Beyond earning sizable tips and employee discounts, there are lesser known benefits associated with working in the restaurant and food service industry. Whether you are a career restaurateur or just pick up summer shifts as a line cook, some of the lessons learned from restaurant work are so influential they will benefit you long after you hang up your chef’s hat or server apron. Here are just a few of the life skills you will pick up and sharpen during your restaurant tenure.
Sharpen Your People Skills: Most restaurant employees are serving the public which can be quite challenging. The saying “the customer is always right” tends to be the mantra of the restaurant industry. With restaurants vying to attract customer and develop a good reputation for quality food and service, the restaurant staff is often forced to “grin and bear it” when dealing with demanding customers. Being agile enough to put on a happy face when dealing with difficult people is a skill that will serve you well later in life. Plus, some restaurants will train you to pick up on cues that people are unhappy and how to remedy that and turn them into a happy customer.
Learn Time Management: Timing plays a significant role in the restaurant industry. Restaurants tend to get very busy all at once and it is not unusual for a server to be double or triple sat, which means that he or she will typically have to take orders, get drinks and serve food at all tables at the same time. The same goes for the kitchen. They have no control over getting fifteen custom orders at once. To be successful working in a restaurant, you have to expect this and know how to handle it by mastering time management and being as efficient as possible. Nurturing time management skills comes with practice and by making mistakes. A busy restaurant environment is the optimal place to cultivate this critical skill.
Pick Up the Basics of Cuisine/Wine: When working in a restaurant, you will undoubtedly learn something about food and possibly wine that you did not know before. As an example, if you are working in a Mexican restaurant, you are surely going to absorb the difference among all the sauces and how they taste and the quality level of types of tequila. If you are working in a high-end restaurant, you may receive intensive, formal training on the cuisine and will also be educated on wine, which will enable you to speak intelligently to your patrons. If you are working in the kitchen, even as a dishwasher, you can pick up some cooking tips just from observing the chef in action.
Build Physical Stamina: While it can be wearing to be on your feet for an entire shift, restaurant jobs can keep you in better shape than a typical desk job. One waitress who worked a four hour shift wore a pedometer and claimed that she walked six miles just running around the restaurant, taking care of customers and serving food. With burning off that many calories while doing your job, you can afford in indulge in some of the restaurant’s delicious food!