A*@#R&*@$#G my restaurant career is over

i give up!@#@*^!#%&^%!# You cant get a job without experience and you cant get experience without a job. what is this strange restaurant biz paradox. i swear! i'm awesome! I'm friendly! I have a nice smile! I have a college degree and you don't care! but no, we want experienced servers, you must have a SIPS card BEFORE you apply, you need this, and you need that, we aren't hiring until december, you must work at least two week-DAYS, i don't care if you can work weekends AND HOLIDAYS, you must work two days during lunch -oh, and we won't really hire you unless you bother us once a week for the next month. FINE THEN! F U! I don't want to dress pretty for your interviews anyway and im returning those "nice" shoes. pffft. </end padded room ranting>

$20+ per hour for easy work makes it competitive so the restaurant owners/managers can be bastards to drive off some of the applicants and only take the supplicants.

btw, it took me 20 yrs in and two years of trying to get out to end my restaurant carreer. count your blessings.

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Originally Posted by fez

btw, it took me 20 yrs in and two years of trying to get out to end my restaurant carreer. count your blessings.

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i suppose. but i am a money hungry bitch. :( heh

edit: thats money hungry in the sense that i just want to support the skiing and photo habit, not that i want to be filthy rich. just spendy habits.

Restaurant biz = yeah yeah hook up
Good drugs :)

To get in you're probably going to have to start off bussing and/hostessing if you have no experience at all. The one or two day shifts a week is pretty standard too. There's a lineup of people who only want to work nights. To keep it fair everyone pulls some days. There was usually some hard up for cash type who was willing to pick up the day shift I was more than willing to ditch. If you're now in a ski town December is when they can afford to pay more staff. Look at it this way, if you work there and you're starving next November would you like them to hire someone new to steal shifts/tables you would have gladly taken?

Like L7 said suck it up and take an entry level job. Trust me. There are more experienced servers (especially ones with undergrad degrees) around then you can imagine so unless your resume has a good deal restaurant time on it I won't even consider you for a serving position. Days? whatever. Toil to reap my friend. One day a week isn't all that bad, especially when you can ski for the morning or pawn of the shift to the non-skier in the ranks. Remember seniority plays even in the hospitality biz. If you expect prime dinner shifts with no experience you need to take a serious head check. Rare are places that will promote you to dinner serving without putting in your share of time during lunch.

Lynx, you're gonna have to start from the bottom. As a result of the economy being a pile of shit right now, lots of people are trying to get jobs in the hospitality biz.

Apply for a shitload of busser or host positions and see what you get.

In college, I lucked out and found a bussing job at a high-volume restaurant that paid $5.75/hr. plus 10% of the each server's tips each night, split with another busser or two. After considering the location of the place and the menu, I took the job. It was a brand-new restaurant opening right next to a mall a week before Thanksgiving, and the average price for entrees on the menu was $13.75.

I often walked out each night with more in tips than every server but 1 or 2, usually the same guy and large-busted girl.

You can make it work for you even if you start from the bottom, but you have got to do your homework and prove yourself if you get the job.

I spent $800 on a bartending school / SIPS course.
I ended up DOCUMENTING over 125 applications/interviews before I finally found a place.
Managed a diner/bar for over 5 years PT...I'd have been MORE than willing to give someone a chance...
What type of places are you considering?
Hey, I know servers at Denny's, IHOP, etc that make GREAT money for 6hrs in the morning...