Has anyone worked as a line cook for Hilton before? Just got a job as cook...yay..what are the benefits and perks? This restaurant and Hotel is brand new from the ground up so we are all starting fresh. Im excited. Pay sucks but maybe more room for promotion??? thanks..any advice will help. This is my first "real" line cook job..Happy Thanksgiving!:
Hotels and large chains have positives and negatives, just like any other job. Surely you discussed benefits and perks at your job interview, yes? Perks would be things like staff meals, transportation re-imbursement, etc. I would make sure you know what perks are available to you and to take advantage of them when you can.
I don't know about your benefits, again that is something that should have been discussed as part of your hiring process. Large hotel chains will most likely offer health care packages, 401(k), PTO, etc. You should know about these ASAP.
One of the good things about jobs with large hotel chains is the ability to potentially move around. You could target a city/region, or a job, and search the company employment database for openings. So if you decide in, say, 2 years you want to move to Seattle, you can potentially stay with the company and change jobs. It can be a good way to move and learn in different kitchens while having the job security and tenure that goes with being with a company for a long time.
A lot of times though (not all, but a lot) these jobs are very rote and leave little room for creativity and craft. A lot of hotel operations are big, "soulless" and more concerned with profit margins, ease of execution/assembly line, and habit. So you most likely aren't going to be pushing culinary boundaries (burgers, sandwiches, breakfast items, etc) while you work.
Another good thing is the ability to get your hands into many many different outlets in the culinary world. One day you may do a huge banquet, the next day you may be covering room service, another day you might do ice sculpting, and the last you might cook a private wine dinner for a big wig client. So you could gather lots of experience in many facets of the industry in one place.
This is a brand new hotel, so you have a great chance to start off on the right foot and be part of a positive team beginning. My advice would be to rise above, don't get involved with petty workplace backstabbing/gossip/BS and focus on being the best you can be. Be the first on to show up for your shift, be faster and more organized than you were yesterday. Take on extra work for the chefs/sous chefs, if you have time. Clean, clean clean. Chef's love initiative and hate micromanaging. If they SEE you taking action to not ever just "stand around" they will LOVE you. There is NEVER nothing to do in a kitchen. Even if you are covering room service and have no orders, you could be cutting mirepoix for stock, you could be prepping soup kits for the next day, setting up LTO, making burger pattys, etc. Literally a 1000 things to do. Clean stuff that doesn't get cleaned as much as it should--pull out the drawer from the lowboy and scrub the tracks. Consolidate the walk in. I hope you get my point. I guarantee you that, even with how crazy it is/will be for opening, the chef's and sous chef's will notice.
Take notes! Bring a notebook, WRITE things down. Write down recipes, procedures, mise en place lists, prep lists, plating diagrams, etc. Your chef will love it if he/she shows you how to do something, and you write it down so next time you DON'T HAVE TO ASK AGAIN.
Good luck, exciting times.
