"Hey Guy, just why *are* you looking at jobs on Craigslist in the first place?"
Or (less likely) perhaps, "Why did I feel the need to interrupt this enthralling restaurant tipping series, just to tell you about a bar position I *didn't* get (or want ;) at work recently?"
Well to the point, it's because I have in fact been interviewing, and just accepted a part-time bartending position, that's why!
It's an extremely high-volume locale, doing events at our local "major" concert venue and sporting arena.
I thought I'd share with you some highlights of the Q/A process we went through during the interview. And then something kind of weird, or surreal, that happened tonight during my orientation.
I'm in front of three women during the interview. One is their (oops - I mean "our!") "Human Resources" officer. One will soon be leaving the "top spot" she has in management at (what I'll from now on just call) "The Arena" and the third woman - conducting most of the interview - will be "moving up" into the position.
"How do you feel about cutting someone off who's already intoxicated?" she asks me.
Hmmm, well I probably shouldn't mention that mad little rush of power I experience when I do so, so instead I start by simply saying "Polite, but firm..." and then leave them hanging for a few seconds while I gather my thoughts on just how to answer this one.
This is after all, a venue where people come to party, and - like a typical movie theater that makes most of their profits from popcorn and soda, not movie tickets - The Arena charges $8-10 for a draft beer, so I know already that selling all they can is a huge part of their business model. I'm wondering if their question pertains more to their bottom line financially, or to their responsibilities to the community? If it's the former, then part of the question may revolve around "Am I a trigger-happy bartender who will too quickly cut off their patrons, and their profit-flow?" After all, there are cabs everywhere downtown.
But I have to be true to myself as well, job or no job.
I expound by saying "It's not the most fun part of our job, but it is a sad necessity of the position sometimes. You just have to be firm about it from the get-go, once you've made that decision, so they don't sense any wavering on your part. Sure, they'll act out or get belligerent for a minute sometimes just to see if you'll cave and serve them if they can intimidate you, but once you've said No, you just stick to your guns. Polite, but firm."
I continue "Plus, if they're the kind of person that drinks until they get cut off, odds are it's NOT the first time in their life they've ever been cut off. They know the routine usually. They yell at you a minute. You remain firm. They eventually give up and walk away."
It's obvious to me that I just "scored huge" with that answer. They now know, that I know, this line of work. Maybe I shouldn't, but now I'm going for the two extra points.
"And we have to back each other up too. If one person makes the decision to cut someone off - even if they're wrong - then the rest of us have to back them. You can't leave the door open for that person to just go to another bartender and get served. Once someone's cut off by one person, they're cut off period - at the whole establishment, I mean."
I could not have foreseen how well that would sit with them, but I'm glad I kept talking, in this case. Darned if that's not exactly one of the main points they drove into us during orientation. They made it very clear that if for ANY reason one of us wasn't comfortable serving a customer more alcohol, then all of management would back that decision, and if needed bring in Police (the place is crawling with Police presence) to enforce the decision and let us all get back to serving other customers. If we cut someone off, they want us to alert a manger or security, describe the person, and they'll make the effort to notify every bar station in the building. They let us know in the training that we are their "front line" of responsible alcohol service, and that we'd never be corrected for cutting someone off, or second-guess any of our decisions.
So back to the interview, then she wants to know how I feel about "conflicts?" I have to ask her what she means - what type of conflicts? "Conflicts with co-workers" she explains. "If you're working the same station with someone, but you're not getting along with them?"
"Oh" I say almost dismissively. "Well as you see from my letters of reference, I usually get along very well with my co-workers, to start."
She nods. She's read the letters. (Thanks Bobby and my other former employers!)
"But the way I look at it is that the people who cause the most conflict tend to just weed themselves out. Whatever they're problem is, if they bring it into work all the time, I won't really have to worry about them, because they probably won't be here very long. So I just ignore them - or at least their drama - if an immediate solution can't be found...
"I'm here to do a job - to serve the customers and to get paid. If my co-worker has the same goal, then there won't be many conflicts. But - and no offense to you - I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to make money. Getting involved with drama like that affects my ability to concentrate on the customers and to make money, so I'll usually just walk from any conflict that can't be solved immediately and focus on the job and what needs to be done."
I ask, and it turns out they are not offering full-time employment. Most of the people here either work another job, or they don't need to. Working here just means "fun" and extra money to some of them.
So now they need to know how I'll handle working two jobs at the same time, and if I'd foresee any conflicts with doing so. I know that what they'e really asking is whether I'll blow them off sometime because of my main job and not show up for work there at The Arena.
I tell them that "Working two jobs has it's challenges, but I've done it before. You just have to be up-front with both employers that "this is when I'm available here, and this is when I work my other job.
"But nonetheless, sometimes it happens that both places schedule you for the same night. If that happens to me, I first make the effort to deal with it myself, by just asking employees at one or both places to pick up the night where you got double-scheduled. Everybody's looking for more money or extra shifts these days, so that usually settles it - I'd just make the effort to get the shift picked up by someone else who needs it.
"If that doesn't work say, within a day of me finding out about the conflict, then I'd have to go to the manager who made the error and go over what we agreed my availability was, tell them I'm scheduled at my other job, which gives them a week or so advance notice to fix the problem. They'll generally realize that it was their mistake, and again, I'd probably only do that after making a reasonable effort to fix the problem myself."
Yuppers, I am "in" as far as passing this interview goes. The interviewing manager and up-coming boss thanks me for my time and says that she thinks I'll be "... a perfect fit" for working here and gives me the documentation I'll need to go take the required drug tests to finalize the hiring process and tells me when to report for Orientation.
Realizing that this entry seems way long enough already (you guys already know me, right?) I'll get back to the "surreal" (and just short of supernatural) thing that occurred during orientation that I spoke of earlier, next time. Subscribe via e-mail for my updates by using the blank box at the top of this screen if you want to hear more about this.
Meanwhile, I'd like to direct you to either read, or to re-read, this older Blog entry of mine. What I'll share next will be missing some needed context for you otherwise - and so you'll enjoy the next one all the more - if this story about my first time ever bartending from 1989ish is fresh in your mind.
Til next time.
-g-
No comments:
Post a Comment