Chickie's & Pete's Begins Two-Day Job Fair in Warminster

A heavy rainstorm did nothing to discourage job-seekers from descending upon the in Warminster Thursday afternoon and applying for one of the many positions available at the soon-to-be-open Chickie's & Pete's restaurant in Warrington.

"We're expecting a big turnout today and tomorrow," said Brian Jennings, one of two Chickie's & Pete's representatives who greeted job fair attendees with an application. "A job's a job, especially in this economy."

The two-day event, running from noon-7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, will find prospects to fill 75 to 95 openings at the new location, according to Director of Operations Joe Carpinella, including wait staff, kitchen personnel and management. After filling out an application, attendees participate in a one-on-one interview with a member of the management team. If they feel there is a good match, the applicant will receive a phone call to set up a second interview at a later date.

For Carpinella and Bob Morrison, general manager of the Warrington site, the best thing for hopeful interviewees to bring along to the job fair is personality.

"That's first and foremost," said Morrison. "We can teach people to wait tables or tend bar, but you need that big smile and welcoming personality. That goes for the entire staff, even the kitchen. You never know when you'll encounter a customer."

Carpinella echoed those sentiments, saying there have been several instances that he has taken chances on people with no restaurant experience but plenty of personality that have proven to be successful for the company.

"That atmosphere is a big part of our winning formula," said Carpinella. "In this economy, people are going out to eat less, so they want to go to a restaurant that they know they can enjoy themselves."

What started in 1977 as a taproom on Robbins Ave. in Philadelphia has exploded into multiple locations, mainly due to the sports bar enviroment and signature dishes like owner Pete Ciarrocchi's original crabfries.

With the addition of the Warrington and Audubon restaurants, and a fourth location at the Philadelphia Airport, Chickie's & Pete's will have 12 branches open throughout the region, with more planned but not officially announced.

"We want to make sure we find areas that won't draw away from our existing restaurants," said Carpinella.

The anticipation has been palpable for the Warrington restaurant, targeted for a mid-October grand opening. Lauretta Goldsworthy from Jamison eagerly awaited at the front of the line for the interviews to begin.

"I go to the ones in Philly all the time," Goldsworthy said. "It's such a great restaurant."

Goldsworthy, a teacher in Upper Moreland School District for 25 years, hopes her 30 years of waitressing experience will be enough to get a part time job at the Warrington site. 

"If I get in there, it might also help my daughters find a job when they come home from college in the summer," she said.

Many of the early attendees to the job fair had similar situations, full-time workers hoping to supplement their income. John Wyatt Sullivan works on the wait staff at in Doylestown and is looking to do some bartending for Chickie's & Pete's. The Temple student is a six-year veteran of ther service industry and knows the big advantages of the job.

"It's quick cash," said Sullivan. "You go into work at the start of the shift and leave with a couple hundred bucks in your pocket. You don't have to wait for the paycheck twice a month."

Unlike the growing trend of employers refusing to consider candidates that are unemployed, such a status is not a top priority for Carpinella. Instead, it goes back to that top quality: Personality.

"There's lots of reasons for employment gaps," said Carpinella. "That's life. If you can get in here and sell yourself, it won't matter."

One group that won't earn an interview is applicants under the age of 18 years-old, an unfortunate fact that forced Chickie's & Pete's representatives to turn away hopefuls like Chris Coia of Chalfont.

"I wanted to bus tables and earn some money," he said. "But they told me to come back in a couple years."