Working in a restaurant? [Any Reviews?]
 

Hey, I'm very interested in working in a restaurant to improve my cooking skills and also to help pay for my college fees. I'm a full time student all year round so I need to work part-time in a restaurant.

For those folks in the cooking industry, what are your experiences like?
How much pressure do you folks endure during the day and throughout the week?
How much do you get payed per hour?
What's the minimum hours/days am I able to work for?

I hope someone can give me some insight on this.

I have been working in restaurants since I was a student. The work load is not that bad unless the place is packed. I like working in restaurants because I get that extra money which helps me pay off bills and buy more stuffs. The pay for chefs aren't that great in restaurants that I have worked at. Usually ~$10/hr to start with ~$1-3/hr tips. The work schedule is pretty flexible, which is great for students.

I'm thinking of 20 - 25 hours a week. I have some experience prepping, cooking, and etc. but I never really worked a in 'real' restaurant. I'm thinking of prepping first then moving into a cook, do you think it's a good idea?

thats usually what you have to do unless you have a well established history as a cook.

i've worked in the business for about 2 years or so now. Hours are definitely flexible in the culinary industry because usually every "chain" restaurant have a lot of man power. Pay depends on which restaurant you go to and what experience you have. As long as you show that your dependable to the company, they won't care how little shifts you have because they will want to keep you. hmm.. what else. oh yeah, be prepared to work in really stressful situations where your forced to keep working until you feel like a chicken with its head cut off. LOL.. or you can always go in dish :P

reason why i stayed in this industry is because i like the stress. it makes you work more efficiently and helps you gain teamwork skills. i've done other jobs like shipping and receiving, valeting, construction... the only thing i liked about it is the cash especially from valeting.

my 2cents.

I'm going to school full time as well and work only one day a week at a restaurant. It can be stressfull, but that depends on the restaurant and if you're working in the weekends. Working one day a week gives me time off from school and still allows me to make some money to support myself. I'm getting paid $13 +tips.

Are you just limiting yourself to kitchen work? If you're just in it for the money you could give serving a try. Moving up from busser -> server is takes awhile longer than prep -> line cook imo but its worth it in the long run pay-wise.

Pressure wise ya once it gets busy you gotta get your ass in gear or you're gona get fucked. On both front of house and kitchen. In most restaurants I've worked at the staff is pretty good though, we bust our asses off during service but we'll be goin out for drinks / blaze after for a little stress relief.

Yeah pay-wise serving is better, I started off doing prep in restaurants making around 13 an hour. Then tried my hand at bussing and the tip was considerably better 12-15 an hour. I've been serving for about a year now and on average I make 20-25 /hr depending on my tips.

lol for those of you who have been in the feild a while... doesnt the stress just go away? not toataly away but i mean ya sure theres a lil stress but shouldnt it be like second nature that it almost seems easy? It almost feels too easy at times for me..

haha i know since it's slowed down since the summer I havent tried at all and still get stuff done quick but I see so many ppl around me running around like a bombs gonna explode.. guess i've just been doing the same thing for a while..

Any ways.. thats the end of my rant.. oh yah, when you first start out in the industry (in a bigger kitchen at least) be prepared to start by washing dishes....it sucks but ya gotta start some where

....lol now im pumped to go to work and just tear it up tomorrow like old times :D

Hey I just gradded the VCC culinary arts program, other then that the closest thing to cooking exp is Mc Donalds:haha:. Anyone else thats gradded that can tell me how much weight this certificate holds in terms of exp? Im unsure how much I should be asking for in wage for like a line cook job.

mine didnt matter too much, wage wise. It's definatly a good course to have and it might matter more going into a finer dining place but a bigger chain like earls/joeys dont care too much about it. But hey, i'm making more then a red seal certified chef at the place i'm at and i just completed year 1 of my apprenticeship. I guess it all depends on your employer

where u working at? if u dont mind me asking?

Do no waste your Culinary Arts Degree at a chain restaurant.... If you were a good enough student use your connections with Chef Instructors and get a job in a hotel, fine dining, etc.

During the early years of my cooking career I found that looking for jobs at earls and such was not worth it b/c they wanted to place me at the bottom and work up. Which They prefer to promote with in.

When I finished the program some of us were sent to a hyatt in the states for an 18 month internship program. Use your school resources while you have them.

red seal program is a joke.. Unfortunatly some places require it to move up. But hey if you can get the red seal through a company like white spot or earls then it must be good.