For the love of chocolate or money...

August 7, 2007 1:20 PM

Yesterday I had no job. Today I have 2... Help me figure out which one would be better...

These are not mind blowing career jobs. Just relatively simple jobs to pay some bills while in school.

1. Chocolate Store (locally owned mom & pop type)
+ close to home (I can walk or bike)
+ laid back/ casual evnorionment
+ smells amazing
+ a few or as many hours as wanted

- low pay (but it will increase)
- young staff (I'm not old, but I'm not in my late teens/ early 20s)
+/- closes early evening so no potential to pick up extra later hours

2. Hostess in busy restaurant
+ potential to pick up shifts if needed
+ Varied staff ages
+ potential to get involved else where in the restaurant later

- I would have to drive
- They allow smoking and I don't smoke/ don't like the health risk of second hand smoke
- busy lunch hour means getting slammed (I can handle it, but do I want to?)
+/- pay is slightly higher than other place

I clicked with the owner/ managers of both places and was offered both jobs.


Now that I'm going back to school, I don't want a job that is going to sap the life out of me. I want something that I can enjoy without taking the stress home with me. I have worked in an extremely busy restaurant in the past, so I know exactly what I'm getting into with that job. I haven't worked retail (well I worked at the Gap in high school, but that doesn't count).

Can you point out some finer points/ pitfalls of each job that I may not be seeing? I have loans to help me with bills, but I would like to use them sparingly. I would only be part time, but could probably be full time at either place once I had been there for a while.

Please, give me your wisdom oh hive mind...

posted by MayNicholas to Work & Money (25 answers total)

Would you be able to get free/cheap meals at the restaurant?
posted by Lucinda at 1:29 PM on August 7, 2007

The chocolate shop job certainly sounds a lot healthier. The smoking in the restaurant would probably drain quite a bit of your energy, as would the commute. All those negatives for a slight pay increase, as you say?
posted by jon_kill at 1:31 PM on August 7, 2007

Response by poster: You know what, I didn't ask. I thought about it too while I was there, but thought that would have been too forward.

I should add that I would be a sales person at the chocolate shop (as opposed to making chocolate).
posted by MayNicholas at 1:32 PM on August 7, 2007

I was a hostess at a moderately busy restaurant in college. The people I worked with were great, but the work? Not so much. I'd do that kind of work again only if it were a choice between that and setting myself on fire. Don't underestimate the value of a laid back type job. Especially when you're in school. Count my vote for the chocolate shop!
posted by heavenstobetsy at 1:33 PM on August 7, 2007

Response by poster: yes slight. The hostess gets tipped out from the wait staff but that share gets split between 2 people.
posted by MayNicholas at 1:34 PM on August 7, 2007

School and social life are going to create stress. Chocolate shop.
posted by craniac at 1:38 PM on August 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

I think the chocolate job sounds better. I'm evaluating it on these terms: first, restaurants as a rule have a lot of drama going on in them (owner drama, staff drama, patron drama) and it's stress that you will get caught up in whether you want to or not. Small businesses have their own idiosyncracies but nothing on restaurant scale (unless it is very poorly run, or the owner has a coke habit or is running from the IRS, or all three, etc.) As a student I would want to keep a lot of distance between my school priorities and the soap opera of work, so I'd choose the slow lane of the choccy shop. Second, while you're right to be thinking ahead to more hours in case you need them, you also have to be thinking ahead to needing the time as projects come along, and studying for finals and what not. If your main goal is to excel in school then I wouldn't want to be constantly worrying about some jerkass manager giving me the worst and slowest shifts ( = crap tips) because I needed prime hours off for other important stuff.

In summary: chocolate chocolate chocolate.
posted by contessa at 1:39 PM on August 7, 2007

Chocolate shop. Restaurants are full of drama and politics and customers who feel much freer to be assholes than they would in a chocolate shop. Focus on school and let your job be only a job.

Also, restaurants have a lot of legal leeway to fuck you out of money while promising you'll get more some other time, where the chocolate shop pretty much is either going to pay you or not. Between that and the driving, you're probably losing money compared to the store.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:41 PM on August 7, 2007

If you care more about the low stress: the chocolate job.

If you care more about making friends (with people your own age): restaurant.

I know everyone above said chocolate, but I have a feeling I'd get pretty bored. And gain a lot of weight.
posted by widdershins at 1:47 PM on August 7, 2007

Yeah, but hostess job will build character. And when you get a "career" job, you'll understand more clearly how power and politics affect the workplace. And it will be more challenging which, depending on what you want, could be a good thing. Can you talk to any of the current staff (at either company) and get a feel for what it might be like to work there?
posted by |n$eCur3 at 1:54 PM on August 7, 2007

Personally, the chocolate job sounds like the better job. Restaurant work can be a huge grind.
Any healthcare benefits with either job?
posted by Thorzdad at 1:57 PM on August 7, 2007

Response by poster: As for the adding character... I'm 30 years old and have worked in the television industry for the last 6 years. I had the "career job" hated it and decided to return to school for a PhD in psychology... I'll get enough challenging in my degree program. (but I fully appreciate the point you made)

No benefits at either job- but I have insurance through school, so it's ok.
posted by MayNicholas at 2:05 PM on August 7, 2007

Restaurant work is draining and stressful. "Potential" to pick up shifts often means the management MAKING you pick up shifts.

I vote chocolate.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 2:10 PM on August 7, 2007

I vote chocolate shop. I have no idea why people work in restaurants (I was a line cook while in university, but only because there were few other jobs at the time), but I suppose the tips are a draw. Smoking is nasty. Customers are nasty. The stress is nasty.
posted by KokuRyu at 2:44 PM on August 7, 2007

I vote chocolate too (the answer to all of life's problems!). The key for me was "laid-back," which I think would be really good while you're a student and "as few or as many hours" as you want. I've worked in a restaurant, and it can be extremely stressful. Plus I think they might not be as willing to be flexible with you if wanted to not work so much the week before finals, or whatever. I've supervised students at a college, and believe me, even our most devoted student workers wanted to not work as much before finals. We were able to be flexible, which was very important to them as students.
posted by la petite marie at 2:45 PM on August 7, 2007

I would vote for the chocolate shop, primarily because of this line in your post: "Now that I'm going back to school, I don't want a job that is going to sap the life out of me. I want something that I can enjoy without taking the stress home with me."

Grad school is very stressful. You don't want your job to add to that stress, and the chocolate shop sounds less stressful because it's close to where you live, it's a non-smoking environment, and it's laid back and casual. I know you wouldn't be able to pick up extra shifts, but perhaps this would force you to use your evenings to either do schoolwork or relax and recharge!

Good luck!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:51 PM on August 7, 2007

Your question gives me the sense that you're a little biased towards the chocolate shop. For that very reason - work at the chocolate shop!
posted by Count Ziggurat at 3:06 PM on August 7, 2007

You have to drive to the restaurant. Have you considered the cost of gas or other car-related expenses? Also, how about the time it takes to get there?
posted by Robert Angelo at 3:15 PM on August 7, 2007

Response by poster: Yes, I may be a little biased- it just sounds so romantic...

And this thread has pushed me over the edge... I'm going with the chocolate shop!

Thanks to everyone for the insight- and thanks for reminding me how much not fun restaurants can be. It's been 6 years, so I forgot...

Thanks!
posted by MayNicholas at 3:16 PM on August 7, 2007

I have a good friend who has worked in a couple of chocolate shops, and really enjoyed the environment a lot. One warning: people tend to gain 10-15 pounds in this environment, sometimes more.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 3:38 PM on August 7, 2007

Chocolate shop. A friend of mine has done hosting and waitering at high-volume, high-end restaurants and the only, only thing that made hosting worth it was the chance to switch to waiter training after a month or two. The pay is not worth the painful boredom. If you were actually waitering--the wages weren't fixed and you had the potential to make lots more based on your skill and the prices on the menu--I would say it depends on how much you need the money. But since you'll probably be making fixed wages just go with the chocolate shop.
posted by Anonymous at 3:54 PM on August 7, 2007

Restaurants are a terrible place to work. I think there's no getting around.
posted by damn dirty ape at 5:15 PM on August 7, 2007

Yea chocolate! You should totally take the chance to learn how they make their treats!
posted by solotoro at 6:25 PM on August 7, 2007

Chocolate -- the slight increase in pay from the restaurant will quickly be used up by money for gas and wear and tear on your vehicle.
posted by srrh at 8:56 PM on August 7, 2007

♪ CHOCOLATE ♫

(I have nothing further to add that will be in any way constructive... and yet I feel that I have helped.)
posted by snarfodox at 10:09 PM on August 7, 2007