Should I change my job from secretary to waitress?

Question

Right now I work 9 hour days as a secretary at a school and pull in about $88 a day after taxes.
I work M-F from 7am-4pm.

Should I change my job to waitress? My best friend orks at this restaurant and makes about $120 a night in just tips for a 6 hour shift. But I would have to work different hours and shifts all the time and would robably work weekends.

I live with my boyfriend and we need to have a decent amount of time to spend together. But at the same time we also need our 'time alone' in the house to wind down and do our own activities (guitar, art, knitting, etc)

Im really scared to quit my job of 4 years and just jump into waitressing. Is it hard? Does it make decent money? Do you have time to spend with loved ones still?

I have some fear that I will never ever see my boyfriend. He works 9-5 M-F kind of job...

Thanks...

P.S. I dont get benefits and I want to finish college to be a special FX person. Not a secretary my whole life.

Answer 1

Oh helllll no. Chances are you have BENEFITS (at least partially paid insurance, paid holidays, vacation time) that some wait staff don't get not to mention that in the clerical field you can often work your way up (receptionist, admin, executive admin, admin manager, etc) whereas that is not often the case in waitressing. Last but not least waitresses are so often disrespected by the public.

It's your life but I definately wouldn't make the switch.

Answer 2

If changing to a waitress will help you finish your education faster, I would say go for it. The only way I would advise against it is if you would be looking at waitressing forever. I was a waitress when I worked my way through college. Let me say, you CAN make some good money provided that you are young and pretty. I am sorry, but those are the facts! I have seen it too many times--the younger and prettier waitresses drag down much more money than an older or overweight waitress. You may not believe it, but it is TRUE! My own sister worked as a waitress for over 25 years. When she was young, she made so much $ that she never felt the need to further her education, but when she got some age on her, the tips were not NEARLY as good. SO--if it is temporary--GO FOR IT! You can make a lot of money, but do not try to make it a lifelong career. Cheers and best wishes.

Answer 3

Unless, you really like kissing peoples rearend, and mostly demanding rude people and being on your feet all the time you should find a better paying administrative assitants job. At least you have skills that can lead to more. Never step back in skill for a few extra dollars, alway look on how you can advance your skills and get more satisfying skilled work.

I bet an extra $30 a week, is not enough to make a positive change. In less than 5 mins. that could be spent, but you have to work harder in a low level job. Which job will show a new employer skill they are interested in when you try to advance your career? A toast slinger or a skilled secretary. Just look for jobs that are listed as Administrative Assistant, and find a better paid job with a larger company.

Remember this is like a gambler. They always tell you thier best days tips or the best winning streak they had. What about the week your rent is due and the weather has been bad, or the tips were real weak and that base pay gives you $60?

Answer 4

WOW believe it or not ... I am considering the same same thing! My sister is a waitress, she says its great money in less time. It depends where you work I guess, my advice to you is find a place that pays a basic and tips, that way your income is stable in a sense because that is what youre fearing right now isnt it? You are so into the routine of set pay that thats all you know, change the mindset. My sister has more free time than me, she has a 11 month old boy and she makes good money for state of the art toys and gadgets and clothes and stuff that I have to carefully budget for. Whatever job you decide to go with just remember that youre pretty marketable and even if you leave this job for waitressing and hate it you can easily find a similar job.... hope I helped... these are all the thoughts that I consider.

Answer 5

Well here's the thing waitresses usually only work like 3-4 days a week. You have to deal with REALLY annoying people (in person) and there's not really any health insurance, raises, 401(k), pension plan. I worked as an assistant for a while and do the same kind of clerical duties as a secretary but the pay is usually around 35k. I'm an exec. asst. now and the pay is around 55k. There's a lot more you can do with office skills rather than restaurant skills. Plus you only have to do the 9-5.

Answer 6

I've done both and they each have their perks. Being a secretary, you know exactly what your hours are and how much money you will make. Waiting tables... you have the possibility of making a lot of money, but if it's a slow night you might not make that much. Also, if it's slow you might get sent home early, but if it's busy you might be working all night. You will have to be used to being on your feet all night and running around in circles. How much you make also depends on how good of a server you are. If you are new it make take you a while to get the experience and get really good tips. And you have to learn that not all people know how to tip and you till have tables that only leave you two dollars (or nothing!) on a big check. The hours can be crappy, but its usually well worth it. Figure out a day and/or time that you and your bf definately want to, and can, have time together and when you apply for a waitressing job, tell them that you are not available to work on that day due to a prior commitment. With waiting tables, you can usually switch shifts with another server if you need time off.

If you think that you can handle it (and the lack of sleep), try to get a part time waitressing job just for 2 or 3 nights a week (or weekends--whatever works for you). That way you can see how you like it and see if it would be something for you. Not everybody is cut out for it. You need the ability to multi task, be able to work in a fast paced environment, work well under pressure, have a pretty good memory, be generally nice and be able to smile at Satan and kiss his a.ss--because you will get customers that are just flat out evil and impossible to please, but you still have to be nice and try.

If you have a connection at a restaurant (preferably one that you would work at) speak to a manager and explain that you are interested in becoming a server but you would like to shadow a server for a day (or hour or 2) just to see what it's like. They might not go for it, but you never know.

I'm not trying to shoot down the idea because you can make really good money waiting tables, I just want to let you know what you would be getting yourself into so you don't leave a 4 year job for something that you absolutely hate and want to leave.

Answer 7

more benefits to your 9 to 5 job, because you also received medical insurance, 401k, retirement plan. as a waitress there are no befits.

you can try this keep your office job and get a part-time job (only two nights a week) as a waitress. good luck

Answer 8

Tough call. Waitresses have to put up with a lot of crap from customers and take the blame for everything that goes wrong. Are you sure you'd want to go through all that?
It all comes down to whether you value your time or money more.
Just remember, waitressing aint easy.

Answer 9

Since I have a corporate IT job where I work 9-6 and I wait tables at night, I may be able to help you out. First thing first though, don't quit your job to wait tables just yet. You can do both to see which one you like more. With that said, lets look at the situation.


Obviously, your job as a secretary offers you 2 things. A set schedule and benefits. The con's: The typical office politics that some seem to handle with ease, or people like me who are on the brink of insanity because I can't stand how corporations pick with people and find ways to mess with them. Then again i'm an actor and the corporate life has never been anything more than a means to survive that i'll soon be giving up to pursue my acting ambitions. Just fyi, I make 42k a year doing desktop support for a large real estate company. 7 years experience doing and it I just hate it. But i'm rambling. Of those two pro's, you need to decide how much they mean to you and if you can live without them. As far as I'm concerned, they are the only 2 positives of a job like secretary.

Now, waiting tables. First let me say this. It's not for everyone. My first night on my own after 2 nights of training I was ready to quit. But 1 week later, I can honestly say I liked it much more than my corporate job.
The cons to waiting tables: rude customers, lack of benefits, working holidays and depending on where you work, lack of a social life on weekends as thats when you make your money. Physically demanding.
pro's: Potential to make a lot of money.
Flexible schedule if thats what you want. Fewer hours unless you want to pull double shifts, but if not, more hours in the day to do whatever you want.
Cash in hand. Nothing like leaving work every night with cash in your pocket. It's very seductive.
The rude customers part doesn't bother me because I deal with this at my corporate job as I have to talk on the phone most of the day. and dealing with arrogant Exec's to boot.
Another thing about waiting tables is finding the right gig. Waiting tables at places like Denny's, IHOP, etc sucks. You don't want to work at these places. Unfortunately with no experience you are not going to be able to get a gig at a fine dining establishment. They require alot of experience, but then again some of those waiters/waitresses make 70K plus at places like Ruth Chris, III forks and other fine dining places. So there's a reason for all that.
You can try a chained establishment like TGI Fridays or Bennigans to see if you can get your start there. What I would recommend to you is to start waiting tables part time, at nights and on weekends for a month. If at the end of the month you like it, and are making enough money, quit the day job.
One thing about waiting tables, when it's good, it's really good, but when it's bad, it can be pretty bad. You're going to have slow days, problems with managers at times and things like that. Like I said, give it a shot in your spare time. Working 7-4 mon-friday as a secretary affords you the chance to do both as most places have no problems hiring wait staff simply for nights and weekends. I had no prior experience and I was able to pull this off and I work 9am-6pm, then wait tables from 7:30-10pm nights, and then weekends. Hope this helps. IF you have any questions, you can click on my profile and email me.

Answer 10

Change is always scary, but I think you should do it. I hear waitressing work is hard but lucrative. It will keep you in shape, but watch out for snaking too much on all the goodies...Best of luck to you :)