Kate Zarski

I serve food at the Italian restaurant in a fast-paced environment. I started working at this establishment as a hostess/dining room coordinator when I was seventeen and advanced to a server when I was eligible at eighteen. I love chatting with guests, making them feel welcome, and being able to provide them with a positive dining experience. As a part of my job I also keep the dining area clean, roll silverware, run food, restock plates, and clean the server station.

As a hostess/dining room coordinator I welcomed people into the restaurant and seated them according to a seating chart. I also answered phone calls for take out orders and other customer questions. I would work at the expo station packaging food orders and running food to tables at a high-speed on busy nights. When I worked the door I would make sure to evenly distribute tables to different servers to keep the flow of customers balanced. I also helped the servers with their side work and cleaned the dining area, there was always something productive to do.

This was my first job that I got shortly after turning sixteen. I worked behind the register, stocking shelves, answering customers calls, packaging orders, cleaning, and selling items on the floor. I developed strong people skills through this job as I talked with many people of different ages and helped them find things they wanted to buy. I became very close with the senior employees and was offered the position of keyholder along with a raise. However, I turned this down because I wanted to start working in a restaurant and have new experiences beyond retail.