So you want to make tons of ca$$$h for study abroad/textbooks/tuition/life? You like being around people? You’re able to make conversation, even with folks who seem to be fighting with each other? You want some job experience that will open doors (literally and figuratively) to work for the rest of your life? Oh gosh, do I have an idea for you: work at a restaurant! On the heels of my last post (life lessons learned from restaurant work) I wanted to share how one can actually get that work. Here goes.
To start with, you’ll need a resume. Anything that demonstrates experience on a team (Peer Mentor, AASP, QQAMP, camp counselor, you get my drift) and experience being personable (tour guide, tutor, overnight hostess, receptionist, Phonathon) are major. Play those up, and go to CP&R if you need help! Even better – CP&R is holding Resumania! until December 1, so if you submit your resume you’ll not only get excellent advice but also the chance to win cool stuff like a padfolio (so profesh) or free Motley drinks (flex, we hardly knew ye #librarycafechai #noregrets).
After your resume, you’ll need a list of restaurants to apply to. Plan on applying to at least 10 or 15, if you’re in a largish town or a city. Places with young front-of-the-house staff (near college campuses can be great), and if you’re old enough to get your liquor-handling license, a dive bar could work, too – anywhere classier will likely require you to have cocktailing experience. Hidden gem for entry-level restaurant work: Hostess at a corporate restaurant, like I did! Because they have have a multi-restaurant business plan, they often like people who enter the industry without experience because they can train you the way they want. Plus, you have a whole corporation working with you – they have auditors and bookkeepers and whatnot, so you always get paid on time. Check out places with decks/nice views/outdoor seating, especially if you live somewhere rainy like I do – they often see a huge business boom in the warmer months and hire temporary staff accordingly. As students who finish school in mid-May, we’re very lucky – most restaurants see tons of applications in mid-June. You’ll get a huge jump on the competition, so talk up your availability in your interview!
How to apply: Be strategic about when you apply. It’s a pretty specific process. Start reaching out to restaurants over winter break, and visit the ones you’re interested in. Ask to speak to the manager or GM (General Manager), introduce yourself, explain that you’ll be on break from school from early May to late August and will they need help with the summer rush? Never come to the restaurant during lunch or dinner rush. Anyone who came in when we were zooming around and tried to leave a resume got laughed at and their resume was thrown away! Arrive around 2pm or 3pm, or 5pm – after lunch, and before dinner. Keep the conversation brief. Hand out a business card with all the information written on it (“Rose Lastname, could hostess mid-May to late August, senior at Scripps College, (123) 555-4444”). Call the restaurant – again, between lunch and dinner – a couple of weeks before summer break starts and check in with them (“Hi, I’m Rose, I spoke with Manager’s Name in mid-December, and was told to call back a couple of weeks before I returned to Hometown. I wanted to check and see whether you’re still accepting applications for summer staff?”). If they’re accepting applications, send over a resume and emphasize any sort of teamwork/diplomacy experience you have if you get an interview. I was a tour guide, and the manager who hired me loved that because it showed that I know how to work with many different types of people.
If you get an interview, dress professionally. There have been some excellent Beyond the Elms blog posts about this – but always assume professional dress, regardless of the restaurant’s level of dressiness. If you paint your nails, paint them a subtle color, and take out piercings that aren’t in your earlobes. My boss didn’t even let servers have a second ear piercing! This is incredibly variant on the type of restaurant, and mine certainly was on the more conservative end for dress and clientele, but you’ll always leave a positive impression if you’re dressed up even if you’re the only dressy one there. They’ll tell you about the uniform once you get the job.
Good luck on the applications! And as for dealing with the customers… well, that’s a whole different blog post.