The restaurant industry is not brain surgery, but it is something that is either in your blood or not. It takes patience and a commitment to always putting the guest first and everything else second. Once you have decided to pursue your talents with a restaurant concept, you can take some of the following steps towards success.
Steps:-
1. Start out in a small role, learn the business. Some of the best managers started their careers as waiters or hostesses and worked their way up from that position. Career progression is very important when trying to move forward as a manager.
2. Do not job hop from restaurant to restaurant. Corporate chains like to see no more than 2 jobs in 5 years when considering someone for a position. Tough it out if need be, but job hopping does not lend confidence to your abilities.
3. The guest is always #1. Yes, call them guests, not customers, you want your guests to feel like they are dining in your home, not just as though they are just another face in the dining room. Talk with them, get to know your regulars, spend all the time you can on the floor, and stay out of that office!
4. Know your numbers! Even if your General Manager does not like to talk about these things, find out anyway, learn all you can from the other managers, Front of House and Kitchen Managers, learn the steps necessary to keeping your numbers
5. Treat your staff with the same respect you wanted to be treated with when you had the same job. From dishwasher to owner, everyone in the building is accountable. Your staff needs to know that you have no problem cleaning a bathroom in order to make your guests visit positive, and neither should they. Your philosophy should be that you wouldn't ask someone to do something that you won't do.
6. When looking for a new position, keep your old one! It is easier to find a job when you have a job. Posting on the major job boards is acceptable, but if you are planning on using a recruiter,(see related links) keep your resume unsearchable on the boards. Concepts search the boards, and if you are visible they will not speak with you if a recruiter presents you.
Tips:-
* The National Restaurant Association's Educational Foundation (see related links) provides educational resources, materials and programs used in attracting, developing and retaining the industry's workforce.
* Always remember the guest is 1. This cannot be stressed enough. The guest is the reason you have your terrific career!
