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Top 5 Qualities You Want In A Restaurant Host

February 2, 2015 by PCHblog

One of the most unfortunately overlooked positions in the hospitality industry is that of the lowly host or hostess working the front desk. Their duties, while essential, aren’t quite as sexy or overt as those of the servers, with their extensive interactions with the customer, or the cooks, who have essential roles in the kitchen. Without skillful and well trained hosts, however, order in your establishment can and most likely will quickly devolve into chaos as people are improperly seated and customer’s satisfaction quickly evaporates with lengthier waits. Poor hosts cause good restaurants to hemorrhage money, so when hiring for this position there are some key elements to a candidate’s personality that a savvy business owner needs to keep in mind.

Situational Awareness

In the restaurant business, the name of the game is maximizing available space for seating and turnover rate. In a sector with such a slim profit margin, a lack of efficiency in either of these categories will invariably lead to losses. While the wait and cooking staff are in control of turnover rate, it’s the hosts that are responsible for the level of efficiency in seating arrangements-they control who sits where and at what time. This means that candidates for the host position need to have a highly tuned level of situational awareness. Wikipedia defines situational awareness as “…the perception of environmental elements with respect to time or space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status after some variable has changed, such as time, or some other variable, such as a predetermined event.” For a member of your staff whose responsibilities include not only seating based on the current landscape of the restaurant, but being able to predict what the future seating situation will be based on timing and date, this skill is paramount to their success in the role. Hosts will need to be constantly aware of everything around them in the shifting landscape of a high volume restaurant-keeping track of reservations, cancellations, new arrivals and how their presence will affect the waiting times of customers at varying levels of importance and priority. Good hosts are not brainless automatons shepherding customers to any table that’s open, but essential critical thinkers who have an essential function in a successful business.

Skilled in Emotional Labor

Emotional labor is the most readily apparent and-some would argue-most important skill set a person employed in the hospitality industry can have. Though we all know what emotional labor is when we see it, we may not know the proper term: emotional labor is defined as a requirement of a workplace for employees to display some required emotion(s) toward customers or others. While emotional labor and its importance in a restaurant may be mostly attributed to the servers, it is equally important in a host’s duties. Customer experience starts as they walk into the door, not as they sit at their table, and as such it is imperative that hosts are capable of putting on their best face for every customer. The experience of a patron will be colored first by their interaction with the host as they are seated or put in their reservation. A manager or business owner doesn’t want the atmosphere of their establishment to be soured by a dour host or hostess who puts customers into a similarly poor mood.

Ability to Function As Part Of A Team

It may sound somewhat cliché, but it is an absolutely necessary part of a host’s job description to be able to operate with partners or as part of a larger whole. In high volume restaurants, it’s impossible to have a single host take on all of the role’s essential duties and expect them to perform adequately and without mistakes. It’s necessary for hosts to be able to work in tandem with others to effectively keep on top of the ever changing and increasing workload. They need to communicate changes in reservation statuses, alert others to cancellations, keep in touch with the wait staff to have an idea of wait times, and keep an eye on the seating landscape to fill in any spaces missed by their colleagues. The hospitality industry seems to e more vulnerable than most to drama and disputes between colleagues-countless numbers of restaurants have collapsed due to infighting. An ability to keep civil and professional relationships with their fellow hosts and wait staff is needed to keep your establishment from such a dire fate. Communication and professionalism is paramount to a functional restaurant that doesn’t want their system to collapse during the rushes that are keeping the business afloat.

Presentation

In the hospitality industry, a consistent image, atmosphere, and style can mean the difference between a success story and failure. The staff is an extremely visible component of this style, and any incongruities can spell doom for the aspiring restaurateur. As the front line in the battle for good service, hosts that do not fit in with the rest of the establishment’s image are an especially damaging element. During the hiring process, your expectations of how a host must present themselves must be crystal clear. Their adaptability to the climate and look of the restaurant is what determines whether or not they are a good fit for the restaurant-hosts and hostesses must show that they can adapt and fit into the niche you have set for them. If they show resistance to this niche, it’s very possible that your business is not for them.

Versatility

The final essential skill in a host or hostess is one that a great many business owners neglect in their hiring process-adaptability to changes in circumstance. In most businesses, the division of labor is clear and unquestionable-everyone knows their exact roles and will not deviate from them. In the restaurant business, however, the lines can-and most likely will-be blurred. Whether it is human error or in the utter chaos of a massive rush, sometimes a host needs to be able to take on the roles of other members of a team. A host that looks at a table that has needed to be bussed for an extended period of time and says ‘that’s not part of my job description’ is not a host you want to have as part of your staff. Hosts need to display versatility and quick thinking-the decision to swiftly clean a table to make room for more guests or provide some other necessary function in the workplace to improve efficiency may mean the difference between a customer leaving rave reviews and one simply leaving in disgust!

10 ESSENTIAL STEPS TO LANDING AND ACING A RESTAURANT JOB INTERVIEW

January 14, 2015 by PCHblog

In today’s extremely competitive job market, we need all the help we can get to land a job anywhere, and that includes the restaurant industry. You can apply to hundreds of different restaurants, bars, and burger joints without so much as cursory call back for an interview. What you need is a plan of action that will separate you from the pack. The following path from pre-application to post-interview will give you a step-by-step guide on how to maximize your efforts while looking for a position in a restaurant you’d love to work in and give you a major leg up on your competition.

Landing the Interview

Step 1: Do some research! What kind of establishment is this restaurant? What is it they serve? What is their theme or niche? What image are they trying to present to their customers? What kind of value do they try to bring to their patrons outside of just giving them food? Do you think you could fit in with their image? These are all important questions that need to be answered in order to maximize the effects of your efforts in applying.

Step 2: Scout out the look of those who are in the position you’re applying for. What is their level of dress? What attitudes are they bringing to the table? How do the groom themselves? How do they fit with the rest of the restaurant? If you want their position, you need to know how to act the part.

Step 3: Once you have applied, follow up! Keep on Calling and dropping by to speak to the supervisor-don’t let them forget your face or how interested you are in the position. The number one mistake people make when job hunting is not following up and just expecting the managers to do all the work in hunting them down.

Keep up these efforts and landing an interview is all but inevitable!

The Interview

Step 4: Remember the level of dress the people in your position were wearing? Rule of thumb is to go one level of formality in dress above them. Are they wearing business casual? Dress business formal. Are they wearing khakis and polo shirts? Wear a nice dress shirt and pants. Remember, you’re presenting your best self in this interview process. Under dressing is the worst error you can make right off the bat.

Step 5: BE HONEST. Lying during an interview will ALWAYS come back to haunt you. You WILL slip up in the lie, or forget a detail, and somebody will invariably notice. Once caught in a lie, you will never regain that credibility even if you don’t lose your job.

Step 6: Be confident and proactive! No interviewer likes asking questions and getting a flat sentence or two in reply. Relay anecdotes and stories from previous job or life experiences that pain you in a positive light. Ask them questions, build rapport so it’s easier for them to remember you when sifting through applicants later on.

Step 7: If the job provided a description of the positive traits they’re looking for in a candidate, include those words verbatim as you present yourself to your prospective employer.

Step 8: Mind your body language! Present a confident, open self with your body language by uncrossing your legs or arms, laying your hands flat on a surface (if applicable) and relaxing your shoulders. Interviewers canfeel the tension you create by presenting closed off body language and it gives them a more negative impression when they’re looking back on your file.

After the Interview

Step 9: Last verse same as the first! Be active, don’t force them to do all the work in remembering you. Call them and drop by to speak to the person who interviewed you. Keep your face and name on their mind as they go through more applicants

Step 10: Always be cordial, even if they decide to go with another applicant. Who knows, maybe that person won’t work out or another spot will open up and your name is next on the hiring list!

The New Year….. and the Dreaded New Hires

December 29, 2014 by PCHblog

The ball will drop in New York City, the fireworks will light up the sky and midnight will strike marking a fresh new year. The start of a New Year is always a time to reflect and plan for moving forward to meet goals and grow personally and in the business world of hospitality.

With the New Year, employees are ready to seek after new jobs for a variety of reasons; hirer pay, better hours and so forth many looking elsewhere due to a holiday burnout and exhaustion. Much like hiring managers and business owners, employees too are ready for a fresh start for the New Year. Some employees will stay and overcome the burnout feelings, but others will leave and take on positions to move their career ahead or in completely different directions. Regardless where some employees may end up, you may have to hire.

Hiring is known to be one of the most dreaded experiences for business owners – from compensation to benefits and training, there’s a lot to consider when hiring if you plan to meet success head-on.

Some hospitality industry experts believe it’s harder than ever to staff – The hardships come from the fact that more people are looking for jobs because of the status of the economy, but there are less people with experience to hire. The ex-sales manager, teacher, lawyer, etc. are looking for any position, even if a complete career changes. Less experience doesn’t always count as a disadvantage, but sure can lead to longer trainings and more direct management needed until they have significant industry experience.

Similar, experts say employees formerly accepted one job and kept it for years, even decades – a sense of pride developed over time about the company they worked for and how they advanced. Today, more than ever employees are exercising their rights and embracing their inner adventure spirit and moving from job to job taking higher pay, better hours or whatever fancy they may be lured in with during the hiring process. The average time a candidate spends at one job in the hospitality industry is six months or less.

Harder now than ever to hire or hiring with ease, with our years of experience and understanding of the Pacific Coast Region, resolving to hire Pacific Coast Hospitality to handle your staffing and placement needs during 2015 will be one of the top things you do to ring in the New Year!

Job Seeking During the Holidays

December 8, 2014 by PCHblog

The hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, decking the halls and job-hunting too? It’s the busiest time of year and most job seekers are taking a backseat to submitting resumes and attending interviews until after the New Year.

It’s often believed employers are just not hiring during the holidays and of course, by now the holiday hires have been placed, but employers are planning and hiring for the new year. With less competition in the job search, now’s not the time to count out applying for positions. As the New Year begins, employers look forward to a fresh start- that often includes fresh hires.

Finding Job Openings During the Holidays:

Amongst the holiday season is the perfect time to re-connect with those you know who may have leads to open positions. Maybe your former boss and co-workers? Previous roommates or your child’s previous teachers, sports coaches, etc. Networking is the best way to find open positions and get an interview.

Work this holiday to expand your network by connecting with a top notch recruiting firm, like Pacific Coast Hospitality, and let us know you’re job seeking. Check our latest job board and apply for any positions you may be a top candidate for!

Likewise, attach your most recent resume to an email and send us a little hello and happy holidays. We’ll be sure and get connected with you and assist in any ways we can!

Most often it is in the unlikeliest places that each of these connections lead to jobs. A proactive job search is sure to be a successful one.

Interviewing for Open Positions During the Holidays:

The holidays are a perfect time for a job interview – from the happiness that comes with the season to the more laid back office environments that naturally creep in, a holiday interview has its perks.

One of the easiest “ice breakers” for conversation and first impressions is to discuss the cheer and chaos of the season. Whether it be complaining about long lines or complementing the light display at your local zoo, it’s a fool proof conversation topic for an interview.

During the holiday season, as many are not applying, companies are “all hands on deck” to prepare for the new year launch. Be part of the fresh start by applying for jobs during the holiday rush and kickstart your New Year right.

Hire Right – Hiring Science and Psychology Ideas

December 2, 2014 by PCHblog

It’s no secret or rocket science discovery that humans shift their personalities and emotions to cater to individual situations and to bring forth specific reactions. In essence, as humans, we are manipulative even when we don’t know it.

Emotions and actions can change in a moment and during the interview process it can often be hard to know what and who someone actually is.

Long after the interview and hiring is over, many business owners realize their hiring mistakes and regret their decision. Hiring is costly. Turnover of employees is even more costly – from training to replacements, the money adds up when you don’t hire right the first time.

For hiring science, and psychology in particular, have plenty of ideas to offer on how to hire the best candidate for your open position. So many, in fact, that the British Psychological Society’s Occupational Digest blog was able to kick off 2012 with a round-up of recent findings applicable to entrepreneurs looking to select new talent.

Skip reading the full findings, we’re here to sum up the key two points:

Back to the humans shift their personalities and emotions to cater to individual situations and to bring forth specific reactions – therefore, what you might have heard or what are standard best hiring practices don’t really matter. In an interview it’s not hard to fool what knowledge may really be known or how a candidate truly acts in stressful situations. During an interview, you really see the best of candidates. Assuming the polite manners or the candidates with the highest education may not be your best hire. Sticking to best hiring practices of education and formalities could lead to a hiring mistake in the end that could have been avoided if when hiring you focused less on the what’s supposed to be right and more on the realities.

Hire the candidate you feel has previous experience working hard and the one that will be a good cultural fit to the work environment.

Hiring mistakes often happen when there’s a skills gap. The good news is, this hiring mistake can be avoided just by simply requiring specific skills test for the job available.

Likewise, consider a working interview – there’s no better way to examine skillsets than to see them in action first hand. You’ll be sure to see the reactions of a candidates when working and better understand how they handle stressful situations, rapid changes and others personalities.

All in all, science and psychology prove again and again that following your gut feeling usually doesn’t lead astray. Examine what happened with each candidates first impression and how they would fit with the team on a daily basis. Did the candidates posses confidence or a lack of caring for receiving a job?

5 Ideas: Where to Find Top Employees

October 10, 2014 by PCHblog

You want to hire the best? So does everyone else. It’s not an easy thing to do and continually companies make hiring mistakes or struggle to find quality candidates. Hiring has its difficulties especially if your goal is to hire supreme restaurant managers and all you have is an hourly server budget to offer candidates.

So what can you do? Find the unpredictable talent.

Go against the grain and interview the candidates with resumes which are less than subpar. Find great talent not with the specific skills you need, but in character and work ethic – skills can be taught to complete task and drive your business forward.

Toss out the standard social stereotypes and find your next top hire.

Hire Military

You won’t regret an ex-military hire. The tried and true – trained up leaders are a hire which can adapt and will work hard. Whether you’re planning to hire a leader or were looking for a simple server, the military is one organization that places extreme emphasis on leader training and development.

An ex-military hire knows how to get it done – whatever it might be. They’ll be the ones to see the task through and make smart decisions whether involving only themselves or an entire team. Hire a veteran – you won’t regret the commitment to hard work they will bring.

Hire Recent Grads

You too were once the worker who didn’t have any experience and someone offered you that first job. Someone offered the chance and it was full on hard work to show that first employer you were a good gamble. New hires and recent grads are the young just entering the work force with eager hands and bright minds – you’ll gain high energy and enthusiasm by taking the risk on hiring the inexperienced.

Hire Post – Athletes

Similar to the recent grad, hiring a post college athlete might be your next best move. Every year approximately 400,000 student-athletes graduate from college and enter the job market. Athletes have worked within scholarship regulations and met national standards to compete in games. You’ll find these hires are self-disciplined, motivated, able to overcome defeat quickly and their heart beats to the rhythms of teamwork… who wouldn’t want to hire that type of character?

Hire layman Job Resume

You’ve seen the resumes and it’s fast food and warehouse job history – instantly you’re ready to put a pass on it…. But maybe not so quickly.

What are the skills you are really looking to hire? Good customer service? Attention to finite details? Teamwork savvy? The cashier at a worldwide fast food chain has been trained to display consistent customer service and the layman or warehouse worker has repeated the same processes over and over accumulating the ability to identify detail.

Don’t put a pass so quick on the unimpressive resumes from candidates.

3 Questions – Is a Hospitality Job Right for You?

September 10, 2014 by PCHblog

Almost 50 percent of adults say they’ve worked in a restaurant at some point in their lives. That means you aren’t alone in your job search. And really, there’s no secret to why there’s so many restaurant jobs – there’s simply a surplus of restaurants that continually need to be staffed with bartenders, managers, chefs and more. The industry is large and continues to grow no matter what city around the United States you live in. Regardless of your experience level, there are positions available all around the world in hospitality.

You might not be sure if a restaurant job is right for you – here are three questions to ask yourself to help clear your mind on whether you are a fit for the restaurant industry:

Do you love people?

Bottom-line: It’s a service job – whether a restaurant manger, host, back chef or likewise, you work with people from all walks of life at all times. That comes with great perks and consequences all depending solely on who the guest are each day. A love for people is a must in the hospitality industry.

How well can you handle change? And Constant change?

In a restaurant things change hour by hour, sometimes even minute by minute. Guest have different service needs, and some days will be crazy – how do you cope with sudden change? Does is leave your frazzled and confused, or are you easy – go with the flow? Flexibility is a must have characteristic of anyone working in hospitality.

How are your communication skills?

From front of house to the back with host, servers, line chefs and more all in-between, working is a restaurant is for the team player. No one person can make the hospitality industry flow without the help of others. How’s your communication with co-workers? Even more so, co-workers who are years apart in age from you or come from completely different backgrounds of life- the hospitality industry is a catch all style employer, no two hires are alike. The ability to clearly and effectively communicate with those around is essential to the success of a hospitality career.

Top Ten Of the Highly Successful

August 21, 2014 by PCHblog

You want to hire only the best right? Exactly. That’s why we’ve outlined the top ten characteristics of the best of the best. If you really want to bring success into your restaurant establishment or into your own life, here’s what the most successful ones around the world are believing and practicing.

Self Will Power – Starting and doing the task on your own responsibility is hard. It’s not usually fun to get up and be the one to end the rest and get to work. Being a self-starter drives to results and success.
Emotional Stability – When things go whack, how is the reaction? The best of the best are emotionally stable in all circumstances staying far away from gossip and drama.
Loyalty – Honesty is the best policy, or so you may have heard. But really, the top employees are the loyal ones to not only their company of employment, but to co-workers and customers.
Optimism – Fight depression, bad attitudes and misery with optimism. Attitudes are contagious; an attitude can either really be great and lift the mood of an evening in the BOH or tank it.
Continual Communication – When communication is present, customers and co-workers alike learn to trust and respect what’s happening around them. Communicating is the key to success.
Flexibility – When things don’t go as planned, the top hires do not fret but do whatever possible to change the circumstances and adapt for success regardless.
Self Confidence – Not overly confident, but knowing the fine line of when self-confidence is needed, you’ll find the most successful people around the world are confident in their skills, knowledge and abilities.
Well Networked – The best of the best know who to contact when help is needed. Being well networked with those inside and out of the hospitality industry leads to greater knowledge and success.
Reader – The reader is the leader. The more known, the greater the ability to lead well, try new things and respond to circumstances appropriately.
Compassionate – The highly successful ones in the world have and show great compassion to others around them when facing struggles in and out of the workplace.