Today after leaving the Army Reserve Center in Ada, Oklahoma just after 4:30 (1630 hours for all you military types), I went to my motel, changed clothes, and drove to Chili’s. I have been telling people for a couple of weeks that?I was going to be working evenings as a server at Chili’s, so no pressure here at all.

Shortly after 4:45 this afternoon I walked into Chili’s and asked for the manager. By 4:48 I was sitting with the service manager completing a large pile of paperwork, and determining what my training schedule would be.

A couple of weeks ago on my first trip to Ada, I had thoroughly looked at all the second job opportunities here that I could work in the evening or overnight up until the middle of November when I ship out. I had narrowed my options to five; Solo Cup, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Applebee’s and Chili’s. The first three were likely to pay in the $8 an hour range, and Applebee’s seemed a little un-organized.

Chili’s appeared to be well managed, have pricing that would generate a high per cap average (dollars spent per customer), high customer volume well into the evening, and no tip share. That is a formula that should translate into making a little over $100 per shift, five nights a week on average. That would translate to over $25,000 per year if I were working it for a year straight; not bad for a non-career oriented second job. (This is what I made at Texas Roadhouse when I was at Ft. Jackson).

Many people in a career crisis will go weeks or even months without a job. If you are in debt and you find yourself in a career crisis, I don’t think there is any excuse for going a week without employment. There are so many jobs that can be obtained quickly to at least get some income, and simultaneously continue the search for a career oriented job. As Dave says, you can always deliver papers and/or throw pizzas. I guess three minutes isn’t bad to land?a job paying $25,000 per year.