Chili's Line Cook Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed May 2011 in Denham Springs, LA (took 2 days)

I am attending the Louisiana Culinary Institute this Fall and needed some experience in the food industry, so I drove to the Chili's around the corner from my house. Luckily, they just so happened to be looking for cooks. Mind you, I have no previous experience in a professional kitchen. I walked in, applied, and asked to submit my application in person (always a good move). She sat me down and briefly read through my application, asking a few questions here and there and told me to come back in a few days, so I did. When I came back, the manager who was going to interview me told me to come back for testing a few days later. When I came back for testing he brought me over to a table with a few scales, some dry rice, dry pasta, a glass of water, and some empty ziploc bags. The test had two parts: the first was to read a recipe and do some basic conversions (there was a conversion chart on the recipe page, but it is always better to impress them by knowing the conversions by heart), and the second portion used the scales to measure out some of the dry ingredients and portion them into the bags. I recommend staying cool and not worrying about the clock. Focus, instead, on accuracy and cleanliness. He brought me to the front of the store while he graded my test, came back and hired me on the spot making $10/hr. working Salad/Nacho. Five days of paid training are included.