Why restaurants are a great place to work for Post-Graduates

?Recent graduates receive their degree and are ready to grab hold of their careers.?But,?sometimes the lack of job availability and inexperience and can leave graduates unemployed and discouraged. Here’s why they may want to consider applying for a restaurant position and how they can launch their careers by asking, “Is there any else that I can get for you”??

Restaurants in our region have been hit hard by COVID-19.?First,?pandemic restrictions shut?down eat-in dining and now as things have begun to re-open,?a shortage of employees has?these establishments?closing their doors once again due to lack of staffing.?My?experience as a restaurant server helped me launch my career and?I’d like to show?how it can be a professional jump-starter for recent college graduates.?

I started in restaurants, first working at Atria’s in Fox Chapel in 2004 as a server while I was looking for a job in my field. As an English major, I was dead set at the age of 21 on writing for a magazine. At the time, Pittsburgh had a very limited number of magazines and although I applied to them several times, I was never asked to interview and was not very open-minded in my age or education to look for opportunities in other industries. Little did I know, serving would help me to land my dream position as an editorial assistant at a magazine two-years later.?

After a year-and-a-half at Atria’s, two of my co-workers announced that they were moving to Fort Lauderdale. Six-months later,?I followed in suit with no job in place, just the want of adventure intertwined with the freedom of my youth. Immediately upon arriving in Fort Lauderdale, I was able to secure a position at a fine dining restaurant called Luna Pazza in Boca Raton, Fla.,?and?began?start money and rented?my first apartment. A little over a year later, I accepted the first position in my field, working as an?editorial?assistant at New Beauty Magazine.?

The freedom of having experience in a restaurant setting meant I could move anywhere, at any time, and receive a livable wage. Additionally, later in my?20’s,?it helped me to fund my return to school and gave me the flexibility to attend classes during the day while working nights and weekends.?

Learning to Work with Diverse Customers?

Money is not the only reason that I found the restaurant industry beneficial to my career. It also was a great learning lesson in how to work with people from diverse backgrounds with varying personalities. Understanding how to work with people is an extremely important attribute to have in any field,?and after waiting on countless numbers of tables you can learn how to improve your client relation skills. In?addition, working as a server taught me to be flexible, to foresee my customers’?wants and needs and?taught me?how to manage difficult situations.??

There is a rule of thumb that if you do not notice your server while dining out, they are doing a great job. Why? Because they already know what your wants and needs before you do. Your drink is filled before you ask, your food is prepared with the omissions or add-ons you requested, and the bill is presented in a timely fashion.?This is a great learning lesson on how businesses should be ideally run. A client should not have to wait for a call or email back for days on end, a company should offer exemplary customer service and products should come on time and undamaged.?

Creating Top-Tier Listening Skills

Most importantly, working in a restaurant taught me to listen. You will have great success in any career when you learn that listening is far more important than talking. You need to get to know your client on both a personal and professional level in order to grow your network and learn what to do when a client isn’t happy. You can achieve this not by talking, but by listening, and as a server you develop the skills not just to know what your customer wants, but how they want it and when.??Top-tier listening skills?are?something that can place you above other applicants when?you?finally do land that important?interview.?

Staying Calm Under Pressure

I have never worked in restaurant kitchen that was calm during a dinner rush?–?there is a lot going on, a multitude of last-minute changes and you must learn to adapt quickly to the ever-shifting circumstances.?Both business leaders and company owners know that their there is an up-and-down flux of pressure and by serving or becoming a cook you can learn the skills to adapt to a changing environment.?

Working with Different Mindsets

Restaurant work is fast-paced, and both servers and cooks must work symbiotically to have the restaurant run efficiently while doing very different jobs. When you enter a position at a mid-sized or larger company there are many different divisions, which could include a marketing department, human resources department, production workers, and sales teams. Those divisions and their employees must work together seamlessly much in the way that the managers, cooks, and servers do despite having varying objectives.??Through a server or cook position, you will learn communication and teamwork skills that are crucial to leading a successful career.?

Networking while Working

Lastly, you never know who you are going to meet that might offer you the dream job that you have been looking for. Business owners, CEOs,?and?corporate headhunters all dine out. By?working at a restaurant you could have the opportunity to interact with them directly.?Or you could simply love what you do and work your way up the restaurant food chain becoming assistant manager, manager or even regional manager.??

Restaurants Hiring in Our Region

Applebees

Armstrong’s Express

Burghs Pizza and Wings

Big Guys

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse

Bubba’s Burgers

Bonefish Grill

Crown Plaza

First Watch

Leo Greta

Napolis

Over the Bar Bicycle Café

Pennsbury Station

Pittsburgh Bottleshop

Pizza Salerno

The Railyard Taproom & Grill

Sarafina's Pizza

St. Clair Country Club

The Crafty Jackalope

Texas Roadhouse

Topgolf?