Having started my working life many years ago in restaurants, bars and coffee shops on a temp basis, and now as the owner of a restaurant – I know first hand how rewarding the hospitality sector can be for casual workers and how vital temp workers are to the success of businesses.
The restaurant sector can be pretty fast moving and unpredictable – it is also totally reliant on people to make it work. Whether that is working in the kitchen or front of house – every single role is vital to delivering a great customer experience.
This means that as a full-time or temp worker – you are a valued and critical member of the team – and it also means that when someone calls in sick, or an extra 20 guests book tables – the need for flexible temp workers at short notice is a key priority.
What makes it a great sector to work in?
- Most places are very used to temp workers coming and going – so they tend to be very friendly and good at getting you up to speed and involved in a proper job quickly.
- It’s a hugely social industry – so if you can’t afford to go out for a few beers, then standing the other side of the bar and serving a few instead can be almost as much fun!
- You get to be part of a great night out – and to enjoy the buzz even if you are there to make sure others enjoy have a special time, some of it is bound to rub off on you too
- It’s a team game – so you quickly feel you belong, and there is usually a strong feeling of camaraderie and all mucking in together
It’s highly flexible so you can scale up or down your commitments fairly easily, moving from temp to full-time and vice versa to suit your needs at the time.
What skills and traits do you need to succeed as a temp in hospitality?
It’s all about people and attitude: If you are friendly, outgoing, able to work as part of a team, and have a strong service ethic you are half way there. The other half is all about being prepared to get stuck in and to work hard, you also need to be pretty flexible and resilient and able to handle pace and pressure – and to look like you are enjoying it! While the wages are often fairly low, the tips can make a big difference, and the good news is that usually the better you are at the job the better the tips!
What will you learn?
Apart from an extensive repertoire of cocktails, there are some really important and highly transferable skills you will learn working in restaurants and bars – particularly the ability to:
- Work as part of a team
- Cope with deadlines and pressure
- Deal with people and provide great customer service
- Multi-task, think on your feet, be responsive
Like the sound of this? Red WigWam have jobs in the hospitality sector, just register at Red WigWam today and if you’re the right match, well be in touch!
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