What are my chances of getting a job waitressing at a nice restaurant?
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When I turn sixteen, I want a better job than I have right now. I plan on applying at a restaurant like Logan's Roadhouse, Outback Steakhouse, or Red Lobster. What do you think my chances are of getting a job there? Also, if you have any better ideas on where I should apply, then say so. I'm not too sure on which restaurant I would make good tips in.

Best Answer:
I got my first job waiting tables at the age of sixteen. The trick is to be confident in your self but not cocky. It takes a special personality to be able to be a good waitress. You have to be good with people and be able to take a lot of crap while managing to smile. All of this under large amounts of stress. My advice, dress decent, go to the restaurant between two and four, ask for an application. Take it home, fill it out, bring it back with a resume. When you bring it back, once again, wear a decent outfit and once again go between two and four. Ask if a manager is available. When you speak to the manager make sure you give a firm handshake, look him/her in the eyes, and don't forget to smile. Inform them that you wanted to make sure that the application and resume got into the right hands, as you know that sometimes applications get lost in the mix. A majority of the time they will interview you on the spot or schedule an interview. Be prepared for the interview. Do some internet research on typical questions and have some answers mentally prepared. Questions are frequently similar to, "Tell me a little about yourself" or "Why do you want to work here" or "what is your greatest strength?" "What is your greatest weakness." Don't fidget and don't say you don't know. If a question stumps you,just be honest, "I am sorry I am actually a little nervous and for some reason cannot think of an answer to that question. Can we skip it and come back to it at the end of the interview?" If you are asked about a weakness, do not say you don't have one. Everyone has one and saying that is just stupid. It is one of the questions I ask each applicant and it is one of the most important ones in my opinion as it shows one's ability to honestly evaluate themselves. Some good things to say about yourself are things like, "Excellent interpersonal skills, that you work well alone as well as part of a team, you love to multitask, you dislike being bored, you have a lot of patience." Do not say that you do not handle stress well or that you have a tendency to tell people exactly what you think. One of my favorite phrases is you have to learn to kill the customers with kindness. On occasion I fill in at the restaurant when a couple of people call in, and when the restaurant makes a mistake I make a quick apology, fix the problem, and then kill them with kindness. Most people are not able to stay mad at someone who is being very nice, cheerful, and bubbly. I wish you the best of luck and feel free to message me if you have more questions.

very slim,, don't you think that nice restaurants have a line of waitresses that have years of experience wanting the same job ? well you may have to try the mall or burger king, in this economy i think most of them jobs will be felt up by hard working people that have worked for years to get there ,,,,,you may get a dish washing job at one of them places,,,,,,try dairy queen,,,mc donalds,,,or wallmart,
Answered by wise one

it depends on your experience and your personality. Some people just are good servers and bartenders, though many like the money but just can't hack it. Don't listen to the person with bad grammar telling you to go to Burger King . Turnover in this field is very high, I haven't worked at any places where there was a line of waitresses waiting for a job. There are so many restaurants, and it's such a demanding, tough job, that not everyone can do, that it's rare to see a waiting line for jobs at restaurants. Though if you don't have any waitressing experience, it would be best to be open to being hired as a hostess and then you can learn how to waitress as you go. Also, from my years of experience, over 20 years of being a great waitress, your best money making places are not the big chains, and not the high end restaurants, but the family places. An example of the type of restaurant I mean, but using big chains, so you know the type of restaurant, would be like Chili's, Ruby Tuesday, Friday's, Applebies, and Benegans, I'm sure you know what one of those are. If you can find a similar restaurant in your area that does a good business and is not a chain, maybe family owned, that would be the best for making more money. The chains have small table sections, like when i worked for a brief time at Red Lobster, each server was only allowed a section of 3 tables at the most. You can't make much money with only 3 tables. The restaurant does this in order to make sure no servers are too busy to offer excellent service. They really don't care how much you make in tips as long as it's over minimum wage. Also, choosing more relaxed places over high end places, if you have a friendly personality, you can 'work' your table to get them to really like you, then they will most likely leave you more money. High-end places are strict with how friendly you can be with your customers, which leads to less room for mistakes and lower tips. Say you work at a place where you are friendly with your table, you come across as a good server, professional, love your job, and happy, and you screw something up, they are more apt to forgive you and still leave a decent tip, and as long as you didn't screw up too badly, they may like you enough to always want you to be their server, so when they come in they start asking for you. Then you build up a following, which you can take to other jobs. If you work in a snooty high-end restaurant, you don't have the flexibility to chat and let your personality come through, and there is no room for error, everything must be perfect, people that are spending a lot of money are expecting excellent service consistently. We are human and no matter how good we are, we are never perfect. Also, there is less of an opportunity for 'bonding' with your customers, which is what seems to bring in the best tips. You want as many tables as you can handle for the best money. I guess to start with, maybe a Red Lobster or Olive Garden or Denny's would be best, even though they have small sections, because it will give you the chance to get experience. Once you can see that you can handle more than 3 or 4 tables at a time, and you see that customers like you, you make them smile, then go find a job at a family owned, non-chain restaurant, where you will get half of the dining room, or the entire dining room. If you can't get hired as a waitress right away, then get a job as a hostess, as that may make it easier for you to prove yourself and get a waitressing job. I started waitressing at 13 working breakfast, which is the worst shift money-wise, though, at 13 I felt like I was rich. Breakfast is the worst cash-wise, due to the food is cheaper, so the total bill is cheaper, so the tips are lower, but people are more impatient at breakfast, so you have to work harder and faster for less money. I don't' remember what I made then. When I was 16, I was able to start working dinner shift, and I was making $50-$100/night. Lastly, though many people would say this isn't a good thing to do, it's easy to get caught in the vicious circle of not getting hired due to no experience, but not getting experience because no one will hire you. I was very confident in myself, so I did lie about my experience to get my first jobs in all of the fields I have worked in. If you do that though, make sure you use someone as a reference who will say you worked for them, and don't mess it up, it's a lie you will have to continue the entire time you work there. If I was your boss and you did a great job, I wouldn't care when i found out you lied, because I understand, but some people are very picky about that and will fire you on the spot if they ever find out. Good luck!
Answered by donna

Teenagers always apply at jobs they know. Retail stores and restaurants are getting 100 applications per week. Your chances are not good. One way you could sneak in would be to offer to work for anyone who calls in sick or goes on vacation. Those are the stressful times for the manager. You could solve that problem. All the restaurants you named are good places to make $100 a night in tips..
Answered by Ed Atun