Go for it! Anybody they hire, they’ll have to train. And anybody can learn to manage a restaurant. With your industry experience, I’m really confident that they’d give your resume more than a glance.
If you understand customer service, safe food handling, ordering food and supplies, minimizing waste of product, staff scheduling (and knowing when to cut when over-staffed), then you’re an ideal candidate. You’ve got the basics, you’ll just have to learn “the Starbucks way” and they will teach you how to do things their way.
In my experience, the only diff between working in a restaurant and managing one was that with the title came a little more responsibility, and little more stress, a few more hours, and a LOT more money.
Give the United Way a call. They may be able to set you up with a voucher for second hand interview clothes. I hope they can - I’ve donated so many clothes over the years to organizations that provide interview clothes…
And call yourself “acting kitchen manager” - change your resume - even if they hire a kitchen manager - you had a period of being the “acting kitchen manager.”
Mister Rik, wardrobe problems are pretty common when someone has been under employed for a length of time. I do volunteer work with homeless and addicts helping them find work. We go to the local good will and can usualy put together some pretty decent interview clothes for about $20.00.
Heh. I lived for a few years in the local men’s shelter (I wasn’t actually “homeless”, I’d just gotten into debt over my head while in my 20s and needed a way to drastically reduce my expenses while I worked to get out of debt). I actually acquired a very nice suit while I was there, one that had been donated. I still have the suit. Alas, it was a bit too big for me when I got it, and now, several years and 45 pounds later, it’s too small, the dress shirt I wear with it is even more too small, and of course I’m bereft of neckties.
Anyway, I want to thank everybody for their suggestions, which were helpful. After giving it some thought, I think I’m going to pass on this opportunity. Evaluating myself honestly, I’m not a front-of-house person. My past experiences with direct-customer-contact jobs (shoe salesman, a handful of retail jobs, a very brief stint at a job where I had to tend bar and wait tables along with cooking) have not been good. I can handle customers for short periods, but when it’s an everyday thing, it gets to me and I … don’t handle it well. Also, I suspect the fact that I’m not a coffee drinker (I prefer tea) might be a strike against me at Starbucks
I think my best option is to keep my eyes open for a kitchen manager position.
Just a suggestion, but maybe you might try expanding your search off of Craigslist to include Monster, CareerBuilder, and indeed.com. You should find many more companies and options that way. Good luck in your search!
Alas, I fear those sites may not have a lot in my locale, a smallish agricultural town in the middle of Eastern Washington. Though I’d give my left nut (I’m not using it) to get a decent job in Seattle. I hate this town, though I’ll confess that $11-$12/hour is a livable wage here, for a single guy with no kids like me. (My favorite resident at the retirement home, a 99-year-old lady, asked me why I wasn’t married. I told her, “Well, if you never get married or have kids, you never have to pay alimony or child support.”)
While I would love to get a job and move to Seattle, I don’t trust my car to get me safely to the next town. That’s actually the next thing on my list of things to do: get a car that is less than 10 years old and doesn’t already have six things wrong with it when I take possession. It’s one of the reasons I got out of the seasonal convention business. I’d like to take out a car loan, but I was unwilling to do so when I couldn’t count on a consistent income from month to month.
I’m relieved, but that’s because I hate consumers.
Good idea, though Craigslist does seem to be where you find food service and hospitality positions. I never found anything decent (or real–lots of BS) on Craigslist, and my attitude has become, “If you are too cheap to pay for an ad, you are too cheap to pay for me.”
Alright, I searched “kitchen manager” and “seattle, wa” (since I don’t know where in WA you are) on indeed.com and 353 jobs came up, well over 100 of them paying $40k/yr or more.
I understand how you feel about wanting a consistent income. I’m about to turn 50 (get off my lawn!) and I’m self-employed - have been for almost 20 years. Literally the only income I have is what I can generate myself. That’s it. No “magic money” for me. Not even consistent money for me, lol. What I’ve learned over the years of self-employment is that it’s not so much a consistent income that matters, but rather well-planned consistent spending. I know this really doesn’t have much to do with your getting your car working, just some good general advice for anyone who wants it.
So what does your car need to get it working better? If the repairs are not too extensive and you don’t have the cash at the moment, can you finance the repairs somehow? (This may be a dumb question since I admit I don’t know much about cars but I’m just trying to be helpful and help you think your way through this to find a solution that works for you.)
Of course it depends on what you need done to your car, but at our most broke Firestone issued us credit for some tires. They also do brake work and other repairs. We make monthly payments of around $50 and have an available credit limit to use for whatever we need.
I got my driver’s license back a few years ago, after about 15 years without one (DUI in 1992 and then deciding I just didn’t need a car - this town’s small enough to get around on a bicycle just fine). Since I got my license back, I’ve spent a total of $1000 on four cars (compared to the $1250 I spent on this fancy bicycle that I never ride any more), all obtained from helpful people in my church. But, you get what you pay for. First car was a complete lemon, second car I loved, but had a racing engine problem that ended up scaring me to death; third car developed multiple problems one right after the other when I could least afford to repair them, and current car has multiple suspension problems.
So I want to get financing on a relatively “new” car that I don’t have to constantly worry about.
What you need is a “Buy myself a fancy new horseless carriage” plan.
Firstly, sell the bike. You’re not using it, someone else will want it. Ebay is your friend.
How much are 5 - 10 year old modest cars selling for within a 10 - 25 mile radius of where you are? If you ask me, you’re in a pretty good place to get a good deal, since you work at an assisted living facility. Chances are someone there is ready to sell their car. You’re the nice cook who makes them cookies every day, so they know and like you. Couldn’t hurt to put the word out with your 99 year old friend.
Now, how to pay for it. What do you own that you could sell? Could you take on a second part-time job for a few weeks or months to build up a good down payment? Could you try a “get me money for a car so I can get the hell out of here” campaign on a crowdfunding site? You have consistent income right now, even though it’s not as much as you want it to be - it’s still consistent. Have you tried applying for a car loan? You might have better luck at one of those “buy here - pay here” places. The interest rate will be higher, but you’ll have a greater chance of being approved. No matter which way you go, always, always, ALWAYS have any car you’re considering checked out by a good mechanic FIRST before you buy it.
Come to think of it, what little I know about Seattle includes that its Bike Central. Everybody rides one and they even have free loaners to get you around. If you really want to break out of your small town you could sell your stuff and buy a bus ticket. But there’s nothing wrong with staying where you are if you want.
Just a little update: I’m glad that I decided to not apply for this job. The ad is still being posted, and is looking more and more like the Springhill Suites General Manager job ad I posted about here.
When I first spotted this Starbucks ad, the offered pay was $18/hr. The next time I looked at the ad, the pay had dropped to $14/hr. I looked at it again today, and now it says, “TBD” (To Be Determined).
Looking more and more like a bogus ad.
On a plus note, while I’m still at the same job, I got a 3% raise after my annual review.
If you can pass the piss test, and don’t mind living in someplace like LA or TX when you arent working, you might want to consider a job as a Steward or other Mess person on an offshore or foreign oil rig. The link on the top is from Conoco, as an example. But google around. If you’re mobile, and can work hard, dependably, this line of work might be for you.
And if you’re staying in Eastern WA, that’s a pretty part of the country. But you have to bring your own job there. Congrats on the raise; at least you’re employed.
