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Pacific Coast Hospitality

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Tips For Hiring

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©istock.com/michaeljung
©istock.com/michaeljung

Restaurants and commercials kitchens often have a high turnover rate of employees and making new employee hires and training is a constant chore for managers.

 

A few tips and basics can help to maximize retention and reduce turnover, which in the end reduces cost and improves productivity for the business as a whole.

 

When you have a job opening, it’s always best to spread wide the notice for hiring. Using a recruitment agency can help to maximize and reach the largest candidate pools and help you find the ideal next hire along with not sucking up all your time searching for top candidates.

 

Once there are candidates for screening, there’s a few key factors we know are best to look for – and here’s why!

 

Relevant Job Experience. The more time a candidate has had a similar experience, the less time they’ll take to train for superior work habits.  However, be sure and catch if their job changes are frequent  and the root as to why all the changes i.e. bad attitude, laziness, etc.

Salary Expectations.  Candidates who have reasonable expectations for compensation show experience and knowledge about the job/ industry. When candidates expect much higher pay and have to take a job that doesn’t meet their needs, the working relationship instantly begins under pressure and frustrations.

 References. There’s nothing more telling about a possible employee than what formers employers or co-workers think. Get in touch and ask questions that matter and will give good insight into the candidates past.

Set a positive example. All else goes wasted if during the hiring and retention process if  you yourself as a manager no not set a positive example.  Create the work environment that you would want to work in – high values, mutual support and respect, and a place that values constructive criticism.   A strong and positive work environment will reduce employee turnover and improve customer service.

Am I a Good Manager – Questions to Ask Yourself

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So you’ve been a manager for a while, maybe weeks maybe decades. Whatever the timeframe, we can all use a little gut check to get back in line with what it takes to be a top hospitality industry manager. We’ve outlined a few interview questions we’ve recycled here for you to do a little asking of yourself.

 

 

-What’s your biggest achievement as a restaurant manager been?

-What big things were you trying to achieve this past year?

-What were your staffing goals for this past year? How’s they turn out?

-What’s an example of a goal you didn’t meet? How come? How did you respond to that?

-What will success look like for your restaurant this year?

-How can you ensure that success to happen?

-What are the biggest obstacles your team will face this year?

-How has your management philosophy evolved as you’ve gained more management experience?

-What does the balance between not micromanaging but still being involved enough to be able to catch problems early on look like?

-When was the last time you fired someone? How many people in the past two years have your fired? Why?

-The best manager generate complaints from employees – so what complaints have you received and how can you change those to positives?

HIRING THE BEST TO RECRUIT YOUR BEST HIRES:

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It’s simple, we recruit the best, most qualified leadership talent for top hospitality organizations across the western U.S. and British Columbia.  But to do that, we’ve worked hard for years to be accomplished, polished, trained and equipped to spot the right candidates.

It’s important for you to know who we’re recognized by, a little credentials goes a long ways when it’s your time and company depending on top talent to be found. We’re not the usual restaurant recruitment firm. We find people not typically found through traditional channels because we’ve been trained to do that.

Hiring the best staffing service will make a huge impact on your company and lead to you feeling confident with each new hire.  Be sure and not wait until your staffing needs are urgent to research and find the right recruiters/ staffing service for you.  Give yourself time and know who you’re calling to recruit when it’s time to hire.

Here’s Pacific Coast Hospitalities Affiliates:

  • National Assoc. of Personnel Services (NAPS) logo
  • National Association of Personnel Services logo
  • National Restaurant Association logo
  • Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association logo
  • California Restaurant Association logo
  • Hawaii Restaurant Association logo
  • Alaska Cabaret , Hotel, Restaurant & Retailer's Association logo
  • British Columbia Restaurant & Food Services Association logo
  • Washington Restaurant Association logo

Spice Up Your Resume So You Can Spice Up in the Kitchen

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resume
©istock.com/PaulPaladin

It’s a first impression – your resume is who you are without ever meeting the recruiter looking to place candidates.  So it’s essential whether you’re writing your first resume or revising it for a mid- career job search that you avoid the most common pitfalls.

  1. Typos and grammatical errors

    2. Your resume should be grammatically perfect. Employers will instantly see the mistakes and read between the lines to assume your lack of detail or level of commitment to excellence. Alter your resume to be perfect – spelling, punctuation and formatting.

  2. Highlighting duties, rather than accomplishments

    3. It’s easy to comply list the start and end dates of each job you’ve held- but employers don’t care so much about what you’ve done, but rather what activities/ projects you’ve accomplished.

    Outline big projects of events you’ve worked to accomplish. Include details on the scope of work and skills required to complete those. What makes what you did above the rest of those applying? Tell that.

  3. Don’t miss the specifics

    4. Employers need to understand what you’ve accomplished and how you’re experienced. For example:

    • Worked with employees in a restaurant.
    • Recruited, hired, trained and supervised more than 50 employees in a restaurant with $1 million is annual sales.

    Both of these tell the same person, yet one states details, and details matter.

  4. Choose verb actions with care

    5. Avoid using the phrases “responsible for”, instead, use action verbs like “resolved”, “developed”, “managed”, etc.

  5. Include all information

    6. It may seem logical to eliminate odd jobs held while in school or in-between jobs. But those are important too – they show a variety of skills you hold and may directly relate to the position you’ve applied for. Don’t be afraid to list the odd ends of your career path-  in come cases, variety is attractive to hiring companies.

  6. Get your contact information correct

    7. What would be the point of submitting a resume if your contact info was incorrect? Your resume may be incredibly strong, but if you can’t be easily contacted, you chances of getting an interview decrease.

Evaluating Your Seasonal Staff: Who Should Stay & Who Should Go?

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Like most hospitality organizations, you hired seasonal staff for the holiday seasons or will hire additional summer staff to help with the busy times of business.  Having friendly staff serving guest on your restaurant’s patio is always a great time of the year- but what happens when the winter comes and the patio closes? Those hires must move on, or be hired permanently.  Quickly after temps are hired, it’s easy to evaluate the newest hires performance levels and who you’d want to keep around.

Hiring from temp to permanent is a great way to “test the waters” – see how each hire works, responds to circumstances and accepts positive criticism.  Are they the kind of employee you want others to model after? If so, it might be time to make a long-term commitment to a few of those season hires.

According to the annual Snagajob.com hiring forecast, major U.S. retailers and hospitality groups could keep as many as fifty percent of their seasonal employees after the winter holidays, turning them into permanent hires.  Seasonal employment offers companies a chance to evaluate a worker’s efforts before making a long-term commitment.

Here are some tips for choosing whether or not to change the seasonal hires to permanent hires:

 

1. Find out the level of interest of seasonal hires and their long-term plans. Hold conversations to gage their intentions and if hired on post season, they will be around and worth your investment.

 

2. Look at an employee’s productivity and examine the numbers as well as their work ethic – punctuality, attitude with fellow employees, etc. Choose the seasonal hires that are the whole package and will produce the best results for what your goals are.

 

3. Take time and talk with your recruiter – as experienced staffing professionals, Pacific Coast Hospitality, we have recruited and placed hospitality professionals for years and can help to gage what temp hires would be the best converts to permanent staff that would help fit your company’s strategic staffing goals.

 

 

Evaluating Your Seasonal Staff: Who Should Stay & Who Should Go?

by

Like most hospitality organizations, you hired seasonal staff for the holiday seasons or will hire additional summer staff to help with the busy times of business.  Having friendly staff serving guest on your restaurant’s patio is always a great time of the year- but what happens when the winter comes and the patio closes? Those hires must move on, or be hired permanently.  Quickly after temps are hired, it’s easy to evaluate the newest hires performance levels and who you’d want to keep around.
Hiring from temp to permanent is a great way to “test the waters” – see how each hire works, responds to circumstances and accepts positive criticism.  Are they the kind of employee you want others to model after? If so, it might be time to make a long-term commitment to a few of those season hires.
According to the annual Snagajob.com hiring forecast, major U.S. retailers and hospitality groups could keep as many as fifty percent of their seasonal employees after the winter holidays, turning them into permanent hires.  Seasonal employment offers companies a chance to evaluate a worker’s efforts before making a long-term commitment.
Here are some tips for choosing whether or not to change the seasonal hires to permanent hires:
 
1. Find out the level of interest of seasonal hires and their long-term plans. Hold conversations to gage their intentions and if hired on post season, they will be around and worth your investment.
 
2. Look at an employee’s productivity and examine the numbers as well as their work ethic – punctuality, attitude with fellow employees, etc. Choose the seasonal hires that are the whole package and will produce the best results for what your goals are.
 
3. Take time and talk with your recruiter – as experienced staffing professionals, Pacific Coast Hospitality, we have recruited and placed hospitality professionals for years and can help to gage what temp hires would be the best converts to permanent staff that would help fit your company’s strategic staffing goals.
 
 

RESUME TIPS: What to Keep and What to Not

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One of the first steps in applying for a job is creating a resume of all previous work information, contact information, skills, etc. First impressions through a resume are a large determining factor for whether an employer will reach you to set up an interview or not.  Creating a resume is a process and its entirety should be planned out as well as edited frequently to ensure it’s continually up to date.

We’ve outlined a few things we frequently see on resumes from candidates, that should always be avoided:

Too big of an objective:

What’s the objective of your resume? Keep it simple- list your contact info, previous work info, personal skills and a few references.  Simplicity is key here in all descriptions of previous jobs and projects completed- get to the point quickly and leave small details for further conversation during an interview.

 

Irrelevant Job Experience:

Once your resume is created, it will need editing to cater to each of the job positions you are applying for. Highlight any previous work experience that is directly related to the desired position.  Avoid listing jobs on your resume which were extremely short-lived or negative.

 

Physical characteristics:

During an interview an employer will see your psychical appearance, there is no need to include personal details of hair color, height, weight, etc. on your resume.

 

Strange hobbies:

It’s ok to have outside extracurricular activities- but keep them outside your work life.  As exciting as some may be to you, an employer does not need to know about your full Star Wars collection or Michael Jackson music obsession.  You resume is to be about work related content.

 

Private matters:

Private matters can include, but are not limited to; personal life, relationships, hiring and firing of other positions, marital status, finances, social security numbers, living situation, etc. Keep the personal matters for another conversation when appropriate- it’s never a good idea to share your personal life before an interview.

 

Bad grammar and obscure words:

Along with keeping your resume simple, avoid big or unneeded wording.  Likewise, use spell check and have someone look over your resume before submissions to ensure no grammatical errors are present.

 

Unprofessional contact info:

You might have had an email years ago like “starballplayer@gmail.com” or “Lovergirl89@yahoo.com “….. These are unprofessional and it’s time to create a new email contact with just your name or possibly your name and a few numbers.  Similar, make sure your voicemail greeting  is professional and up to date.

 

 

 

GET IN TOUCH WITH PACIFIC COAST HOSPITALITY FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE STAFFING NEEDS:
write to us: askus@pacificcoasthospitality.com
give us a call: 503-720-5174

5 Great Questions to Ask During Restaurant Interviews:

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We love interviewing. It’s part of who we are and what we do. We recruit the best, most qualified leadership talent for top hospitality organizations across the western U.S. and British Columbia and get to know them in an interview. We know that interviews can be dry and boring, never really telling the characteristics and commitment of each candidate – so we ask the good questions. Questions that will enable you to choose and hire the best for your staff.

Asking revealing questions during each interview reduces the risk of making a bad hire.  Apart from traditional interview questions reviewing previous employment rolls, etc. there is more to each candidate that matters and should be discussed in an interview.

 

  1. Describe a stressful evening at the restaurant of your previous employment and how you handled it.  Asking for previous examples shows their true colors- what happens when they are in leadership and how do they respond to stress.  Without a doubt, stress will come from a variety of situations and you want to hire someone who can manage the stress well.
  2. What issues to you disagree most often with your current (or most previous) boss? It’s a good idea to understand how each candidate responds to authority.
  3. What ideas and ways are you committed to ensuring your restaurant staff is motivated and working their hardest each shift? A restaurant manager has to be able to “drive the car when it’s low on gas”…. What can be done to make it a great evening of serving, even when no one wants to be there?
  4. Explain a situation in which last minute changes happened, and how did you respond? It’s essential to have a restaurant manager that can wear many hats and has a variety of talents. Changes will come- problem solving is essential for moments like this.
  5. What drove you to apply for this positions? Is he/ she looking for more money? A different location? Small/ larger business? Whatever is the reason for the application is, ensuring it’s a good one will help to decipher if this candidates is looking to commit and make a difference in their employment, verses living a lifestyle the is come and go at the best offer possible.
GET IN TOUCH WITH PACIFIC COAST HOSPITALITY FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE STAFFING NEEDS:
write to us: askus@pacificcoasthospitality.com
give us a call: 503-720-5174