My First Impressions Of DoorDash Orientation

Today I want to share a video with you all about my first impressions with DoorDash, the delivery app. In another video, I talked about how I was considering signing up, and how I wanted to get some feedback from drivers out there who had tried either Postmates or DoorDash. Well, I signed up for DoorDash and attended their orientation, and I want to tell you how that went and what you should expect if you decide to sign up too. 

The DoorDash application is straightforward

The DoorDash application process was pretty easy, very similar to other on-demand companies. I signed up online and went through a traditional application, then filled out more detailed information and entered my social security number so that they can run a background check. Next, I filled in information about my car.

I’ll be doing deliveries for DoorDash in my car, but in certain cities they do allow you to use a motorcycle or a scooter. That’s a good thing to keep in mind because your expenses could be a lot lower with a scooter or a motorcycle. The last page on the application is just a confirmation with a message that said that they’d email me to schedule an orientation.

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I had to reach out to Checkr to resolve an issue

After completing the application I waited a few days and never heard back from them. A background check usually only takes two to five days, and I hadn’t heard back from them so I sent an email to their support, [email protected]. It turns out there was a small problem with my background check. I had to follow up with Checkr who is the company that does the background checks. You can email them at [email protected].

It was a pretty minor problem that the picture of my driver’s license was a little bit fuzzy. It was weird how DoorDash support handled the situation because they actually told me I was denied when I asked them about the situation. They said that my background check didn’t pass and I wouldn’t be able to work for DoorDash. I knew something was wrong because I had been approved for Uber or Lyft, Sidecar, Postmates, etc., so I followed up with Checkr.

I think if you guys run into problems with these companies, that it’s on you to follow up because they don’t always really know what they are doing. Make sure that if you do run into problems, follow up with DoorDash, follow up with Checkr, and make sure you get to the bottom of it!

An impressive orientation

Once that all got sorted out I scheduled an orientation in Orange County, in Newport Beach. It was actually right down the street from where I used to live. I was pretty impressed with the orientation. They covered a lot of good information. Going in I knew a lot about DoorDash, but I learned a lot more about how the system works. They have a few quirks that are unique to DoorDash, which I’ll cover quickly.

A few unique things about DoorDash

The first thing that seemed different was the scheduling. Instead of being able to log in at any time, DoorDash uses a semi-flexible schedule. Dashers (that’s what they call their delivery people) are required to sign up for shifts. They could be two-hour shifts, one-hour shifts, three, four-hour shifts, and they all start in these little sub regions. For example, I live in Long Beach and that’s one of the sub regions. I have to sign up for a shift that starts in Long Beach because I want to start there. You have to physically be in that location to start there.

If you are living in Irvine you would want to pick a shift that begins in Irvine. It is possible that you can only find an open shift in Long Beach, so you’d have to drive all the way to Long Beach just to start your shift. It’s not like Uber and Lyft where you can work whenever and wherever. If it’s busy, there can be shifts open and you can log on instantly. In that sense the scheduling is a lot different from Uber and Lyft.

The other thing is I noticed is that if you log out of your shift, you can’t log back in. You can’t really take a bathroom break or anything like that, you just have to plan things out of ahead of time. If you go place an order at a restaurant and you are waiting for the food, you use the bathroom then or take your break then. That’s how the scheduling aspect of DoorDash works.

As far as earnings potential, DoorDash advertises that you can earn $25 an hour. And you probably guessed it — Earnings aren’t quite that high. I think it’s more in the $10 to $15 an hour range, and I’ll definitely be exploring that further.

From a lot of the people I’ve talked to, it seems like DoorDash is definitely a potential earning opportunity. DoorDash has a lot of money and a lot of cash at their disposal. They are offering a lot of guarantees, a lot of bonuses, and a higher pay to start. So I think that if you guys are considering, see if DoorDash is launched in your city. If they haven’t, keep an eye on it. And even if they have launched in your city, consider that on the earning potential may not be quite as high as with Uber, but when you go in and try them out they offer a lot of bonuses and a lot of cash on top.

DoorDash has already sent me a ton of text messages that say, “Hey, come drive here in this area for $20 an hour guaranteed. Come work this weekend and you get $30 in Dash cash.” If you guys want to sign up for DoorDash, I’ll leave a link below. You can check out, use my affiliate link if you would like to support my site. All right, guys, take care.

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