Daily living is an education. Every step we take, every effort we make, every job we accept, every moment we breathe, and every person we meet provides us with an opportunity to learn. Images, experiences, facts, assumptions, opinions, actions and reactions are imbedded in our conscious, sub-conscious, and sub-terranean mind. I know – that gives me a headache too! Some of that information and in many cases, acquired skills, are rarely, if ever, used. While others become part of our repertoire and define the person we are in our and other’s eyes.

Restaurants are incredible petri dishes for growth and learning. Foodservice employees come and go, a few find their long-term direction there and make it a career, while others simply pass through on the way to a different dream. But whichever path you take, working in restaurants can provide highly transferrable life skills that set the stage for success. Here are some to chew on…

• ORGANIZATION
  • Whether front or back of the house, restaurant folks depend on organizational structure. The rule of thumb is if you plan and are organized (mise en place) then you can handle any situation that comes your way. From tightly organized dining room side stations to pre-preparation, station maps, and cleaning as you go in the kitchen – organization is one of the most important TRANSFERRABLE skills that restaurant workers embrace.
• DEPENDABILITY
  • In a restaurant, you learn very quickly that your success depends on other people doing their job well and showing up on time to execute their role. You start with being dependable yourself. In speaking with hundreds of chefs and restaurant operators over decades, they universally agree that dependability is the most important trait for any employee. I think every other industry would agree.
• TEAMWORK
  • No matter the position, restaurant employees are vividly aware that the operation thrives on teamwork and collapses when the team fails to coalesce. The team is only as strong as its weakest link, and it is the task of everyone to lift those who need help.
• COMMUNICATION
  • Communication is the most common weakness in organizations of all types. Communication in restaurants is the foundation of success. All employees must be connected to the same mantra of keeping everyone informed. Cook to cook, cook to server, server to bartender, manager to chef, it all needs to be in sync.
• LISTENING
  • When an expeditor barks out an order, the line cook responds with a “yes, Chef” or “heard.” Line cooks communicate with visual nods, a thumbs up, or other visual motions that speak to a behind-the-scenes language known only to cooks too busy to speak. When a server tells the expeditor to put a hold on a table or convert to an “order-fire”, the kitchen knows how to adjust and act. Everyone is prepared to listen on several fronts.
• MULTI-TASKING
  • A line cook may have a dozen or so dishes “in preparation” at the same given moment. Each has different nuances of flavor requiring the knowledge of ingredients and expected flavor outcomes. They will likely also require different degrees of doneness and timing. Keeping this straight goes with the turf. In the dining room, a proficient server can juggle as many as a half dozen or so tables at the same time – orders, suggestions, small talk, appetizer deliveries, salads, entrees, and upselling desserts and drinks. It can be mind-numbing until a server “gets it”. Once a restaurant employee learns to multi-task they will carry that skill with them through life.
• WORKING CLEAN
  • Unless a restaurant employee learns to work clean, their station can quickly move from organized to chaos. Additionally, every restaurant employee has a responsibility to maintain proper sanitation around food – a critical life skill.
• SENSE OF URGENCY
  • Do it now, speed up without losing quality, think and look ahead, keep an eye on everyone else, don’t delay, don’t over-think, get it done – NOW! Restaurant employees always have an eye on the end game.
• ADAPTABILITY
  • Stuff happens. If something can go wrong, it will, unless you are able to quickly analyze and switch gears. Every restaurant employee learns to find ways to hit a curve followed by a fast ball.
• PLANNING AHEAD
  • Those who work in kitchens and dining rooms are constantly thinking “what if?” everyone learns to be prepared for the expected and the unexpected.
• STORYTELLING
  • Servers who are somewhat extroverted and able to read a room and the people in it, can blend their experiences and those of their guests and weave stories that entertain, sometimes inspire, and always demonstrate a real interest in others. In the kitchen, cooks tell stories through plates of food. Each item placed in “the pass” represents their story.
• PROBLEM-SOLVING
  • Finally, anyone who has spent time in a restaurant knows that there is so much going on, every minute of every day, that everyone must be able to solve many of their own problems. They are typically empowered to do so and thus know that survival depends on embracing the opportunity and finding a way to “make it happen.”

So, whether a career restaurant worker or one simply passing through, the skills, aptitudes and attitudes you develop in both the front and back of the house, will set a course for your future.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER

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