M Culinary Concepts’ Post

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This was a full-circle moment for me. Here I am, at age 46, standing behind the same counter where I spent countless mornings as a young waitress. I started working at this diner when I was a freshman in high school. I’m not even sure if it was legal for me to work then, but my cousin worked there and said they needed help, so I just went to work with her one day and then started picking up my own shifts. I learned how to waitress behind this counter, and I have very fond memories of those days. I loved the hustle, the tips, the camaraderie in a restaurant. I loved it all. As a recruiter, I’ve always been drawn to candidates who have worked in the restaurant industry. Between the multi-tasking, service skills, and grit, I can appreciate what it takes and have seen how those skills translate into other jobs. In fact, I polled my team to see how many of them worked in a restaurant at some point in their careers... Believe it or not—over 90% of our team has worked in a restaurant!!! So maybe I have a bit of a hiring bias… but who could resist bringing that kind of talent on board? 🤷🏻♀️ It’s amazing how experiences can shape our professional lives. What experiences from your early career have shaped who you are today? #career #whatinspiresme #hiring

Serving is a great intro, but for many, it's just the beginning of their journey. The hospitality industry offers so much more! Read our article to explore exciting career paths➡️ https://lnkd.in/e_X7iZGu #hospitalitycareers #careergrowth #waiter #careertips #oysterlink

I am so grateful that Abstrakt saw my experiences as strengths and I will continue to always have a special place in my heart for servers and bartenders. 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 “A CEO once told me he would never hire someone with 𝘑𝘜𝘚𝘛 restaurant experience. He had never worked in a restaurant before- I couldn’t help but ask. I’m here to tell you to 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 hesitate to put your restaurant experience on your resume. Bold it. Underline it. Put it in bright red. I had an incredible manager tell me that, “Being a server is essentially like running your own business.” I am in charge of all business transactions and ultimately my guests entire experience. It’s taught me how to be a leader and responsibility. Did you know that servers take more steps per day than almost any other job? And those floors aren’t generous. I average 20k+ steps during a double shift. It’s taught me endurance and perseverance. It’s just as much physically exhausting as it is mentally. Working for the public is draining, and you want to believe the majority of the people in the world are pleasant. The reality is that a lot of people like to be rude, and knowing how to deescalate a violate situation is a skill I never knew existed. It’s taught me patience and self-control. I’ll never forget the first time a guest made me cry because she didn’t get ketchup with her fries. Or the first time I was cussed out because I didn’t know the sugar content in our house whiskey. It’s taught me how to work under pressure and manage stress. My point is that this job is a career. It’s taught me more than an internship. I financed 100% of my college education by working 30+ hours a week. It’s taught me the power of HARD WORK. I don’t want to work for a company that doesn’t recognize the incredible work happening in restaurants. To my fellow servers/bartenders, I see you.”

If you’re in your dream role and the organisation you are working for will be able to provide you with the money, flexibility, support, and professional progression that you want at all stages in your career, stop reading now (p.s. congratulations!). If, however, you think that you might want to make a move at some point for any or all of the reasons above, I’d recommend taking the Sushi Train approach. Put yourself in a position to see what’s on offer, consider the options, and wait for the thing that looks like it’s too good to pass up when it comes along. Set some alerts for the type of roles that might be of interest, build connections in your industry and/ or others that you may wish to work in, establish relationships with people working in talent acquisition or recruitment roles that work on the kind of roles that might tempt you to make a move. This will give you the best possible overview of what’s happening in the market. Lots of positions, especially at the top of the tree, never get advertised, and you don’t want to be the one to have to pretend to be excited for your mate when they announce they’ve just landed a job you’d have loved to get but didn’t know about. #lawyers #legalindustry #careers

Who do you think is the most important person in a restaurant? 🤔 And how is that related to your career? #TheCareerStrategists #careeragilityinternational #careeragility #careersuccess #careers #careeradvice #careertips #careerdevelopment #careercoach #jobs #jobsearch #cv #interviewskill #singaporecareer #restaurant #KeepCalmAndCareerOn Adrian Choo The Career Strategist Sze-Yen Chee

The most bizarre interview experience I’ve ever had… Before I got into recruitment, I was a head chef. So, naturally, I needed to hire a Chef de Partie (similar supervisory level to a senior residential support worker, always experienced, usually with a Level 3 qualification). In hospitality, it’s common to do a short interview followed by a trial shift—about an hour tops. So, for this candidate, I invited him in for 8am & I decided to throw him into the deep end: the egg station during a busy breakfast service. All he had to do was keep up with poached, scrambled, and fried eggs. Simple enough, right? Well, we’re barely 20 minutes in and maybe 10-15 eggs down when he starts saying, “I’m tired... Are you not tired? This is really tiring.” I’m thinking, “Mate, we’re just getting started!” I professionally reminded him he could leave if it wasn’t the right fit, but he insisted on staying. Yet, the moaning about exhaustion just kept coming. Anyway, he finished the "shift" (barely) and I shook his hand, telling him I’d be in touch. Fast forward 2.5 hours... A customer is complaining about a strange noise coming from the toilets. The restaurant manager goes to see what was going on, calling out to the person inside—nothing. We ended up having to unlock the door. And there he was: the candidate, fast asleep on the toilet, in full chef whites, clutching his knife wrap like a comfort blanket. Did he start the next day? Absolutely... NOT! It was wild. But life would be boring without these experiences aye? Character building! What’s the weirdest thing you’ve experienced in an interview? #ChefStories #InterviewExperiences #ChefLife #RecruitmentLife #NeverADullMoment #RealLifeRecruitment

#FunFactFriday my first full-time job was bartending. I was not yet 19. I learned these technical/domain/hard skills: ⭐️ tapping a beer🍺(easy) ⭐️⭐️ taking orders, mixing drinks, and washing glasses - all quickly during peak period (harder) 💦 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ drunk customers, supervisor abuse, workmates who inhale petrol (challenging) 😕 Did I have a good time? 💯%. Why? Because I also learned these life/growth/#softskills: ✅ Sales - bored with tapping beer and serving endless gin tonics, I memorised cocktail recipes on my bus rides and practised persuading customers to pay up for higher value drinks. #UpSell ✅ Cultural Sensitivity - I went to a storied school. Folks working the night zone are of a different sub-culture. Don't judge. Understand. ✅ Relationship Management - the 'Regulars', we used to call them. They will come in every evening usually about the same time. Henry drinks Guinness, Charles drinks Gordon's Gin and Fiona has a particular song she likes to sing. Others are lonely in their other lives. They congregate as their 'better' selves at Club Crescendo. At the Club, a young man named Chuck remembers their drinks, laughs at their jokes and passes written notes to attractive newcomers of the opposite sex, discreetly on their behalf. Did I learn anything? Too much. In 2003, I recall several job interviews where I was asked if I had any sales skills or knew relationship management. I only used the bartending story with one hiring manager. Just once. He didn’t geddit. Thank you for reading. Have a nice weekend. #GetReal #LifeLessons GRiT Academy Photo credit: a website that posts photos of matchboxes collected by travellers (yes this was a collector thing). One of them was of that first bar I worked at. It closed in 1998. I would go on to work in Sparks. iykyk 😉

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Last week, I had an enjoyable conversation with clients over dinner, where we shared stories about early jobs and how they shaped our careers. It made me reflect on my own journey and the lessons I learned during my time in the service industry. Before I ventured into the business side of building and construction, I spent my teens and early twenties working in fine dining. I started in the dish tank and quickly moved to working on desserts, and then Pantry station, Sauté and Grill. At 21, I was somehow trusted enough to take on the role of Sous Chef and lead my first professional staff. It was an incredible experience filled with a thousand hilarious and sometimes harrowing stories that I still enjoy sharing. Here's the gist of what I believe I've carried with me since those days in the kitchen: Sense of Urgency: In the fast-paced environment of a kitchen, every second counts. The dinner rush taught me to work quickly and efficiently without compromising on quality. Attention to Detail: From perfecting a dish to ensuring consistency and properly managing food costs, attention to detail was paramount. This skill has been crucial in my career, ensuring precision and excellence in everything I do. Perseverance and Quality Control: The relentless pursuit of perfection and the commitment to delivering high-quality results have been ingrained in me since my culinary days. Team Building: Collaborating with a diverse team in a high-pressure environment taught me the importance of communication, trust, and teamwork. Customer Service: Ensuring guest satisfaction and handling feedback gracefully helped me develop a customer-first mindset that I carry into all my professional interactions. There was no rush quite like the dinner rush – the adrenaline, the chaos, and the sheer determination to serve every guest with excellence. And then came the denouement, the calm after the storm, where you and your team put the pieces of the kitchen back together, ready to do it all over again the next day. These early roles can be far from glamorous, but they build the foundation upon which great careers are built. No beginning, no matter how humble, is inconsequential. So, I'm curious...What was the most influential job you had early in your career, and how does it impact the work you do today? I invite you to share your experiences and reflect on the lessons learned from those starting positions. Let’s celebrate the value of hard work and the incredible journeys that shape who we are. #CareerJourney #ServiceIndustry #LifeSkills #ProfessionalGrowth #EarlyCareer #LessonsLearned