To maintain a steady rate of growth among a network of more than 130 restaurants, Cheddar's Casual Cafe accepts job applications online and hires new associates continuously. The growing restaurant chain offers entry-level employment as well as managerial career opportunities and serves as an ideal source of jobs for workers of all backgrounds.
Facts About Working at Cheddar's Casual Cafe
Hiring Age: 18 years old (How old do you have to be to work at Cheddar's Casual Cafe?)
Available Positions: Host, Hostess, Server, Bartender, Busser, Dish Technician, Line Cook, Prep Cook, Culinary Assistant, Assistant Restaurant Manager, Restaurant Manager, Culinary Manager, Operations Manager, General Manager, Business Systems Analyst
Printable Application: Yes. Print Cheddar's Casual Cafe application (PDF) or Search Job Openings.
Cheddar’s Casual Cafe Job Opportunities
Creating an inviting restaurant atmosphere for guests, serving high quality food, and valuing the patronage of customers form the basis of the Cheddar’s mission statement, which the restaurant chain expects each employee to focus on and carry out daily. The ability to deliver on every part of the mission remains the most important qualification applicants must possess in order to earn hiring consideration. Candidates willing to provide the most outstanding service possible at all times also tend to perform well during the hiring process. The restaurant chain often prefers to hire entry-level job seekers with previous cooking or serving experience, as well. Career opportunities in management typically demand extensive prior experience in the restaurant industry.
Cheddar’s categorizes available jobs as either team member opportunities or management opportunities. Ideal for entry-level workers, crew member jobs include both service and culinary positions. Job titles like host, server, cook, and culinary assistant represent some of the most popular team member positions regularly available at locations within the restaurant chain. Experienced restaurant associates with demonstrated leadership abilities usually prove best suited for management careers, which include the positions of culinary manager, operations manager, and general manager. Whether entry-level or managerial in nature, all jobs feature attractive pay scales and numerous employee benefits.
Cheddar’s Casual Cafe Positions and Salary Information
Depending on the specific position desired, entry-level candidates must comply with a minimum hiring age of either 16 or 18 years to apply online for Cheddar’s jobs. The restaurant chain sets the age minimum at 21 years for management positions. Hiring to fill part-time and full-time jobs alike, the chain values schedule flexibility and often asks workers to take on a variety of shifts. Job seekers interested in working for an award-winning and expanding restaurant brand should submit an application for any of the following positions:
Host
- Careers in the restaurant industry often begin in entry-level host positions, which involve greeting arriving customers, assigning each party of guests to a clean and available table, and expressing gratitude to departing patrons.
- Hosts also distribute menus to seated customers and ensure the presence of all necessary place settings at the table.
- Employees working as hosts must make sure to seat guests promptly and as evenly as possible throughout all sections of the restaurant.
- While some hosts earn minimum wage pay, others receive smaller pay rates of $4.00 or $5.00 an hour and also split tips with servers.
Server
- Responsible for creating exceptional dining experiences, servers fulfill the needs and special requests of restaurant guests.
- Job duties include relaying customer orders to the kitchen, bringing completed orders to the table, and ensuring guest satisfaction with the meals.
- Servers also answer questions related to the menu and encourage customers to partake in current restaurant promotions and specials.
- Associates in server positions constantly use multitasking skills and interact with guests while on the job.
- Hourly pay for server jobs typically falls around $2.00 or $3.00, with the ability to keep gratuities earned from customers.
Cook
- Unlike hosts and servers, cooks work in the kitchens of restaurant locations and seldom interact with customers.
- Culinary responsibilities entail mastering recipes, handling kitchen utensils and ingredients, and operating restaurant equipment to create consistently excellent food.
- Cooks also take responsibility for presenting each finished meal attractively on the plate.
- Culinary jobs demand the utmost standards of safety and sanitation as well as the ability to work effectively under time constraints.
- Cooks enjoy hourly pay rates generally hovering around $10.00.
Management
- Made up of culinary manager, operations manager, and general manager job titles, the cafe management team collectively oversees every area of each restaurant.
- The different restaurant manager positions contribute to the development and implementation of strategies designed to increase the sales and profitability of the business.
- Managers also hire and train employees, schedule associates for work, order ingredients and other supplies, ensure consistency of service and food quality, and identify areas where the restaurant needs to improve.
- Applicants typically qualify for management career opportunities only after working in the restaurant industry for an extended period of time.
- Managerial candidates generally need to show track records of steadily increasing responsibilities at previous jobs, as well.
- Workers also need to possess legal status and comfort levels to oversee the full-service bar onsite.
- Salary options for managers range from $40,000 to $60,000 per year and vary according to job title.
Tips For Applying
The online application process for employment at Cheddar’s begins with the creation of a user profile, which the restaurant chain automatically generates based on the email address and password provided by the job seeker. Applicants then encounter an assessment asking for personal levels of agreement with various statements related to character traits and work habits. For best results, candidates should strongly agree or disagree with each statement and avoid falling back on neutral answers, as online assessments often reward decisive responses. Applicants should also beware of redundant statements designed to ensure consistent answers. The next section of the application includes entries for references and employment history. Gathering the necessary information prior to starting the online form serves as a valuable timesaver. The job application also includes a section covering work availability. Applicants indicating the ability to work holidays, overtime, and a variety of different shifts on various days regularly come across as more valuable to the business operations of the restaurant chain.
Application Status
Because the hiring process often takes longer than anticipated, job seekers should give Cheddar’s restaurant managers ample time to review submitted applications. While hiring managers normally contact selected applicants within a week or two, following up with the restaurant chain sometimes becomes advisable for candidates still waiting to hear about application status. Applicants should choose whether to follow up by phone or in person during off-peak restaurant hours. When following up, prospective employees should ask to speak with the manager in charge of overseeing the desired position. Candidates applying for kitchen jobs, for instance, should follow up with the restaurant culinary manager, while applicants pursuing host or server positions should speak with the operations manager. Job seekers following up on applications in person should wear presentable attire to the restaurant and prepare for the possibility of an interview conducted on the spot.
Benefits of Working at Cheddar’s Casual Cafe
Every associate working at Cheddar’s restaurants enjoys frequent opportunities for career advancement. The restaurant chain focuses on promoting from within and also offers professional development opportunities on an ongoing basis. Full-time workers take advantage of additional employment benefits, such as 401(k) retirement plans and vacation time. Other job benefits available to eligible associates include access to an employee assistance fund and free meals.
Additional Information on Cheddar’s Casual Cafe
Established in 1979, Cheddar’s prepares many popular menu items in-house and from scratch. The focus on quality food regularly earns the restaurant chain national recognition and awards. In 2012, prominent rating service Zagat ranked the restaurant brand as the best full-service chain of eateries in the nation in addition to giving top marks to the cuisine, decor, and facilities of the chain. Another highly respected publication, Consumer Reports, listed Cheddar’s at the top of the Pub Style or Grill category in 2009 and 2012. The award-winning restaurant chain focuses on classic American cuisine and boasts a menu featuring chicken, fish, steak, homestyle favorites, and sandwiches.
Mike says:
If anyone is looking to apply at Cheddar’s, you need to do it in person. They do not accept electronic applications online. You download the application, fill it out at home, then bring it AND yourself to your local Cheddar’s franchise.
This is by design. People have become too lazy with the Internet and it takes ZERO effort to apply for jobs online. Anyone can sit at home and fill out and submit applications.
Cheddar’s wants to see if you’re willing to work a bit just to apply. They figure that if you’re too lazy to make the effort of physically going TO a location to apply, then you are probably way too lazy to work any job they have open.
Cheddar’s also VERY CLEVERLY tests your critical thinking skills by posting ads that are intentionally missing information on how to apply.
For example, they’ll say something like: “Cheddar’s is hiring! Join the team at one of America’s fastest-growing restaurants! Come grow with us!” and nothing else. You read the ad and think “Where? When? How? Why is there no information on HOW I can get a job?”
They want to see if you, on your own, are intelligent enough to solve that minor problem.
What’s the answer? Simple….go to their website, download and complete an application, then bring it in person to the store that’s hiring. Or, go to the Cheddar’s that’s hiring and say “I saw an ad that you’re hiring and I would please like an application.’
Congrats! You just passed their first test. You were able to find your way “in the dark” so to speak. You took the initiative and solved a very easy problem with simple common sense. They now know you don’t need someone to hold your hand for every little problem that arises.
Their next test is the SQ assessment. This is a simple 75 question test in two parts that is supposedly designed to see how “socially intelligent” you are….how well you handle interactions with other humans.
What you don’t know is they are once again testing your critical thinking/problem-solving skills as well as seeing if you can obey a simple directive from the manager.
How are you being secretly tested within the test?
The questions are listed from top to bottom like any other test. The first 35 questions are of the 5-choice “strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree” variety. The last 40 question are multiple choice. You circle the correct answer.
Easy, right? Looks very much like an SAT test.
The secret test? The questions are on one sheet and the answers are on a separate sheet. The questions are listed top to bottom, but the answers are from left to right..
The manager will tell you “be careful, the answers go side to side”. He/she is directing you to pay attention because the question sheet and answer sheets are two completely different formats. For righties, you would naturally put the question sheet on the left and the answers sheet on the right.
By formatting both sheets differently, they are testing you to see how well you handle unexpected issues. They want to see if you get flustered and stressed out easily. They also make you take the test using a pen so if you put the answer in the wrong spot, you can’t erase it. You have to scratch it out. The more scratchouts you have, the less able you are to adjust to unfamiliar situations.
The manager gave you a directive by telling you to be careful because the sheets are different.
If you followed his directive as it was given, you would take your time and remember what he said as you answer EACH question. The fewer scratchouts you have, the better you can follow orders and adjust to unfamiliar situations.
Believe it or not, following that simple directive from the manager is just as, if not MORE important than the 75 answers you just provided.
One last trick is the “agree/disagree” answers are backward. In that type of test almost everywhere else, it starts with “strongly agree” and the last choice is “strongly disagree”. The SQ assessment purposely reversed what we’re used to seeing to gauge our ability to pay attention to detail.
The bottom line is that if you REALLY want a job at Cheddar’s (or ANYWHERE for that matter), put forth the effort and show them you’re willing to work to GET work. If they hire you, they expect you to work hard. If you won’t even work a little bit to GET the job, chances are you won’t ever work hard for them.
Use your heads…..common sense isn’t commonly used. Use it. Put in a little time and sweat chasing the job and your odds of catching it will greatly increase.
Nicole DeMeo says:
So I think the whole idea of making the individual applying for a position at Cheddars look on the internet, download the application, and bring it back in is a FABULOUS idea!!! Makes a person really want the job…. or at least it would seem that way.
Clinton Sanderson says:
I was a server for about 8 months. I was a closer tues-sat because of my experience and availability. I was responsible for making sure guests were taking care of. Assigning side work, teamwork and closing.