u/One-Winged-Crow

Hi y'all. So I'm getting ready to move states and the area I'm going to has a good amount of cheesecake factories. I was doing some research online and have heard that it is an extremely difficult job, but a lot of people like it and get paid well, and it has decent benefits for a restaurant chain. I really think i want to give it a go, even if im only there for a year, that's still really really good experience on my resume.

For reference; I've worked in kitchens for 3 years now and have been an assistant manager at my current place for a year. It's all been very small-scale, local kitchens, but i do have a good amount of knowledge with industrial equipment and cooking methods. The only thing i don't have any experience with right now is fryers. Scratch pizzas have been my main thing for the past 2 years.

Questions:

1. How strict are their requirements for hiring? I meet most of the standards listed on Indeed, but what are the things they really, truly look for when hiring someone?

2. Would they be willing to start someone full-time? If not, how good are the part-time hours and how quickly after you're hired do they offer you a full-time position?

3. How late do they keep their employees there every day, when does kitchen clean up start and when are you expected to be finished and out of the restaurant? I'd like to not be at my job past 9pm, but if its the only way they'd hire me, I could do it.

4. In the state I'm looking in, it seems like they typically start people at 18/hr and ive heard you get a 25 cent raise for every station you learn (unsure if thats true of every location), but how good are the opportunities there, like if I do decide I want to stick with it, what are the odds of me eventually making at least 50k/y there?

5. If I don't want to stick with it for more than a few years, does working at CCF go a long way for getting other higher-end kitchen jobs like fine dining?

If anyone could answer any of these questions at all it'd be a huge help. Thank you in advance.