How To Not Get Fired?
 

I started my job at Starbucks about three months ago just to make money while attending college. It's a lot busier than I expected, very fast paced. We're supposed to constantly be doing something whether it's cleaning, brewing coffee. You can't stand around even for a few seconds. I'm a little slow and spacey in general (I was diagnosed with ADD a while ago).
However, I'm very nice to customers and always get a lot of tips. I am helpful to my coworkers and offer assistance in everything. Today my manager said she's disappointed that I haven't made any progress. She criticized me about things I'm fine at, she just doesn't see because I hardly work with her. I know she'll fire me if I don't drastically improve, but even after asking about what I should do specifically, I'm still not sure how I can get much better. It makes me so sad that I can't even work a minimum wage job, and I feel very slow and dumb, especially when the manager praises other employees constantly...
I won't be able to find a job as good as this one so how do I keep it. Any advice from employees in the service industry?
Thanks so much.

I sympathize with you, I really do. My first "real" job was at a deli, and the management was terrible, the customers were often awful, we also always had to be busy (which gave me anxieties in future jobs because that's not always realistic), and even though I did my work well I got passed over for awards and recognition for people who worked half as hard and didn't do their jobs well at all.

It's frustrating. I have mad respect for anyone in the service industry, because it's no fun on the whole.

What does she specifically want you to do? Maybe if she knows you're trying to improve and are dedicated to doing so, she'll go a little easier on you. There's a lot of turnover in this area, and finding a good employee who is willing to work to improve is a rarity. If she doesn't see that, she has problems.

That said, unless you really love the job, I'd start looking for another. I swear, I thought all jobs were as awful as the waitress one I had, until I got other jobs that were so much better; it was night and day. I don't know if you are in the US or not, but sometimes you can find jobs through your college that are easier to work and can get you some decent references too.

Good luck! :)

Could you maybe ask her next time you are at work with her what exactly she wants you to improve. Or even ask her if she can teach you to help you improve in the areas she perceives that you are failing in?

Do you have a progression plan, as in what exactly you need to improve on and to what extent? What criteria is being looked at?

You'll need to find that out so that you can jump through the hoops that they ask of you in order to keep the job. But in the mean time I'd be looking at and considering other options.