You should always go into an interview with a list of personal and professional references. Make sure to let your references know that they may be contacted by your interviewer. Remove anything that might be considered inappropriate from your social media accounts before you begin applying for jobs. There's a good chance that the parents will look you up online at some point. You might even consider downloading an app to clean your accounts up for you. Always be sure to silence your phone before an interview. A ringing phone can make you look unprofessional and might interrupt the conversation at the worst possible time. Always bring a pen and paper with you to an interview to take notes. It will make you look prepared, and it will allow you to easily jot down contact information and anything else you may need to remember after the interview. You should never say anything negative about a former employer during an interview, even if it is true. These kinds of comments will only make you come across as negative and immature, so try to think of a positive way of talking about your past jobs. It's important for the interviewer to get a good sense of who you are, but it's also important that you demonstrate that you are capable of staying on-task. Offer details or examples when they are relevant, but try not to get too off-topic when answering questions. After your interview, be sure to send a note, either by mail or by email, to the family. You should thank them for their time and reiterate your interest in  the position.

Summary: Prepare your references. Have a professional online presence. Turn off your phone. Take notes. Keep it positive. Don't ramble. Send a thank you note.


An apology is an acknowledgment that you made a mistake.  Tell the customer, “I am so sorry for the error.”  This will make the customer more inclined to forgive you and/or your restaurant.  Be specific in your apology.  If the soup was too cold, say “I am sorry the soup was too cold.”  If the order was wrong, say, “I am sorry I brought you the wrong order.”  Always act sincere when apologizing, even if there is no real reason for you to apologize.  It will make the customer feel better. Many customers appreciate an explanation, but do not appreciate excuses.  For instance, you could say “I’m sorry, the line cook was confused about your order.  I’ll fix it immediately.”  But do not say, “The line cook mixed it up, not me.  Just hang on while he fixes it.”  Maintain a sense of personal responsibility even if the problem is not your fault, and avoid excusing yourself or anyone else. If you are very sorry, emphasize how sorry you feel by saying “I am very sorry this happened.” Apologies work online too.  If your establishment is active on review sites like Google+ or Yelp, you can write apologies in response to bad experiences.  Write something like, “We are  sorry you had a bad experience in our dining establishment.  I can understand why you were frustrated.  We will investigate this matter in depth to ensure it does not happen again.  Thank you for bringing it to our attention.” When a customer has a complaint, no matter how serious, correcting it should take priority over anything else.  If a customer is waiting to order and another customer has a complaint, the customer with the complaint should be helped first.  Only after their complaint has been heard and an apology issued should the other customer’s order be taken.  If the customer’s complaint involved re-making a dish, ensure that this remake goes to the front of the order list in the kitchen.  Let kitchen staff know that they need to make the order a priority. If it is not possible to resolve the customer’s complaint in a way which satisfies them quickly or within the time they have completed their meal, get their contact info so that they can be contacted later with a solution.  For instance, if the customer orders takeout and doesn’t have his order ready when he comes to pick it up, and doesn’t have time to wait for it to be made, tell him to write down his name and number and he will be eligible for a free order of equal value later at a time of his choosing. Solutions take a variety of forms, each dependent on the specific situation.  Thinking about the customer’s mood, the customer’s problem, and the options available to you to solve it will dictate your course of action.  Ask the customer what they’d like to have happen to rectify the situation.  Consult with your manager or coworkers in order to determine how to move forward.  If the customer’s request can be honored, do so.  Otherwise, use the information you received from your coworkers or manager in order to propose an alternative to the customer. Think about how irate the customer is.  If they’re extremely irritated and angry, you should go above and beyond to ensure they are placated.  Consider offering them a large discount, 50-100% off their meal. If the customers is mildly or only slightly put out by the issue about which they are complaining, offer them a free drink or a free side. If the complaint isn’t terribly serious but intended more as an informational aside, such as “The table is a bit sticky,” you might just need to clean the table up a bit. Always follow your restaurant’s protocol when deciding how to handle customer complaints.  Get your manager’s approval before extending an exceptionally generous offer like a free meal. Sometimes food just needs to be reheated, sometimes it needs to be completely remade, and sometimes the customer will accept another solution entirely.  Regardless, remove the undesired item with the customer’s permission. For instance, if a customer says  the soup is too salty, you should inform the cook who made the soup.  Tell him or her, “One of my customers found the soup a bit too salty.  Would you try it to see if it needs to be adjusted?”  While it’s important for you to apologize and offer something else to the customer who complained, if there is a real problem with the soup, someone else will complain about it too, down the line, and then you’ll have to go through the whole apology and replacement process again. Speaking with your coworkers is also important so you can understand what kinds of solutions are possible.  For example, if the customer wants a replacement side of mashed potatoes, you’ll need to check with the kitchen before assuring the customer that you can replace them.  It is possible that the kitchen has sold out of them for the night. Many customers might be too considerate or too proud to complain about their experience.  The customers who do speak up are giving you an opportunity to improve on the dining experience, whether in the avenue of food quality, service, or dining atmosphere.  Thank these customers by saying, “Thank you so much for bringing this matter to my attention.”

Summary: Apologize to the customer. Act quickly when handling a complaint. Solve the problem. Share information about the customer’s complaint with your teammates. Thank the guest for bringing the issue to your attention.


Doing so will open the Format tab at the top of the PowerPoint window.  If your PowerPoint file isn't yet open, first open it by double-clicking it. It doesn't matter which picture you double-click, since all of them will open the appropriate tab. This option is just below the Transitions tab. Clicking it will invoke a pop-up window. It's the first option at the top of the Compress Pictures window. Disabling this option will ensure that all pictures in your presentation are compressed. This option is near the bottom of the Compress Pictures window. Doing so will apply the compression settings to all images in your PowerPoint file, thereby reducing its overall size.
Summary: Double-click an image. Click Compress Pictures. Uncheck the "Apply only to this picture" box. Click the E-mail (96 ppi) option. Click OK.