Should You Work Full-Time or Part-Time in the Hospitality Industry?

Should You Work Full-Time or Part-Time in the Hospitality Industry?

by | Feb 17, 2017 | Career

Gone are the days when the hospitality industry was regarded as a rung in the ladder as you climb to a “real career”. Tending bar or waiting tables is no longer the limbo between jobs that twenty and thirty-somethings are sentenced to just to make ends meet. Kitchens are no longer staffed by ex-cons or high school dropouts. Mom and Dad can’t complain that you need to get a “real job” anymore!

This is due, in part, to the rise of the foodie culture and changing attitudes towards the foodservice industry. Celebrity chefs, celebrity bartenders, and celebrity restaurateurs have also fed the shift. We’ve accepted that making it in the industry somewhat parallels success as an actor or recording artist. However, there’s a greater chance of finding success in hospitality because you’re in full control of the outcome.

It’s not just about learning customer service skills anymore.

In the industry, you’ll learn business theory while gaining sales prowess and leadership skills. Add the “on the job”, practical skills you’ll pick up in the kitchen and behind the bar, then factor in the charisma you’ll develop in the front of the house and you’ve got a pretty solid foundation for a lasting career.

All of these can be developed over time. And none of them have to do with luck or your personal image. You don’t even have to drop a ton of money at some fancy school of business. Take that, Wharton and M.I.T.!

So, should you work full-time or part-time?

The answer is…. always opt for full-time. Here’s why:

1. Benefits

These come in many forms. Restaurateurs know rock star employees put a lot of time and effort into work so they’re willing to offer benefits to those who earn them. Some no longer require you to work the traditional 40 hours to qualify.

There are the other smaller perks, too, such as FREE FOOD (yeah. we thought we’d shout that one out)! And, although not as important as it used to be, you still have the opportunity to take home cash at the end of each shift.

2. On the Job education

You don’t need years of expensive schooling. You can start making money almost immediately and learn the business from the ground up.

Each and every one of the skills we’ve listed above can be learned and perfected while working. In fact, they HAVE to be because whether you’re in the front of the house or the back, your money and your work reputation depends on it.

3. Flexible schedules

There’s real life going on outside of work and the service industry takes that into account. With a flexible schedule, you can still achieve financial goals without feeling bad about taking a week (or weekend) off to live your life.

Also, you won’t find yourself taking work home and you won’t get calls from the boss or clients at all times of the day. Once your shift is over…it’s out of sight, out of mind.

This is a social industry that touches people from all walks of life.

4. Networking opportunities to last a lifetime

This is a social industry that touches everyone from all walks of life. You’ll meet every type; from celebrities to corporate big wigs to up and comers you may take for granted at first.

You never know just how important a connection made at work will turn out to be down the road.

5. Accepting of all points of view

The service industry has always been a haven for those who feel they don’t fit into society’s square pegs. It’s also been a welcoming starting point for immigrants, some of who’ve stayed in the business and found enormous success.

No matter what your lifestyle, beliefs, or circumstances are, the service industry will reward you on equal footing with everyone else as long as you’re willing to work hard.

And things are only getting better.

There have been myths and nightmares of what life in the industry can be like. You’ve heard of the unhealthy lifestyles, the long hours for little pay, and the horror stories of irate customers. But, with the cultural shift towards acceptance of the foodservice industry as a legitimate professional career, business owners and patrons are more educated than in the past, so these myths are disappearing.

All of that signals endless future opportunities for you.

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Pro-Tips to Get Hired on Sirvo

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5 Ways to Help Your Restaurant Survive Past the 5-Year Mark

5 Ways to Help Your Restaurant Survive Past the 5-Year Mark

by | Feb 15, 2017 | Business Toolkit, Management

You have set out on a new venture: owning and running a restaurant. Armed with your great grandma’s secret recipes, you sign the lease for a location in the heart of the action and begin your quest to rule the restaurant world. Most owners start out with lofty goals and a heavy dose of optimism only to realize later on that the restaurant industry is fickle and unapologetic. Recent statistics state that 60% of restaurants fail the first year with a whopping 80% not making it to the fifth year. Here are five tips that can help your restaurant survive and thrive for more than five years.

Location

You have heard it time and time again…location, location, location. You might want to end up in one of the hippest spots out there, but it’s going to cost you a lot of money. Rent is going to take a big chunk out of your profits each month so choose wisely. You also need to consider the surrounding environment, accessibility and visibility, as well as traffic around the area.  Do you want your restaurant to reflect a romantic ambiance and scenic views or emanate hip and trendy vibes?

In the digital age, we rely on the internet more and more to spread the word.

Marketing

Make sure you budget enough money to handle promotions. If you don’t let people know you are there, then they won’t come. Unfortunately, word of mouth isn’t as effective anymore. In the digital age, we rely on the internet more and more to spread the word. That doesn’t mean you can’t do more old-school type approaches.

Get to know the companies that are in business around your restaurant and let them know about you. They can serve as potential income sources for busy, work lunchtimes. Create a user-friendly, and attractive website that showcases your menu. Get involved in social media. Consider creating loyalty programs that keep them coming back.

Serve Quality Food

You may not even know it, but the food you are serving could be sub-par. Great tasting food should be very high up on your priority list. Not sure if your food is meeting expectations? Set up tastings with employees and friends to see what your food might be missing. Get critical feedback so that you can adjust recipes as needed or reevaluate restaurant processes like quality control. Once you have the recipes tweaked to perfection, leave them alone. Customers do not like coming back to restaurants and finding that their favorite dishes have changed.

Hire people with the attitudes that you want to exemplify in your restaurant.

Surround Yourself With a Strong Team

If you are the restaurant owner, consider becoming actively involved in the hiring process. Hire people with the attitudes that you want to exemplify in your restaurant. Do you want go-getters who are outgoing and motivated? Or do you want employees who appear more polished and professional? What is your restaurant trying to convey?

Keep that team strong by showing appreciation for their work and efforts whether it be employee of the month, bonuses, or paid time off. Happy employees will also help spread the word about your wonderful restaurant.

Hire a Good Accountant

Maybe you are really good with people and food, but lack financial skills? Many restaurants go belly up because the owners are not very familiar with managing costs and get in over their heads. Why not hire someone with extensive experience in managing the financial side of a restaurant? This person can help point out any red flags such as wasteful operation costs or unrealistically high rent.

Before you dive into something as risky as owning a restaurant, do your research. Evaluate the competition and study the business models of successful restaurants. Running a restaurant is not for the faint of heart, but if you do your homework and work hard, you just might beat the odds and own a restaurant for years to come.

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Why Half of Your New Hires Could Leave in Less Than a Year

Why Half of Your New Hires Could Leave in Less Than a Year

by | Feb 13, 2017 | Business Toolkit, Management

Some hospitality businesses are beginning to notice a trend. Of all new hires made within the previous twelve months, only half of them are choosing to stay on at their jobs. Most who leave do so before the one-year mark, which adds to the pressure being placed upon businesses. To understand why an online staff management company studied their 2016 employee retention report.

More than thirty thousand employees from almost two thousand small businesses were surveyed. The data clarified the challenges that numerous establishments face in regards to keeping and losing staff.

Hospitality businesses were compared with those in construction and manufacturing, healthcare, and retail. Healthcare retained employees the longest, with the average tenure lasting fifteen months. Retail and construction and manufacturing tied for second with twelve months each, while hospitality only reached an average of eight months.

Employees are in need of incentives to encourage them to maintain a high level of efficiency.

Regardless of the industry, all employees experience “life cycles” throughout the course of the job. The first few weeks – and sometimes months – are spent settling in and learning the required tasks. It is during this time that business owners invest in the worker’s development and training. As the employee learns and grows, he or she gradually becomes more proficient and reaches peak productivity. Employers like to see new hires reach this point as quickly as possible.

However, employees are in need of incentives to encourage them to maintain that level of efficiency. When this does not happen, they begin to disengage from their job. Eventually, they become bored and dissatisfied with their role in the establishment, and many choose to seek employment elsewhere.

Businesses with low staff retention rates see a very short period of peak employee productivity.

Businesses with low staff retention rates see a very short period of peak employee productivity. The business owner spends the time and money for hiring and training, yet within a matter of months, workers disengage and begin to consider leaving the job.

What does this mean for these businesses? Ultimately, it all translates into higher overheads, diminished customer service, lower employee morale, and less focus placed on the business itself. All of these factors can be detrimental to the establishment’s success and future growth.

It can be tough to place a strict figure on hiring and training new workers. Consequently, the true cost of low employee retention is often difficult to identify. Studies in the United States estimate that the cost of replacing a worker who earns $8 per hour sits at nearly $10,000. Additionally, that narrow window of peak job engagement can damage the overall productivity of the business. Too much time is spent managing new hires and recruitment, and disengaged workers can have a negative effect on customer service and loyalty.

One of the main reasons behind high turnover rates in the hospitality sector may have to do with the age of new hires.

One of the main reasons behind high turnover rates in the hospitality sector may have to do with the age of new hires. There is a prominent reliance on the employment of younger workers, many of whom are trying to fit in their work between studying and classes. Several establishments also hire seasonally, which causes a fluctuation in new hires at certain times throughout the year. In hindsight, it really is no wonder why there is such an alarming drain on employees.

So how can hospitality establishments improve employee retention?

  • Do not use the trend as an excuse. While this particular sector is known for high turnover and low retention, simply accepting it as fact puts the business at risk and impedes growth.
  • Look at how it is done in other industries. Most sectors look for employee commitment and skills, not necessarily youthful faces. Some retail businesses actually prefer older workers because they are viewed as more mature and therefore more likely to consistently deliver better customer service. They also tend to be more loyal to their employers than their younger counterparts.
  • Change the overall mindset. Retention should be viewed as a strategic investment for the continued growth of an establishment.
  • Consider offering recognition and rewards to employees. All workers want to be acknowledged that they are doing well at their job. In doing so, it will boost morale and motivate employees to keep performing at their best.
  • Consider promoting the best talent. Most workers want to advance through the ranks rather than return to the same routine tasks for the rest of their lives. Promotions give them the opportunity to develop and can mean the difference between a career and “just a job.”

At the end of the day, a number of new hires will leave early on no matter what. The key is to focus on retaining those that are more likely to stay and optimizing hiring practices so that you’re attracting long-term employees.

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The Life and Times of The Modern Day Chef

The Life and Times of The Modern Day Chef

by | Feb 10, 2017 | Career

Becoming a chef was, and can still be, almost as simple as moving from Point A to Point B. Sure, the going was slow and it was a lot of hard work, but it was fairly straightforward nonetheless. So without further ado, we outline the current life-cycle of the chef.

SPOILER: This isn’t the only option – less traditional paths described below!

Step 1: Culinary School

For a lot of us, this is the part where we realize we aren’t even close to the level of equipped that we thought we were. Not even a little bit. Usually, this manifests itself in the way that you stick out like a sore thumb.

You somehow manage to have the biggest chip on your shoulder while simultaneously having the least amount of preparedness. You bring messiness and dull blades to whatever job you can land, and you figure that those who refuse to hire you will regret it when MasterChef finally calls back.

Your life’s purpose now is to do the most menial work in existence.

Step 2: Prep or Pantry Cook

At last, a job in a real-life kitchen! It takes about half a shift for you to realize that you will not be creating documentary-worthy creations here. Instead, your life purpose now is to do the most menial work in existence and to somehow still manage to mess it up in a very public way.

Thus, no one will like you and any opportunities to remedy the situation by showing an ounce of talent will be foiled by your nerves and lack of experience. Don’t worry – it’s not actually that bad!

Step 3: Line Cook

Whether by divine intervention or perhaps just random chance, you finally are able to edge your way into the line cook’s spot.

Cons: Everyone still hates you and blames you for everything.

Pros: You at least now get the family meal.

In many ways, though, it’s the same song, second verse. Your fantasies of the job had you believing that it would be a platform for you to shine; you would spend hours comparing different tools and reading up on the latest trends. Instead, you make more mistakes than actual cuisine.

Step 4: Stage

There is, perhaps, nothing that you have romanticized more than staging. Like all that came before it, there is not a lot that you accurately assumed about it. You may be in a destination location (and rocking it), but you certainly don’t have the time or money to enjoy it.

Instead, you get as close you’ll ever be to slave labor. You move, for months, through a fog of exhaustion as you work, work, work. Despite this, though, you do learn a lot. Not nearly as much as you claim when you return, but you do learn.

Step 5: Sous Chef

After the first week, you have loads more respect for Tony, your predecessor, who you originally thought was a slacker, but now realize actually just had a ton of stuff to do.

You’re the middle-man. Not like everyone else, but also not The Chef. They need you to run the kitchen, but you can’t quite make it happen by yourself yet. Your clipboard is an extension of your hand, but when you do use your hands to actually cook you realize that while you’re berated less often, it’s much more intense when you do slip-up! The money isn’t great, but now you’re salaried and have benefits and actually feel like an adult.

Step 6: Chef de Cuisine

This is it. The culmination of it all. It’s all yours: the kitchen, the menu, the training, and the responsibility. Right about now you realize that cooking isn’t predominately a means of expression,

It’s all yours: the kitchen, the menu, the training, and the responsibility. Right about now you realize that cooking isn’t predominately a means of expression. Instead you get a high from crafting a meal that connects with your guests. Your life is stable in a way that it hasn’t been previously. You have made connections with others in the culinary world, you are drinking less and working out more, and you’re invested in helping others who are less-experienced.

Your life is stable in a way that it hasn’t been previously. You have made connections with others in the culinary world, you are drinking less and working out more, and you’re invested in helping others who are less-experienced.

Step 7: Opening a restaurant

You’re an ambitious one and couldn’t settle for just the kitchen, you had to have it all, the entire restaurant.

You thought you knew what tired was, but this is something else entirely. This makes you think fondly of the early, easy days when you were being yelled at for such inconsequential things as carrots being peeled too slowly, and burning the orzo at the bottom of the pan.

That is until one of the young prep cooks asks you about your stage, and you’re able to pass on some of what you did learn. And the fact that you have gone almost a month without a day off, pays off: you get a spot on the line as a dinner service meat cook. Plus, the endless parade of construction, meetings, and organizing result in a packed dining room opening week. Well, that and the heaven-sent good review that came just in time.

Today’s chefs walk a wide-ranging variety of paths.

Step… none: Choose your own adventure

Let us be so bold as to say that if you’re lucky enough to walk the aforementioned path, you’re lucky enough. However as we said at the beginning, today’s chefs walk a wide-ranging variety of paths.

Take the Food Network’s Guy Fieri for example, he came to the auditions for The Next Food Network Star in support of a friend, was talked into auditioning, and now his frosted tips are known the world over. While an extreme example for sure, it still is one that could only exist in this current climate where home cooks can become instant stars, and you can be known as a celebrity chef without more than a brief dalliance working in an actual restaurant.

Some possible additional possibilities include:

The TV Chef. Your life mainly consists of PR hustle, Food & Wine events, and navigating investments and endorsement deals.

The Burnout. Just as bad as it sounds, at this point the years of work have taken a serious toll. You’re not accomplishing anything beyond that pack of Marlboros in your chest pocket.

The Comeback. Some manage to lift out of the burnout stage, but usually only for brief stints. The fame you once had gifts you with momentary opportunities, but you’re a little out of practice, which makes things even worse for your already lacking PR presence.

The Food Truck. Food trucks are trendier than ever. They’re the alternative for people who know what’s “happening” since they aren’t spending every spare second prepping their station or planning the menu at their semi-stable job.

The Private Chef. The main downside here is the glares you’re going to get from restaurant chefs at the Farmer’s Market, but the upsides include a hefty paycheck, car allowances, and paid travel.

The Child Prodigy. This kid throws everything we’ve written so far out the window, and trades years of work for good genes and wealthy folks. Cue the collective eye roll of the entire culinary community.

The Corporate Hotel Chef. While it took a lot of cooking to land this gig, now that you’re in it, you’re doing very little in the kitchen. Instead, you’re a spreadsheet master. You use your sizable bonus and comfortable salary as a comfort when you’re annoyed its time for yet another banquet.

So, there you have it. There is no one way, or right way, to become a chef. The path is yours to walk!

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From Yeast to Malt, This is Where Alcohol Comes From

From Yeast to Malt, This is Where Alcohol Comes From

by | Feb 8, 2017 | IndiNews

Alcohol, specifically ethanol, is the stuff we drink. Beer, wine, whiskey, vodka, tequila, schnapps, it doesn’t matter. The alcohol itself is all the same. But where does ethanol come from? Yeast. Yeast makes alcohol. How they do it is pretty amazing.

Yeast is a microorganism, a living thing. Like all fungi, they have some plant characteristics and some animal characteristics. Yeast makes alcohol through a biological process. Sugar, dissolved in water, is ingested by the yeast organism. The sugar is metabolized, generating energy for the organism’s life processes such as reproduction. The waste product it discards consists of alcohols (primarily ethanol) and carbon dioxide.

This process is called fermentation.

Since yeast eats sugar, it is easier to make alcohol from sugar sources (fruit, honey, sugar cane juice) than from starch (grain, potato). Saccharification is the process of converting starch into sugar, thereby making it something yeast can eat. It is a prerequisite for making beer and whiskey.

Grains are seeds. To grow, new sprouts need sugar, just like yeast do. So at the beginning of the germination process, the new sprout produces diastatic enzymes that convert the starch surrounding it into sugar. The process of sprouting grain to capture those enzymes is called malting. Any grain can be malted but barley is particularly good. The enzymes produced are so effective that a relatively small amount of malt (about 10%) will convert a mash of unmalted grains.

In Scotland, the law requires that only barley malt is used in the production of whiskey. In the United States, enzymes derived from other sources may be used and sometimes are, but most whiskey-makers use malt. Some use both.

All of the alcohol we drink is still made the old-fashioned way, by feeding sugar to yeast.

Enzymes are proteins that promote chemical reactions. All chemical reactions within cells are controlled by enzymes, so enzymes are also involved in the biological process by which yeast makes alcohol. You might think that modern science could just synthesize all of these different chemicals and make alcohol in some kind of machine. Maybe it can, but all of the alcohol we drink is still made the old-fashioned way, by feeding sugar to yeast.

All of these processes take place in water so before anything else can happen the starches have to be dissolved. First, they are ground to the consistency of corn meal, then water is added. Most starches have to be cooked to fully dissolve. This is especially true of corn, the main ingredient in bourbon whiskey.

Some solids, mostly cellulose, remain undissolved. Most brewers and some distillers discard the solids. Bourbon makers typically do not and they continue through the distillation process.

Regardless, in the end, after the yeast and sugar are mixed and mashed, we have alcohol and it’s delicious!

This article originally appeared on the Chuck Cowdry Blog.

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