First contacted by HR recruiter, then a phone interview with HR recruiter. Questions were straightforward, "how do you manage", "describe your duties at your last job", "what do you want to get paid", "why did you choose panera". About a week later I received a call from the DM and was given an interview date and time. The DM showed up to the wrong location and I subsequently waited over an hour for him to travel to my location. He was sincere about the mistake. Staff at the location were very friendly and accommodating while I was waiting. Again, standard interview questions about how my experience translated, what i thought the job entailed, and if i thought i would like working for Panera. Very little information was given about specific job duties, but the DM was very upbeat and positive. I was asked to work-shadow 4 hours at a location about an hour away from my residence "to see if I would like the job". I showed up on the assigned day, and the DM was surprised because he thought I was a day early. I was allowed to stay anyways, but the GM was not available except the first 5 minutes of the day. During the work shadow I was told I was expected to ask questions and get a feel for the work duties there, but to not do any work. I asked questions, smiled, and left very excited about the opportunity to work for Panera. Panera does seem to be a great company with a great environment. Everyone was extremely helpful, friendly, and answered all of my questions graciously, but I expected this as it was a training store. One manager in training had a very negative attitude. He was very condescending to a sandwich maker training for a new store. When I asked about the company meal policy, he was going on about how all employees steal food so he just gives everyone free food anyways. He also went into a rant listing all the companies he worked for stating how he never worked at one for more than two years because he ended up hating every job. Obviously he was the exception that fell thru the cracks, because this is not image that Panera upholds. At the end of my 4 hours I was excused by the GM and the DM said he would call me in a few days. The next day i received an email from Panera's HR generic no-reply inbox that I was not selected. I was not asked for any feedback about my experience. Disappointed, I left a voicemail for the DM asking if he could provide any feedback, but my call was not returned. Overall, I would still be very happy to work for Panera if another opportunity presented itself.

It was professional and casual at the restaurant. Easy to talk with the recruiter. I didn't ultimately choose it at the time but it was pleasant enough. I think they hire from within and I was hoping to start as a GM