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Pacific Coast Hospitality

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Dressing For An Interview

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No matter the industry you are interviewing for, dressing professional tops any list of important interview tips.  If you are interviewing for a restaurant manager or chef position, it’s important to remember that these positions hold the primary day-to-day responsibilities of a business.  Interview candidates who look the part will be treated as such, as a professional.  It is important that you look the part.  Show that you have experience, education, and knowledge through your dress.  You must remember, looks are important.  An employer will be more likely to believe that you are ready and capable to execute excellent work if you appear in professional attire.

Here’s a few of our Do’s and Don’ts for interview dressing:

DO dress for success!

DO wear dark pants/skirt.

DO wear a tie (red is an excellent choice).

DON’T wear a short skirt.

DO shave facial hair.

DO pull back long hair.

DON’T over apply make up.

DON’T wear heavy perfume/cologne.

DO limit jewelry.

DON’T drink or smoke before the interview.

DO dress to cover your tattoos.

DON’T wear cooking attire.

 

You only have one chance to make a first impression.  Make it the best you can!

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

How to Get a Restaurant Management Job Fast

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The job of a restaurant manager is never dull, but exciting and a great opportunity to advance your career and expand your leadership skills.  Managers must be quick and able to deal with sudden change, handle stress and express excellent customer service skills.

Often times in the beginning of a job search, restaurant managers find themselves frustrated by the lack of response from blindly submitting their resume to online ads or hiring sites hoping to get a call for an interview.  Even when your resume is fully stocked with experience and expertise at the most well sought after positions, your resume likely will sit in a pile of other applicants.

It’s been said; it’s all about whom you know—this couldn’t be any more true to your job search. Building relationships with those hiring is essential to any potential career.

But how to you build relationships with those hiring?? We suggest finding a company like Pacific Coast Hospitality to develop relationships with and continually watch for job openings.  Submit your resume and fill out an online portfolio on recruitment websites that display your expertise and abilities to adequately manage each position.  Gather glowing references from previous employment and study your prospective employer to be fully prepared for an interview.

Preparation is key after building relationships with hiring agencies and heading for an interview- you can out do all other candidates just by your keen attention to details throughout the entire process from applying, to interviewing to negotiating an offer.

Job searching can drain you and leave you frustrated and hopeless- grab a friend to encourage and help you through the process until you find your next great position!

Check out the hiring opportunities with PCH here.

6 Tips for Motivating Your Restaurant Service Staff

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What do teachers, coaches, parents, and restaurant managers have in common?  They all use motivation to help those they interact with succeed.  In the food service world keeping the team moving forward means success.  To learn the art of motivating you could take a class at Northeastern University with Professor Leonard J. Glick.  But if you want quick tips you can begin to implement today, check out the tips he gives FORBES to keep people “smiling and producing.”

 

Build Ownership Among Your Crew

Glick explains that company personnel must feel responsible for what the customer is buying.  If you can achieve this, your employees will feel that they own the place, not just work there.  Glick suggests that you allow your employees to bring their ideas for improvement and have people rotate responsibilities from time to time.  When people feel like something is “mine” they don’t want to fail or dissatisfy the customer.

 

Trust Employees To Leave Their Comfort Zones

If we were to be honest, few employees want to do one specific task over and over.  Glick encourages you to grant them new responsibilities.  This will promote growth and confidence.  It also will provide a sense of value.  If this makes you nervous, Glick adds, “to me the bigger risk is having people get burnt out or bored.”

 

Keep Your Team Informed

As a leader, you have a clearer perspective on the bigger picture than your employees.  It is crucial that you tell those under you what’s going on.  Don’t fall in to the trap that something is “common knowledge.”  Take the time to share with your employees.  It will strengthen the feeling of importance as a part of the organization.

 

Treat Your Employees as Adults

Not everything that happens in food service is positive.  At some point you will have to give bad news to individuals or the organization as a whole.  Deal with tough situations in a straightforward and respectable manner, Glick says.

 

Be a Consistent Boss

Glick is very blunt in this section of the article.  Ideally, he writes, you want in open relationship with your employees but not a peer relationship.  “I think the work thing is to pretend you’re peer . . .it’s the inconsistency . . . which is the bigger problem.”  You are the boss, and you may have to act like it, sometimes.

 

Money and Perks Matters (But Not As Much As You Think)

Glick encourages employers to find a salary that will allow your employees to feel they’re being paid fairly.  Don’t bend over backward to lowball them.  If the salary is in place, “the motivation comes from . . . the opportunity to learn [and] the opportunity to contribute,” Glick adds.

Perks are on businesses radars because of large companies offering lavish perks to their personnel.  Glick cautions writing, “like money, these things tend to be less powerful motivators.”  You must understand that these perks are no substation for in-job challenges and feeling of being a part of a quality team.

 

Check out the full article here.