outbackers' Journal (original) (raw)

+ Your name + Jenna
+ Your location + Canton, Georgia
+ How long you've worked at your Outback + 2 Months
+ Your position + Currently A Hostess + Food Running This Weekend + Server Training Next Week
+ Anything else you want us to know + Working at Outback is quite possibly one of the best jobs that I've had in a while.

There really is a community for everything on Livejournal! It's cool to see some other Outbackers on Livejournal.

**EDIT**

Here's some more info on my job at Outback.

I became interested in a job at Outback through my friend Christin. She held a waitress position at another restaurant in our area and had too many run ins with her manager. Apparently her manager wasn't a people person and earned many enemies. ANYWAY -- Christin got the job at Outback and recommended that I apply. A couple of months after she got the job, I applied and listed her as a reference. Chrisin is a great server and I was lucky to have her as a reference. I applied for Take Away, Hostess, and Server. I had absolutely no restaurant experience, so I expected to get the hostess position, if any. I was called back for an interview by our proprietor, Denise Neff. My interview went extremely well and I was requested to return for a second interview with our manager, Meredith Hall. At my second interview, Meredith said "You have great energy and I look forward to working with you." I was offered the hostess position and was to start that weekend. I'm a huge people person and feed off of interaction with others. Hosting is a great job. While the other girls fight over who "runs the board," I eagerly open the door and greet customers and send them out. It's all about the first and last impression. I always say "Good Afternoon/Evening! How are you doing today? Great, thanks. Welcome to Outback!" I'll often times throw in comments about the weather, sports events, and other current events. People seem to really like that. Our customers' faces still light up when the door is opened for them. I've been hosting for about 2 months and thoroughly enjoy my job. One night, none of our bussers decided to show up. As I was opening hostess, I was cut fairly early. My FOH approached me and asked if I would like to go home or if I would like to help bus tables. I kindly replied that I wasn't wearing proper attire for bussing. She said: "I'll give you a t-shirt if you'd like to stay and help." I eagerly took the shirt and bussed tables for about 3 hours. Definitely a tough job and I kindly help out the bussers when needed. Recently, I was called in on one of my off days and was asked to bus tables. I couldn't say no, so I showed up 15 minutes later in my jeans and Outback t-shirt. That night I bussed for about 5.5 hours. (Think I deserve a pin? I'm going to ask the FOH who called me in that night for a Croc Star pin when she comes back in town. Is that appropriate?) Like I said, I've been hosting for a little over 2 months and was promised a serving job after only 3 weeks as a hostess. We are having "classroom" next week for servers and I was invited to attend by our proprietor. I applied for my liquor license the next day and turned it into my proprietor as soon as I could, hoping she would see how eager I am to serve. Also, I always ask servers if I can help them. Every chance I get, I'm refilling the ice, refilling pitchers, and running drinks to large parties. I've even been able to carry drink trays! hehe. There is a great server at my location named Erin who takes me aside every chance she gets to show me some of the little things about serving. For example, a week or so ago, she showed me how to time and turn in tickets. Tonight, she ran back through some of the things that she has taught me and reviewed how to time and turn in tickets. She even let me ring in one of hers! We have a great cold side team and I said something totally idiotic to them tonight. Instead of "Caesar salad in the bowl!" I said: "Caesar salad in your hole." Yeah, I'm a true champ. Needless to say, the whole kitchen erupted in laughter. My schedule is totally jacked up this weekend, I'm off Saturday - Tuesday and was pretty bummed to see that. I like making money! My proprietor approached me this evening as I was passing her by at Expo and asked me if I had any plans for this weekend. I told her that I didn't. She offered to let me get a jump start on my server training and asked me to begin food running on Saturday. I said that I would love to. I picked out my shirt today and I didn't have many options in the color department. We recently ordered a school bus yellow color and a sky blue. There weren't any of those in my size, so I settled with what I call "Medical Scrub Green." Yay! It's official! I'm becoming a server! I've been allowed to check tables while servers go on a "trash run" (smoke break). I'm very enthusiastic and I look forward to serving. I plan to stick with Outback for awhile and would like to move up in the ranks. The entire staff at OBC (OutBack Canton... :D) is professional and fun at the sametime. There are some who always bitch about tips, being cut, and closing... but I've learned to take those comments lightly. I'd like to get some tips on serving. What are some of the techniques that your trainers used to help you transition into serving? Got any tricks to help make better tips? I grabbed a TakeAway menu and have been glancing over the meals. I hope to do well on my menu test!