What does the Olive Garden Company do? Olive Garden is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. It is a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants, Inc.
Below are the top 25 interview questions and answers that you could be asked when attending an Olive Garden interview. Also, there are sample answers that will guide you on how you are supposed to answer the questions.
1. Why Are You Interested In Working For Olive Garden And Not Any Other Cuisine Restaurant?
“First and foremost, I must say that I have loved this company’s cuisine since it was started in 1982. The taste of your cuisine is just an amazing one. I am interested in working for your company since I want to be part of this team that is producing and designing this tasty cuisine. Again, I am still young and energetic, I still have room to learn and improve my skills in this field as well. I would like to learn more from you. Lastly, I believe that I have all the qualifications to work in your company. I have worked in other companies and I believe that I have the right experience to work in Olive Garden.”
2. Why Did You Leave Your Previous Role?
“The reason why I left my previous workplace it’s because it closed down due to the world Pandemic which has affected a lot of businesses across the world. Especially in this field, businesses have been closed down to curb the spread of the deadly virus. I hope that I will get a chance to continue working for you.”
3. What Qualities Do You Think Fits A Olive Garden Staff Employee?
“Of course, Olive Garden Company is one of the leading manufacturers of tasty cuisine and their employees are the ones that are doing it. Of course, there must be teamwork to make a tasty final product. This means that the employees are team players. Again having room to learn from others and pull together ideas is very crucial while working for Olive Garden. This company is capable of innovating and implementing new ideas day by day to make sure there is a variety of cuisines to meet customers’ needs. The employees must be ready to learn that and cope with the advanced and new ideas that are put in place to improve the cuisine. Lastly, an Olive Garden employee should be focused on helping the company achieve its mission and vision as well.”
4. Tell Us About Your Experience Working In A Closely Related Field
“After completing my university degree in hospitality, I was employed in a milk production company. Here I interacted with a lot of seniors from whom I learned a lot. I was able to gain experience in this field. Again, the company was making cuisines as well. It was all about making sure that cuisines made were of the right quality. I worked for this company for five years and my contract expired. Having gained five years of experience is all that this role needs. Especially in the cuisine sector, a highly experienced candidate fits best. I believe that I will give the company my best towards reaching its goals. Having gained a lot of experience in a very closely related field, I hope that you will consider my experience as an added advantage to me.”
5. What Is Your Biggest Strength
“As far as my biggest strength is concerned, I would prefer saying that working as a team is my biggest strength. I always prefer working with hardworking people and having one major goal to attain a certain goal. This makes me feel that there are people backing me up towards the success of the company I am working for. I always work best in teams.”
6. What Is The Biggest Challenge That You Foresee In This Role
“One thing that is very crucial with this company is that it needs to be very careful from the start of making their products till the last phase. If there is a mess at the start, it will mess up the whole procedure. The company should make sure that the employees are adding the right amount of ingredients to make cuisines and ice creams. Flavors should be tasty too. If the company does not invest in making sure that the products are of great standards, it may incur extra expenses when these errors occur.”
7. How Do You Stay Motivated In Your Work?
“Helping my company achieve its goals is all that motivates me. Every time I get to work, I have to remember that I am working towards a certain goal and so I should get motivated to work towards it. Nothing motivates me more than meeting my company client’s expectations. Whenever I see businesses increasing their profitability due to the strategies that I have put in place, I always feel that I am doing a great job that is helping my company grow. This always makes me feel that I want to do it again and again.”
8. Share With Us Your Greatest Achievements
“In my previous role, I used to work with a lot of passion and ensured good and polite language while talking to our customers, every customer would rate you out of five according to the services you have offered to them. At the end of the year, I had the most positive ratings and was awarded as the year’s employee. This award came along with a certificate and a gold medal that I am proud of. I believe that I will use the same strategies in your institution.”
9. Why Do You Feel You Are Most Suitable For This Role?
“It is my understanding that this role needs a well-experienced individual who knows what they are doing and what they are supposed to at a certain time. Having worked at a busy business with a lot of focus on meeting their goals and objectives, I think I am the candidate you are looking for. In addition, the strategies that I have learned from my previous role will help in offering the best services to your company. Since I already know what is expected of me, a few pieces of training will be required. I hope that you will consider the experience that I have received.”
10. Tell Us About What You Know About Olive Garden And The Founders.
“Olive Garden started as a unit of General Mills. The first Olive Garden was opened on December 13, 1982, in Orlando. By 1989, there were 145 Olive Garden restaurants, making it the fastest-growing unit in the General Mills restaurant division. Olive Garden restaurants were uniformly popular, and the chain’s per-store sales soon matched former sister company Red Lobster. The company eventually became the largest chain of Italian-themed full-service restaurants in the United States.”
11. How Would You Deal With A Complaint From A Customer?
“Whenever there is a complaint from a customer, I would be very careful while handling it. This is the procedure I would use;
- Stay Calm. It might be extremely difficult to do, you must stay calm when handling a customer complaint.
- Listen. Frequently, if a customer comes to you with a problem, it means that they want to be heard.
- Be Kind.
- Acknowledge the Issue.
- Apologize and Thank Them.
- Ask Questions.
- Make It Speedy.
- Document Their Responses.
- Follow up.”
12. How Is Your Availability?
“Since I have completed my university studies, my availability rate is 100%. When I get this job, I will have no excuse for not attending other than emergencies that cannot be avoided. I believe that I will spend most of my time in my workplace doing all I can to maximize the profitability of my employer. I believe that I will be present 100%.”
13. Do You Have Any Reliable Transport To And From Work?
“I must say that I am a sporty person. That’s why I have a sporty motorbike that is very convenient even in times of traffic jams. This is a very reliable mode of transport that I will be using to get to work and home as well. I will have no reason to arrive at work late. Actually, I bought this motorbike when I was working in my previous company where I have never gone to work late. ”
14. How Would You Define Cuisine?
“A cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific culture.”
15. Give Us Five International Types Of Cuisines That You Know Of?
- Indian – Hot curries with lots of chilies and a side of raita to cool down. Dishes are based on rice and often vegetarian or with seafood.
- Italian – Home of the pasta and the pizza, Italian food is simple dishes with only a few ingredients but of extraordinary quality. Tomatoes and basil, olive oil, and Prosciutto de Parma are typical Italian products.
- Japanese – You cannot avoid sushi, but Japanese cooking is so much more. Based on noodles or rice the Japanese meals are usually made of seafood, tofu, or vegetables.
- Chinese – Most meals are served in bite-sized pieces ready to be picked up by chopsticks. Basics include rice and noodles.
- Turkish – Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Balkan cuisines.
16. Give Us Six Italian Cuisine Flavors That You Know Of.
- “Olive Oil – Olive oil is the staple oil in Italian cuisine. It is used in cooking, and finer versions of it are used in a dash to finish dishes or in a dip.
- Basil – If there were one herb you’d attribute to Italian cuisine, it would have to be basil.
- Tomato – You’ve heard of the flavor concept umami, which is a combination of savory and sweet.
- Dry-Cured Meats – Dry-cured meats are used in a variety of ways in Italian cuisine, lending a nutty protein element to any dish. You’ll find pancetta cooked into the sauce for spaghetti carbonara, or the famous prosciutto served alongside salami and parmacotto on an antipasto platter.
- Cheeses – Mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta, gorgonzola – the list goes on! Italian cheeses bring everything from richness to saltiness to sweetness to any dish. In sauces, softer cheeses create a silky, savory base for pastas. Accompanying dry-cured meats, cheeses lend a mellowing element for the distinct saltiness of the protein.”
17. What Are The Top Five Cuisine Flavors That Olive Garden Offers?
- “Shrimp Alfredo
- Breadsticks
- Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara
- Zeppoli
- Eggplant Parmigiana
- Lasagna Fritta
- Grilled Chicken Piadina
- Cheese Ravioli
- House Salad
- Cookie Butter Cake.”
18. What Is The Olive Garden Mission Statement?
“Our winning family starts with you.”
19. What Are The Olive Garden Core Values?
- Integrity And Fairness
- Respect And Caring
- Diversity
- Always Learning Always Teaching
- Being Of Service
- Teamwork
- Excellence
20. What Are The Top Benefits That Olive Garden Offers To Their Employees?
- Flexible schedules to help you balance other life commitments (school, childcare, family care, etc.)
- Free Employee Meal!
- Weekly pay
- Anniversary pay
- Paid Sick Leave (1 hour for every 30 hours worked, begin accruing upon hire)
- Paid Family and Medical Leave (up to 2 weeks after 1 year of service)
- Medical/dental insurance
- Ongoing training to build critical skills for current and future roles
- Discounts on cellphones, travel, electronics & much more!
- 401(k) savings plan (Company match after 1 year of service).”
21. If You Were The Culture Of Olive Garden, How Would You Change The Culture Of The Restaurant?
“Olive Garden is one of the most prominent organizations that have kept a good philosophy among its employees. We are supposed to accept the culture and better the areas that need to be upgraded:
- I would employ the skills and experience that I have acquired from previous experience
- to improve the company's semantics.
- I will utilize the knowledge that I have gained from my studies both in college and
- university to upgrade the philosophy of Olive Gardenand make it a compelling one.
- That would be an excellent method to improve the performance of the Institute.
- I would utilize new techniques and strategies that may help improve Olive Gardenculture.
22. Have You Ever Dealt With A Problem With Little Or No Information? And Which Tactic Did You Use To Do It?
“As a freshman in the company I used to work for previously, the information technology officer gave a project with very little information about how it was supposed to be handled. Instead of throwing away his time by asking many questions, I enquired from an individual who had specialized in information technology and asked for previous Work samples concerning the projects assigned by the management. I managed to collect at least four samples to get a picture of what my management expected. I got into work, and I managed to pass an excellent job, and the management was very pleased with the work. That is a problem I handled by doing personal research and strategy to give high standard work.”
23. What Is Your Biggest Strength
“As far as my biggest strength is concerned, I would prefer saying that working as a team is my biggest strength. I am a people person. I love working with hardworking people and have one major goal to attain at the end of it all. In my previous role, I had a team that used to pull together towards a certain goal. The morale was so high, and no one could get bored. I believe that I will meet a hardworking team to work with like the one I had before. ”
24. How Would Your Previous Boss Describe You?
“Since I had a close relationship with my previous boss, Mr. Clinton, he would describe me as a polite, kind, hardworking, good-hearted lady. He was one of a kind to work with.”
25. What Should We Expect From You In The First Month Working In Our Facility?
“In my first month working in your facility, I will be mostly testing my strategies, learning from the facility as far as guidelines of duties are concerned, and adapting to the new system. In the same month, I will also be fixing my schedule to see how and when is the right time to perform a certain task. Lastly, expect maximum cooperation and quality work from me.”
Conclusion
Olive Garden Company is one of the companies that are providing job opportunities across the world. I am sure you want to be an employee of Olive Garden Company. All you have to do is answer the questions with confidence and show them that you are determined in helping them achieve their goals. All the best.
