becoming a waiter [General]

2010 Sep 9
OK, I'm unemployed and getting sick of high tech. And will take a big pay cut for a job I would be happy with.

I have this crazy idea that I will walk into The Lindenhof and they'll hire me because I am fluent in German, even if I have no experience in being a waiter.

So, tell me what I need to know so that I'll walk in armed!

And try to disseude (sp?) me from even doing it :-)

What kind of income could I expect to make at a restaurant? A better restaurant where the tips would be better.

2010 Sep 9
zymurgist Sorry to hear about the job loss - I hope things work out for you. Not sure about waiting tables since I have never gone down that route. I could however see you at the Clock Tower either waiting tables or brewing beer-;) In all seriousness would you consider Heritage Brewing or Kitchessippi Beer? There is always Beaus but Vankleek Hill would be quite a commute... Good luck with the job search.

2010 Sep 9
I worked at Pub Italia (big beer lover, so I figured I would at least enjoy the product selling) when I first moved here (or the first time I tried to move to Ottawa, long story, but a year or so ago).

I was not very good, lets put it that way. I was new, had waited tables before, but not in a while. I was making about 130 a night if it was fri-sat, 60-80 a night on weekdays. I only worked nights. You can hide a lot of this money from the gov (ahem) so you do pretty well for yourself.

The Good: The money! My first "real job" after paying tables paid significantly less. I like meeting lots of different kinds of people, and I love beer, so if a customer was into it, I had a great time and made good tips and everyone was happy.

Sometimes you make a customer's day, and that was awesome. For my last table of my career there, the customer really loved beer and asked for a recommendation. he liked my rec so much, he just had me rec beers to him all night (which for me was the fun part of the job), and tipped me way over 20%. Those are awesome nights, you help someone have a fabulous time, and then you get rewarded for it.

The Bad: You work your f'king ass off. You are literaly running around with your head cut off for 6-10 hour shifts. When the kitchen messes up, your table yells at you. I once had a table tell me to my face that I was a "liar" because their food was cold. The kitchen was off, and food was taking a while and still not coming out hot. I waited and panicked about their food being ready, as the rets of my tables suffered, but it still came out freaking cold after 45 min. Of course, this was "my fault."

Again, granted, I am not the best waiter. I can be a bit scatter-brained, especially with all the stimulus (people asking for water at the same time as you are trying to check on the status of an order at the same time as you are trying to make nice-talk with your table). But even whe you are awesome, you stil run around like a crazy persno, your feet hurt, you smell bad from all the food smells, and people still treat you like shit.

There's also the "verbal tip". One group of curmudgeonly old gents told me I was "their favorite waitress ever" after being super nice, fast, and listening to them tell dirty jokes. Yeah, being a girl is kinda odd in this job. What did I get? 13%.

So honestly, I would not recommend, if you have any other option.

If you like food and you need a little $$ to tide you over, I would try a cafe, or bakery, which is slower paced, but you make a lot less money. Since your profile says you love beer, have you tried a loval brewery? I had friends in MTL who worked for MacAuslans. It was manual labor, but they got free beer.

Good luck!!!!

2010 Sep 9
Sorry the salary I quoted was in tips. I also made 7 something an hour in "salary" and "full time" at a restuarant is probably about 30-35 hrs a week.

2010 Sep 9
Ooo, Pub Italia - good idea! Clock Tower as well.

I've already been chatting with Heritage about a position there selling beer to bars. Will be a few more weeks at least before I hear back.

Don't want to be a brewmaster unless I own the brewery.

2010 Sep 9
I think a really big downside for you would be that it really cuts into your family life. You often start shifts 4/4:30/5pm until 9 or 10 or much, much later depending on the restaurant. This would be when your kids are home from school and before they go to bed.

Tips depend on the turnover- how many seatings you get sat for. Some higher end places have high bills but they may only end up with 1 or 2 seatings.

Working in bars/lounges usually means late nights.

2010 Sep 9
Hmmm, good point. I'm not a big late night sort of guy ...

2010 Sep 9
And if you do get an early spot (lunch!) they often send you home when it slows down (2-5 typically) and then ask you to come back for the evening rush (5-9 pm). Think the infamous split shift...One of my friends started a cleaning business after a downsize and beside the one major investment of a Dyson vacuum cleaner is doing pretty well and making about $25/hour--and some of the customers pay cash...You do need a reliable vehicle as well but she pretty well chooses her hours. It is hard work! Good luck

2010 Sep 9
Herb and Spice....Wellington is hiring a full time days produce clerk.

2010 Sep 9
Ever think of trying to get on at LCBO? A chemistry lab instructor (head instructor) I had when doing my BSc. got sick and tired of cuts to the labs in the chem dept. and went to work at the MLCC (Manitoba Liquor Control Commission). This guy was really into beer and wine- he loves it there. I think their pay is better than a serving job and you wouldn't be working too late.


2010 Sep 9
What is a "days produce clerk"? I'm actually really in for a career change and have my options open to just about anything at this point.

I should look into the LCBO - good idea!

2010 Sep 9
days produce clerk - I'm going to assume a person who works during 8-4/9-5 or 10-6 shift. They are the person who sorts, "cleans-up" and bunches produce, they stock the produce shelfs, pull any inferior product etc.

Days may also imply Monday to Friday not weekends, but I can't be certain about that.

2010 Sep 10
I worked as a server and bartender for almost 10 years and there's definitely many pros to that business. The money and tips are awesome, most pubs I find you can make about a $100 a night, usually more on game nights or Thurs/Fri nights.

For restaurants, I think the higher end restaurants (such as Play, Juniper, Gastropub etc)may be better for tips as the bills are probably a little higher than the standard eatery. I preferred the more relaxed pub/bar atmosphere though, more casual, got to talk to your customers/regulars more etc. I haven't done that work for quite a few years but I sometimes miss it. I think if I went back I'd want to be the owner or work for a friend who runs a business (I know, I've heard that's not always a great idea ;)

You should look into the Clocktower or another similar pub Zymurgist, especially if you like beer and the more casual atmosphere. More fun to work, though you could be getting off work late (midnight or 1 am especially weekends...earlier if you start the dinner shift first). You probably wouldn't work too late during the week as many pubs quiet down after 11pm unless you are bartending or managing.

LCBO is probably a great place to get into as well, may be hard to get into though if the people there really like their jobs..

Good luck with whichever place you go with!

2010 Sep 11
Agreed with the waiting tables/late nights. My partner worked 9-5 at the time, and I would get up at 10 and be home around 1 AM. Not great for a family life.

I think Beaus is still accepting volunteers for their oktoberfest. It's one day of training and one day of volunteering, with free admission to the festival.

www.beaus.ca/oktoberfest

That might be a good networking opportunity. Or it might just be fun.

2010 Sep 11
Alan, I mean no offence but no one is going to hire you without experience.

What you need to do is 1-get your Smart Serve certificate (you can't serve in Ontario without one, it's easy & online.

smartserve.org/products_training_online.asp

If you're serious you would benefit tremendously by working for a big chain (Kelsey's, Baton Rouge, Milestone's etc etc) because they have great training programs but again your lack of experience might hinder you being hired.

It is NOT an easy job, not everyone can do it.

Best of Luck
Terry


2010 Sep 11
Ahem. The only offence is using my name and not my handle. Netiquette, please :-)

2010 Sep 11
Another suggestion for you. You could try working at a brew-your-own place like this : www.bytownbeerandwine.com/

The beer is done in kettles with proper ingredients, so it's not one of these "beer in a box & add water" type places. I'm not sure how it measures up to your own home brewing, but the beer tastes pretty good to me.

It might be something you'd find enjoyable - although I can't imagine the pay would be stellar. Might help to fill a gap though.

Cheers,
Ratty.


2010 Sep 11
I apologize zymurgist; I was only trying to help.

Terry

2010 Sep 12
I served a bit before I went into IT, nowhere fancy. I miss a lot of the aspects of serving: meeting new people constantly, exercise (being on your feet all day is way better than sitting in a cubicle) and the thrill/challenge of earning a good tip. I also miss the tip jar I used to hide in my house and deposit into the bank after reaching certain milestones.
I echo Terry -- SmartServe is the most important first step. Other than that, the best you can do is smile, be personable and ready to learn. Knowing someone who works at that restaurant will also obviously increase your chances of getting a job, like anywhere else.
Pick a place that matches your personality. I like your edge about the German place. If I was about to apply to serve again, I would definitely head to 222 Lyon or another Spanish spot.

2010 Sep 12
I echo Terry and yessi's replies. I used to be a server just up until I was hired by the government. Now I really enjoy stability through a unionized and pension job and not have to deal with the high flying yet volatile private sector. Sucks to always start from scratch with vacation, seniority and stuff with each job change that I see a lot with my friends. You really need the Smartserve certificate, experience, look great and fit and presentable with a super personality. Serving is a job that you have to roll off the punches as you deal with so many customers giving you crap all the time, getting harassed by kitchen staff etc.. yet always have to maintain a cheerful positive attitude and not be explosive or emotionally reactive to the above. Also know that many times, labor laws are thrown out the window, there can be many hours, pay and tipping issues and there's never really any 'firing', they get around that by magically seeing the shifts disappearring or get reassigned to someone else who has better upsells, tips and customer feedback. Otherwise it is among the best cash jobs out there and in many occasions can totally pay better than the chefs! Some people even continue serving part-time along side a FT job. I say high table turnover places with pleasant and fun people like Lone Star, Moxie's & Milestones, restaurants inside hotels and bottle service at night clubs are among the highest tipping gigs.

XOXOXOX KC

2010 Sep 12
zym, further to what KC Foodie says, from what I know of you, you'd totally fail as a server. Reason being I don't think you would take crap silently. Neither from customers nor from your manager and the kitchen staff. You're just too damn self-righteous to be a good server!

I only say it because I am too. :-)

Given your martial arts training, you could enter a zen-like passive state when interacting with people on the job, but you'd still get fed up and quit within a week or two.

A possible scenario:

Customer: "Get me a blue light!"
Zym: "I think you want the electronics store down the street. They sell nifty L.E.D. flashlights."
Customer: "No, I meant a frickin BEER, you turd."
Zym: "Beer? That's not beer! You want a Kölsch. And you need to learn to say please."
Customer: "Screw it. Get me a Bud then."
Zym: "Look, you need to try the Kölsch. I'll even buy it for you. Just don't make me bring you anything brewed by Labatt."
* Customer stalks off to the chain outlet next door
Boss: "Hey, Zym, why did that guy leave?"
Zym: "He disrespected me and insulted my family, history, and heritage!"
Boss: "Weird. That's the fifth one today..."

;-)

2010 Sep 12
You hit the nail on the head FF - I was going approach it from the point of view of using it as an exercise in humbling myself!

We shall see. Looks like I have to get that Ontario Serve thingy first - yeesh, yet another way for or nanny province to suck money out of taxpayers for the privilege of them letting us consume alcohol.

2010 Sep 12
I've got to say that I'm a bit insulted...

According to 'Zym' & FF we service workers are a bunch of spineless sub servients

According to KC we restaurant owners are a bunch of slimey Ogres that don't give a rats ass about our employees...

Arrogance doesn't equate to respect, in our industry hard work does, it's not the job that defines you it's the person. It's a Zen thing.

Terry

2010 Sep 12
I did not say that at all Terry. Show me where I did.

I do, however, know full well that waiters can take a lot of crap from people, and that I would have to go into this with a healthy ability to take crap from people and let it slide off my back.

I in know way shape or form said - or even implied - that service workers are a bunch of spineless sub servients.

What resto do you own Terry? Want to hire me? :-P

2010 Sep 12
BTW Fresh Foodie, as far as taking crap on the job goes, nothing can be worse than doing IT helpdesk for Software Designers, and I've got quite a few years experience humbling myself doing that :-)

2010 Sep 12
LOL... good point, zymurgist. Although the big difference there is that you (and your company) didn't depend on the software designers for tips!

Terry, the opposite of self-righteous is certainly not spineless!! Quite the contrary. Many self-righteous people are also spineless -- just look how many come to this site and post negative comments rather than take the issue up with the restaurateur. :-)

To me, the opposite of self-righteous is conciliatory. Being conciliatory in a customer service situation can require great skill and self-control.

2010 Sep 12
'Zym' I took FF's remarks the wrong way I suppose, therefore I guess I owe you & FF an apology.

It's rare to have a difficult customer, I honestly can't think of the last REAL problem I've had.

Treating people with respect & anticipating thier needs helps to avoid 'taking crap' from anyone.

I love what I do, I'm truly blessed with a great staff & a great clientelle.

Zym the best of luck, I don't need anyone right now but why not a Coffee Bar, a dessert place, you love to cook, what about the back of the house?

Terry


2010 Sep 13
I think the question of how much crap you take at various jobs is interesting.

Truth be told, it's probably the same amount of crap as anywhere else, as Zym noted with his experience in software. At any job, especially where there are clients, there will be happy ones, upset ones, and ones with unreasonable expectations. It's the employees job to be able to handle these various situations with calm. At any job, there are good bosses who are supportive and encouraging, and there are ones that micromanage and are disrespectful to staff.

What I personally found difficult about serving was that when your section is full, the kitchen is late, and your receipt book just spilled on the floor, the stakes of these many situations was really raised. I've worked in restaurants for 4 years, and offices (private sector) for 3, and I can say that restuarant business is much, much more fast paced. It can be a kind of high when everything is flowing and you're that busy, and it's the worst when everything crashes. Basically, under that pressure, everything becomes a bit more extreme.

Some people love it, some don't. It can be hard to find work without experience, usually you have to start at a lower paying position (hostess or busboy or dishwasher if you want to do back-of-house). Definitely use any connections you have (I have family in the business, so that's how I got my start). But if it's something you want to try, go for it. It might be for you.

2010 Sep 13
Nicastro on Wellington West has 3 positions listed, with no experience required. Will check back later for details.

I applied for a position as "Door Ambassador" at Royal Oak on Wellington. Pretty sure that is French for "Bouncer" :-)

2010 Sep 13
I've sided with KC on the whole lack of justice in food service jobs before, I still do, but I certainly understand Terry's position as well. There are good employees and good bosses, but there's also a whole lot of motivation-deficient employees with a sense of entitlement, just as there are employers who weasel around the employment standards act and get away with it because it's usually not worth it for people to stick it to them.
Some people shouldn't be server's, I certainly shouldn't, never have, never will. I know myself and am mature enough to recognize that it would be a bad scene, most likely due to how easily I'd snap. It's only you who can make that judgment about yourself. OttawaNewbie is bang on as well; starting in the dish pit or as host is a good way to go; it gives you perspective, and if you show a good work ethic and initiative most sensible owners should recognize that and offer advancement if it's available.

2010 Sep 13
Not all restaurant owners/managers (and that includes all employers in general) are ogres. There are many who do look out for their employee's best interests and back them up and a good team is built. But there are many times when business slows, goes bad, a change of regime or many 'other' or unspoken reasons all servers and food service staff out there already (or eventually) know and experience what I've mentioned. There's always the best of times and the worst of times for every place. I've always found that in all my jobs, manager(s) apart from the owners are the first to get fired, have least tenure or highest turnover, so it's not always the most glamorous title or position to strive for. Your job security and employability lie with your skills and personality and networking.

XOXOXOX KC

2010 Sep 17
Zim, you may not be surprised to know that Ottawa's IT workforce declined 30%. It dropped 15% in the last two years alone, with over 8,000 IT workers leaving the city for other pastures (I was going to say greener, but I stopped myself).

IT burnout huh? I've been there, but I've come back. Part of it was working on new projects at small startups instead of big go nowhere projects in the government, and working in a new language (Ruby). Funny how that works. I wonder if learning a new language like Spanish or Portuguese or German (then I could read Nietzsche in his own words) would be similarly "refreshing"?

A friend once told me "do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life". But do you really love waitering?


2010 Sep 30
Just was wondering if Zym has entered the food/beverage work-world ?

As a:

Server ? e.g Lindenhof ?

Deli Counter Person ? e.g. Nicastro's ?

Door Ambassador ? e.g. The Royal Joke

Butcher Aprentice ? e.g. Saslove's Meat Market


2010 Sep 30
zymurgist, do you want to be a Sales Rep (aka delivery guy) for Frito-Lay in Ottawa? The money is good and you can earn about $500-$800 per week with commission included. My son's university friend got a summer job there and needed to drive a truck to deliver all the chips to the retailers such as Zellers, Convenience Stores, Gas Stations, etc. I heard that it was a tough job since you need to get up earlier to start work at 6:30AM, but the job ends around 4:30PM. Once you finish work, you are a dead tired though.

I heard that my son's friend was pretty happy with the money he made from the summer job at Frito-Lay.
www.glassdoor.com

2010 Sep 30
Thanks for the tip Ashely.

No, I have not entered the working world yet. Someone sent me a PM last week about an opportunity at a local health food store working with local farmers to procure produce - man that would have been my dream job! But I applied and did not get it.

Today I wrote an alternate resume, which is something I should have done long ago for apply for jobs that are not high tech.

Anyway, the pogey cheques are finally rolling in, so I thank all you employed folks for that :-)

2010 Oct 1
I am actually looking for a new job myself.
Usually I work having to write reports on chain stores and some restaurants on behalf of some companies.
But lately that work has been a bit slow and also harder to do in the winter.

I'm looking for job that has different hours as I can not work Mon/Wed/Fri till 2pm, any other days or times I'm free....

I did do co-op in a restaurant and was also a prep cook and baked desserts at one place in Nepean (big daddy's bar and grill).
But not really looking for a prep cook job.

I did apply to the Ottawa Xpress a few weeks ago as they had a freelance food writer job available (and I do have experience writing many reports about restaurants in Ottawa and have reviewed everything from chain restaurants to higher end places).

For Smartserve sometimes the festivals used to give free training if you agreed to volonteer pouring liquor.
I did get Smartserve a few years ago and used to pour beer at the Tulip festival before they changed policies and actualy hired people (and you got to keep tips back then too :)

Bluesfest usually also uses volonteers in their liquor tents, and maybe Fringe fest too.

I thought of applying to a new grocery store near me, a local chain.
Or else there is a bakery I shop at and I'm sure they always need people...maybe.

2010 Oct 1
Mercy me.

2010 Oct 1
I also am looking for a new job. I'd like to become a doctor. I like wathcing medical shows and I hear the pay is good. Does anybody know of any hospitals that might be hiring?

2010 Oct 1
Yeeeeeeeeeah, because a career that entails 10-12 years of post secondary education and working on live human bodies is the exact same thing as a job that has no academic requirements whatsoever and is a common first job for a high schooler...

2010 Oct 1
Trachino FTW! :-P

2010 Oct 3
Guys, I think your sarcasm detectors aren't working right. You should have them recalibrated.