Working in a restaurant is not the most glamorous of jobs. The hours are tough, the stress can be high and the mess and smells will likely seep into your skin and stay with you for hours. While working in a restaurant is not always easy and not always fun, it is a work experience that everyone should do at least once in their life.
Here are some reasons why you should work in a restaurant:
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1. You'll realize that hosts don't dictate the wait times.
Your wait time doesn't depend on the host's mood that night. The wait time is based on customer demand and amount of reservations. That leads to another point:
2. You'll learn to make reservations.
Planning on eating out this weekend? Make a reservation. Reservations ensure happy customers which means happy restaurant staff. If you have six or more people and you don't make a reservation, then good luck to you.
3. You'll learn to cancel your reservations.
If you make a reservation and simply don't show up, you probably caused some issues for the restaurant staff. Your table was held, the server assigned to that table was waiting and you create angry wait-listers who see an open table and wonder why they still haven't been seated. Just call and cancel your reservations, even if it is five minutes before.
4. You'll develop sharp customer service skills.
Working in a restaurant will expose you to all types of people. You'll experience the great people who go with the flow and you will experience the people who walk in on a Saturday at 6 p.m. with a party of eight and wonder why the heck they can't get a table. Your restaurant experience will teach you to appreciate the friendly customers and how to deal with the difficult ones.
5. You'll learn to work in chaos.
Working in a restaurant setting can often get chaotic. You will be forced to multitask, run around and wear multiple hats all while keeping a smile on your face. You'll often go home at night at the point of exhaustion.
6. You'll appreciate comfortable shoes.
When you work in a restaurant you are often on your feet for the whole entire shift. When I first started as a hostess I would come to work in stylish shoes. That quickly came to an end. After my first week on the job I invested in a pair of overly expensive, yet overly comfortable flats. I proceeded to wear the same pair of comfortable flats every single night on the job.
7. You'll appreciate people who tip properly.
But that doesn't mean you feel that you always deserve a big tip. You know when you are working hard for your tip and when you are simply skating by until your shift ends. That being said, there is nothing worse than when you get shorted on a tip that you put extra effort into getting. Working in a restaurant made me a much better tipper.
8. You'll realize how much impact the people around you have.
Your co workers in a restaurant have a huge impact on how your shift will go. There is a huge difference between working with people who are willing to help you out and working with people who are only worried about themselves.
9. You'll reconsider getting to a restaurant within 30 minutes of closing time.
Towards the end of the night, servers get cut, or are set free to go home, which means every table that comes in is assigned to just a couple servers. Servers and hosts are also responsible for side work or housekeeping items they must do before they can go home. When you come in and sit down near closing time, you'll create some pretty angry staff members.
10. You'll stop blaming your server for everything that goes wrong.
Sometimes the kitchen is backed up. Sometimes the chef accidentally puts onions in your dish when you specifically ordered no onions. Your server is just one piece of the supply chain and everything that goes wrong isn't his or her fault.
11. You'll realize that the restaurant staff doesn't control the noise level.
"It's soloud in here," said at least one customer a night. Sorry, the staff doesn't control how loud or how quiet your dining experience is.
12. You'll understand when restaurants are understaffed.
While it shouldn't happen often, there are nights when two servers just don't show up and the bartender walked out mid-shit. After working in a restaurant, you'll be more patient with the server who has eight tables.
13. You'll (probably) get a nice discount.
Most restaurants offer discounts on food for employees. You'll learn the best dishes and might be able to get that nice steak for a fraction of the price.
