       
3. Manufacturing & Distribution: Those working in the manufacturing & distribution sector are responsible for producing, supply, and storing the procured goods. To understand this job even better, have a look at the duties you will have to undertake.
   
   
   • Duties:
     • Design production and distribution goals and plans to attain maximum earnings at an optimized production.
     • You have to identify the sources providing you the stock, complete your workload and provide guidance to your peers as and when needed.
     • Prepare training coursework and provide training for recruits in your sector.
     • Go over through the route plan and ascertain easier and better routes to deliver the goods.

Education &Other Requirements To Become a Panera Bread Employee:

If you are a high school graduate or freshman, you do not need to possess any training, but your school or college certificate will come in handy when applying for a non-managerial level role. There is also an opportunity that you will be employed without a high school certificate. If you want to work as a chef, you must experience working as a chef at a restaurant previously. A restaurant with a 3 or 5 star or Michelin-star rating will give a great boost to your post. Panera bread offers its employees onsite training with either manuals or live demonstrations. As per numerous surveys, it has been concluded that most Panera Bread employees have a major in Business. Alternatively, some employees have completed their education till the Bachelor’s, Associate, Certificate, High School Diploma, Diploma, Masters, License or Doctorate. If you want to know where your career in Panera Bread will lead you, you can go to Panera Bread’s official website and go to Career Paths to learn more about your career route.

Salary Of A Panera Bread Employee On The Basis Of Their Job Title They Hold

The position or the job title you hold in the company you are working for plays a key role in determining the salary you receive. If you have many years of experience under your belt, say you hold a typical team trainer salary, you can expect an average pay of $40,821. Similarly, if you have very little to no experience under your belt, and for example, have been allotted the job title of cook or server, you can expect an average minimal pay of $15,761

JOB TITLE	AVERAGE SALARY	SALARY RANGE
Team Trainer Jobs	$41,000	$34,000 – $47,000
Certified Trainer Jobs	$38,000	$31,000 – $44,000
Catering Coordinator Jobs	$37,000	$34,000 – $38,000
Training Specialist Jobs	$35,000	$32,000 – $38,000
Baker Jobs	$28,000	$26,000 – $30,000
Shift Supervisor Jobs	$27,000	$25,000 – $29,000
Production Worker Jobs	$25,000	$23,000 – $27,000
Catering Assistant Jobs	$24,000	$22,000 – $25,000
Assistant Manager Jobs	$24,000	$22,000 – $25,000
Shift Manager Jobs	$24,000	$21,000 – $26,000

The average standard pay for Panera Bread jobs depending on job title ranges from $17,000 to $47,000.

Why Should You Join Panera Bread?

There are many reasons why Panera Bread is the right place for you. But the most important reason being that Panera is a booming business. This goes to show how great Panera Bread really is. Panera Bread warmly welcomes employees who collaboratively work to achieve the same goal with support from each other. It also gives you a feeling of belongingness when working there as all you have to be is your true, authentic self. Yes, Panera bread helps you grow and prosper in your career path by providing new opportunities as you climb up the ladder of success. You can also put your trust in them and expect a transparent working environment. They also offer some amazing career path programs to shape your career cuddled with effective training that helps you do your job rightfully and purposefully. Panera Bread has opportunities all over the United States, so you will definitely get an opportunity to expand your career. You can also be a part of their talent community to improvise and showcase your other skills.

Interview Questions

1. Tell us something that you know about Panera Bread.
   
   
   • Panera bread is quite a popular name in the world of fine dining restaurants that offer an array of food items, freshly baked sweets, bagels, croissants, pastries, soups, breakfast spread, etc. They also have a menu designed for kids. Your company also offers an online service for customers who want home delivery. Oh! And did I forget to mention the amazing rewards employees can claim from the reward program known as My Panera if the employee excels in their work? Another remarkable aspect of your company is that you give back to society through a charity like Feeding America.
     
     
2. What is your purpose in working at Panera Bread?
   
   
   • I am on the lookout for new job opportunities, and this job fits the criteria that I want to work for. The main reason that I am inclined towards working at your company as Panera Bread offers authentic cuisine with an at-home feel rather than a fast food joint experience. The food here is of top-notch quality and amazing customer service. I have opted to work at Panera Bread because your company is expanding as the days go by. By working here, I will get new job opportunities and work on a better and developing trajectory on my career path.
     
     
3. How many hours can you devote to working at Panera Bread?
   
   
   • As far as my knowledge on your company’s timings, Panera Bread operates from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm. I can work flexibly in the given time span and can even devote extra working hours if the need be.

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