barista

cook

café manager

Dome Café

The pay and hours wasn't even good. I was just getting the standard minimum wage and as a young adult, it wasn't enough for me to get by. They didn't give me much training and just expected me to be perfect and know it all just because of my age. They had high expectations on me just because I was one of the oldest staffs. They didn't like how I was struggling to carry drinks and clear tables without a tray but, why are staffs expected to juggle things like it's a circus? It's not an easy skill to just master in a short month with little hours. 

After just one month, they made the unfortunate decision to terminate me on my day of which was unexpected. (My contract said my probation period is 3 months minimum) I was too much of an emotional mess to answer the owners call back after getting fired. But it is what it is! 

I believe it meant I will be directed to something better and now happily landed myself a job with good pay, hours and good training where I can spread my wings. The staffs there believe in me and see great potential in me. They are so patient and willing to teach me everything repetitively. 

Dome seriously lost me as a good employee, and I would warn anyone potentially working there and be prepared for facing any age discrimmination, awful pay and hours. 

Carrying meals without trays is a skill that prepared me well for my new current job and will always be for future jobs in hospitality. 
 
Overall, I don't recommend working there. The company is stingy with the labour budget, bad pay, bad hours, discrimminate based on age and it's not a job to stay for long term. 


My typical day working at dome cafe was always flat out on my feet, but I loved every minute of working there. The staff I got to work with are all amazing people and we seemed to work really well together as a team. As I was in the back of house, I still got to work with the front of house staff on a daily basis, and they were just as amazing as the team I was leading.

Whilst working there, I learnt new things every single day. I got changed around sections, which ended in me managing the orders & the food pass, training to be a supervisor.

Our workplace culture was amazingly varied, I got to work with people from all over the world, they all taught me something about their country, while I tried to help them learn a couple of things about mine.

The hardest part about working at dome, I would have to say it would have been the 4am start, doing stock take in the freezer for a good 45 minutes, once a week was excruciating, but that was all part of supervisor training.

What I most enjoyed about working at dome, was the friendliness between all the staff, even though we had front of house staff and back of house staff, we all got along so well & I ended up becoming friends with the girls out the front, which also made it a lot better to work with, often we would chat about how to make things run smoother and it gave all of us a greater understanding of how to run the pass.

Working at dome is nothing but the best. Making friends is super easy because everyone is welcoming, very supportive and helpful. I actually look forward to going into work everyday.

To work here you have to be able to multitask and work in a fast paced environment. There is small progression that can be made but more in the sense of skills then becoming higher ups. 

Front of house starts out as dining room attendants and once skilled most people get to be trained in others sections such as bar and barista.

Dome is definitely different to other hospitality jobs such as macdonlds etc, at dome we strive to produce best quality food and drinks. We have a high standard for food and drink so customers keep coming back.

Every places has flaws but I haven’t found one worth talking about at dome. Pay could be better but I’ve said that with every job I’ve had. At this dome the management is super down to earth and are very caring about work life balance and mental health needs. 


Typical day at work included started at 6am opening the kitchen turning on the deep fryers, the grill, warming bench and the merry chefs. Then sorting out and deliveries of food stock and arranging them into there places going by dates of use by on items from fresh food to pre-packed meals to dairy and breads. Preparing sandwiches and main work place areas making sure they are also stocked with daily food and kitchen utensils for the day. Whilst that is being completed other staff will be arriving like the barristas and waiter/waitresses and other customer service attendants including the main chef. Hardest part of the job was keeping up with orders on an extremely busy day making up to $2,500 in an hour, crazy but it was also the most enjoyable part of the job and knowing that people are happy with the service and food provided.

I worked at dome for about a year before finding a better job. It was my first job so I didn’t really realise how bad it was until I got a new job. The pay is terrible, I was getting below the industry standard rate, but they have some legal loophole to get around it. There is no public holiday pay either, but you are expected to work every public holiday and if you try and take dates off such as christmas etc they will deny you. Getting time off was nearly impossible, you couldn’t book time off on “blacked out dates” except every date was blacked out for up to 6 months in advance so you’d have to plan your leave months ahead. The people I worked with were absolutely amazing, they are the only reason I stayed as long as I did, and the store management was amazing aswell. However the upper management (franchise management) does not care about you, they do not take in your feedback or concerns, they only care about how much money you make them.

Working at Dome Cafe is a good foundation to build your hospitality skills. Also builds a character in you. Customer service is the number one priority in this field, as the main objective is to make the patrons feel welcomed. So that they have the intention to come back, hopefully with more people. The people I worked with are amazing, we kept a close bond and can rely on each other when times get busy. Though the only downside is budget cuts. Well under went a new constructive management crew that wanted to change the way things were, but management had disagreements and started gossiping to other employees, hoping for a resolution. Very immature and unprofessional. Hence, resigned on March 2018.

While working at Dome Cafe I was introduced to a wide range of staff each with their own quirky nature and story. We became a tight knit family and grew together as the year went on and always encouraged each other to pursue new goals and advance our careers. However the pay was lacklustre being a measly $12.04 when starting at 17 years of age on reward wages. This can be a problem especially for those who need to pay for their own expenses. 

So Dome is great to get the experience and say you have worked there to get other job opportunities, but unless you plan to stick long enough to get the next reward bonus and work your way up a fairly slow chain I would stick to normal salary.

Was very understaffed all the time often doing the work of three people at once, very high expectations for the low pay rate required to work up to hours past closing to complete work because they refuse to roster on enough people. High stress environment and often expected to come in on your days off. Constant changing of your roster without telling you as a part time or full time employee. Hard to plan your life around this job. I've watched everyone working here become miserable people, breaking down during shifts until they quit because the little pay is not worth staying in a toxic work environment where you get worked until you drop and verbally abused by customers and other staff all day.

Loved serving customers and helping them decide on their choice of meal. Typically a busy day, always something to do. Enjoyed finally having an opportunity to make coffees, but alway very difficult to rotate through stations. 

Cons: Supervisors far too young and immature. Learning incorrectly, and favourtism. Normally form a group of 4/5 then they get to stay up on the bar and avoid clearing tables. Bullying and harassment doesn’t go astray wither. Manager never listens to your issues, just takes one side and that’s final. Hours are awful, unpaid Saturday and Sunday  rates and not paid public holiday rates.

I started working at Dome in March 2016 and i loved it, it was always a bubbly, fun environment and a constructive workplace, with friendly and efficient staff. I would always be enthusiastic to get to work, my manager was encouraging, kind and productive. In December 2016 the cafe came under new management and the whole atmosphere of the cafe changed, unfortunately resulting in my resignation in April 2017.

Overall Dome is a wonderful company and workplace, if the management had not changed i would still be working there today.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Barista 3 salaries reported	$25.00 per hour
Cook 1 salary reported	$60,000 per year
Café manager 1 salary reported	$54,000 per year

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