San Diego Restaurant Jobs: What Gives (Newport Beach, Del Mar: real estate, how much, house)

[Kid Ashbury]

Originally Posted by eliotJC

I appreciate the words, and congrats to your little brother!

How did he do it—did he go on foot, or online? I applied to Nobu a month ago online, so that ship probably done sailed...or maybe not...I would go in, but I am leery of applying in person when the online option is available. That might be the New York in me, as I got nothing but no's when I first came to NY & walked into places. I later learned that is not how its done there. You just wait for craigslist or fill out online. Walk-ins are basically ignored.

He initially emailed them and no response. Then, a week or so later it just so happened that they posted a craigslist ad looking for servers. He emailed them through that link and got the call to come in 2 days later. He interviewed with the GM and AGM and got the job offered to him an hour or so after leaving

[Cryptic]

Originally Posted by eliotJC

I appreciate the words, and congrats to your little brother!

How did he do it—did he go on foot, or online? I applied to Nobu a month ago online, so that ship probably done sailed...or maybe not...I would go in, but I am leery of applying in person when the online option is available. That might be the New York in me, as I got nothing but no's when I first came to NY & walked into places. I later learned that is not how its done there. You just wait for craigslist or fill out online. Walk-ins are basically ignored.

I don't think it would hurt to try walk ins. Maybe time it in the morning when you can speak to the kitchen staff before they get busy and also get told that the appropriate manager is not in yet. Which would give you a reason to return and be seen twice.

Heck, maybe dont even carry a resume for the initial morning walk in. That way a sous chef wont be able to get one from you to show the manager "later". If the manager is there, then you can have one in your car.

Originally Posted by Kid Ashbury

He initially emailed them and no response. Then, a week or so later it just so happened that they posted a craigslist ad looking for servers. He emailed them through that link and got the call to come in 2 days later. He interviewed with the GM and AGM and got the job offered to him an hour or so after leaving

That's what I've tried to do. Nobu has not posted since I've been here; I can't speak for them, but the jobs that have posted, I've done just what your brother did: emailed back immediately. I've received no callbacks.

That's basically my struggle here, is to figure out why others are getting hired through the same channels andmy resume is like f___ing kryptonite. And what makes it all the more baffling is that this has never happened until San Diego. That's why I have to assume there is something about this place that I'm not aware of.

And, again, I've said it a million times on this thread, but if I'm considered "not Cheesecake Factory material" (they announced hiring, and ignored my application, so that much is clear), well how the heck can I imagine I would be considered Nobu material, Juniper & Ivy material, etc. I know I'd be a perfect fit for many, many places here. What I can't figure out is why they don't think so. It's got zero to do with politeness, dressing for success, etc., since I haven't even gotten that far in the job search. Not a single interview.

I guess I look at is like this: if I get rejected from Fresno State (no offense to any alums or fans), well, I'm a bit of a moron if my next move is to think about Harvard. Better to move on.

There's obviously something that restaurants here are looking for that they think I am missing. And for the life of me I can't figure out what it is. And it sucks because I can't address the problem if I don't know what it is.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by eliotJC

I hate to think about giving up, and I do want to be clear.... its not the lack of a job that is getting me thinking about leaving—its the lack of even a callback from restaurants I know for a fact are hiring beause they posted an ad.

I'm 0/43 on callbacks and I guarantee my résumé is better than almost anyone who has applied.

My guess is that they might be overwhelmed with the amount of resumes they've received. Maybe you can walk around the Gaslamp, Little Italy or downtown La Jolla on a weekend night to see where you might want to work. Try asking the host or hostess if they are hiring and flirt a little In an earlier post, El Chevere asked you to send him a PM so don't pass up that op.

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

My guess is that they might be overwhelmed with the amount of resumes they've received. Maybe you can walk around the Gaslamp, Little Italy or downtown La Jolla on a weekend night to see where you might want to work. Try asking the host or hostess if they are hiring and flirt a little In an earlier post, El Chevere asked you to send him a PM so don't pass up that op.

I did do that DM & came up with acoupleof leads. We'll see this week if they pan out.

As to the point about being overwhelmed: know they get a lot, of résumés, but...

1. Every market I've worked in, restaurants get a lot of résumés when they post an ad. Every single market I've worked is highly competitive. I still get called back..

2. Let's say they get so many résumés that they give up looking at them all and just start calling from the ones they've already looked through. Even if that's the case, out of 43 times, my résumé would have to be read at least sometimes. And when it gets read, I get callbacks. Until now.

So everything keeps pointing to there being something with my résumé that is keeping me out of consideration. That's what is weighing on me so much. I want nothing more than to correct the problem, but until I figure out what the problem is, I can't do so

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Originally Posted by CNYC

I know the Hamptons very well Trying to compare it to SD is not logical. After all those people come from one of the most well to do cities in the world. Big money in Southampton is very different than big money in La Jolla.

I dont know man. Have you been to La Jolla? It is probably to San Diego coast line what the Hamptons is to the South Shore of Long Island.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

I would try LA & OC first, there are very upscale locations where an experienced server will actually matter to the restaurant owner. Newport Beach, West LA, Beverly Hills are just a few of the areas where there are very high end dining options. To be totally honest, I would not have moved here if I was in your position. I grew up in the NYC area and still spend my summers in Southampton, so I know where you're coming from, but this is just a very different place than where you came from. Most people in San Diego have barely left the county and have no idea what the Hamptons is, so they can't relate to your experience. This is a place for beer, bikinis, bros and tourists, not a place where highly cultured professionals congregate. If you truly want to be here, just take whatever you can get, and take it for what it is.

Did not seem like that in North County.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

In the 2000-2008 period San Diego overshot it's market with too much luxury condo and restaurant development downtown. Now it's retreated back into much safer upper-mid-end tourist fare which to be fair was what is was before. There are pockets of luxe, mostly chains (Donovans, Malarkey, Nobu, etc) but not much more. To be totally honest I'm not sure what these people were thinking. Bottle service, upper-high-end is just not aligned with the generally middle-income San Diego population. Take one look at the mess that is the Gaslamp on a weekend and it's pretty obvious. A lot of drunk bros. Where there is growth, is the upscale fast casual bar-and-grill type places, brewpubs, etc. No need for high end servers in a place like that, any attractive bro or babe with some tats who knows the owner is getting that job. RSF fits the demo, but how many restaurants and jobs are there, really?

The reason for this is that San Diego is a place (to be fair like the area as a whole) where most people are struggling to pay massive housing expenses. People still want to go out and will on occasion, especially on the weekends, but most Southern Californians are carrying an anvil on their backs (a massive mortgage or rent). Add to this the fact that salaries are so low compared to housing prices in the region, and most especially in San Diego, means that people just can't eat fancy sit-down meals ala New York City or even Dallas. Most San Diegans are not touching the upper-high-end even if their house has 650k in equity in it (which means nothing).

[elchevere]

I think LuvSouthOC could have a point....in other expensive areas of the country (NY metro, DC, New England, portions of South Florida, etc), you might find someone with a $650K or $1M home or equity, or greater, who also has $1M or much more in stocks/other investments. I don't know this to be factual, but I could see his point where a decent percentage of residents in SD might have a significant portion of their assets/wealth tied up in their home and much lesser portions in alternative investments. (I'm the opposite with stocks dwarfing the value of my condo--but I don't have a family's needs to answer to, either).

That certainly seems like a viable explanation why we have a limited number of high end restaurants, why prominent chefs such as a Jean-Georges, Michael Mina, Daniel Boloud, etc. etc (who receive celebrity status based on the caliber of their food, not TV popularity/reality series) have not set up a flagship outpost here, and why not as many people eat out as often or for the same tab as in other expensive destinations. So, yes, I agree with him that $650K in equity means nothing IF you have little or no other investments (be it San Diego or anywhere--in the US).


"Add to this the fact that salaries are so low compared to housing prices in the region, and most especially in San Diego, means that people just can't eat fancy sit-down meals ala New York City or even Dallas. Most San Diegan's are not touching the upper-high-end even if their house has 650k in equity in it (which means nothing)."

[MarciaMarshaMarcia]

You should head to the Bay Area, in spite of your lease in SD. I doubt that you would have any hiring issues there.