Olive Garden Cook Job Description & Interview
Job Description and Duties
What Does an Olive Garden Cook Do?
Applicants seeking cooking jobs may find meaningful employment with Olive Garden. The popular restaurant chain regularly needs to hire talented and motivated cooks. Kitchen work with Olive Garden generally consists of preparing and cooking meals to order.
Are There Other Job Duties?
Additional job responsibilities may include cleaning work stations. Olive Garden cooks must comply with strict health and safety codes at all times. Olive Garden typically wants to hire cooks with experience; however, inexperienced cooks may still find jobs with the popular Italian restaurant chain. Training may take anywhere from a week to several weeks, depending on prior culinary experience.
Salary and Compensation
How Much Do They Get Paid?
Pay for Olive Garden cooks generally varies with experience. The average pay rate is $11.00 an hour, depending on location and exact position. Advancement opportunities into supervisory roles may lead to increases in hourly wages as well.
Additional Benefits
Many Olive Garden restaurants offer qualified cooks a host of employment benefits. Eligible workers with Olive Garden receive paid time off, healthcare coverage, retirement savings plans, and other insurance options. Olive Garden cooks may work long or irregular hours. Busy seasons and experience typically determine shift lengths and availability of hours.
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Review the Olive Garden Application page.
Olive Garden Food Prep Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer:
Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Olive Garden Food Prep:
So I do salad and bread. I make the bread and then for the salad, I make the salad and the service would just come up and pick it, and bring it to the table. And like restock salad, bring over tomatoes and lettuce.
Interviewer:
What was the work environment like?
Olive Garden Food Prep:
It’s good. I mean you make a lot of friends and everyone’s like really nice. The communication is sometimes a little off, I think that’s one of the only problems, but you learn and it’s a pretty easy job. It’s just a little stressful.
Interviewer:
What was your favorite part about working there?
Olive Garden Food Prep:
Sometimes we get free food and also just meeting the people. I mean everyone’s really nice and you learn a lot. A lot of real world experience.
Interviewer:
Please describe the application and interview process.
Olive Garden Food Prep:
So what I did is I went online and then they’ll call you in for an interview and you interview with all three of the managers. Then they’ll just come in, if you were hired and train you. It’s pretty easy.
Interviewer:
What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Olive Garden Food Prep:
What previous jobs you had? Why you’re good for the job? Why you want the job? How long you expect to be there for?
Interviewer:
How were you notified that you received the job?
Olive Garden Food Prep:
They reached out within a couple of days by calling, and I came right in.
Interviewer:
What set you apart from other candidates?
Olive Garden Food Prep:
I went to culinary school, so that was a big reason that they wanted me there, but mostly anyone who’s just ready and wants to be there, they’re happy to have.
Interviewer:
What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Olive Garden Food Prep:
Make sure that’s what you want to do. It’s stressful, but it’s a lot of hard work, but at the end of the day, it’s a job and it has good pay. It’s a good place to be at, it’s fun.
Olive Garden Line Cook Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Olive Garden Line Cook: Olive Garden was actually my internship for culinary school, and my primary duties was a line cook. And I pretty much took care of breadsticks, desserts, and the appetizers section.
Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Olive Garden Line Cook: The work environment was pretty busy. It was in Pittsburgh, so it was a very high volume place. It was very busy. It was a little stressful, but it was fun.
Interviewer: What was your favorite part about working there?
Olive Garden Line Cook: My favorite part about being there… I worked with some very good people, made some friends, and you have to love the salad and breadsticks there.
Interviewer: Please describe a typical day as an employee.
Olive Garden Line Cook: Typical day… I usually come in morning before the lunch shift, and we would do prep work to get everything ready to go for the day. From there, I’d work through lunch and would do lunch service. That was pretty much that.
Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Olive Garden Line Cook: It’s a very typical interview process. I filled out an application, got a call, was interviewed, and probably got called back after a day or so to get hired.
Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Olive Garden Line Cook: With Olive Garden, they wanted to know – I was coming out of culinary school – and they wanted to know what I knew, if I was ready to be in this position, and basically what hours I could work or not.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Olive Garden Line Cook: They’re a very busy company. Lunch and dinner always have a wait, so you’re going to have to be expected to be stressed out and to be busy all the time.
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Olive Garden Job Interview
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