As much as servers and bartenders like to complain about their job and rhetorically ask, “What the hell I am doing?”, the never ending stream of job hunters that bring their resume by on a daily basis makes us appreciate our jobs…if only for a few fleeting seconds.
Who are these people who actually want to work in a restaurant? Well in Halifax they comprise of students, out of work professionals, a lot of people involved in drama and music, career servers in between restaurants, young people with Arts degrees, and the odd university graduate who has a degree in engineering or science, looking for work until they get a “real job” or head off to graduate school.
The “real job” applicants are my favorite….to hate. I once had a young guy come in and apply for a job. He handed me his resume and began to tell me about himself. He went on to tell me that he just graduated from engineering. I congratulated him, upon which he said;
“Yeah, I’m just looking to find some easy work that’s fun until I get a real job.”
I stared blankly at him for a moment and replied, “Great, well I’ll give it to my manager.”
As he walked out the door and down the stairs, I think you can guess where I filed that resume.
If there is one thing a career server cannot stand to hear, it’s that his job is not real. Call my job shit, no problem. Say that a well trained monkey could do my job, fine. Tell me that I’m so stupid and lazy, I can’t even do my mindless job well, that is your prerogative. But don’t tell me my job is not real.
If my job is a fantasy, then what kind of sick and twisted dream is that? I’m not aware of any fantasy vacations where you fly to Florida and work as a waiter for a week. My job is as real as it gets! I hate it, I’m stuck with it, and its embarrassing. That’s real baby!
In this kid’s defense, I think what he meant is a “good” job. I can’t argue with that. Also, it’s not his fault that he is young and ignorant. Basically he just ignored the first rule of applying for a server’s job;
Be Humble
Alot of aspiring servers and bartenders use different approaches when dropping off a resume at a restaurant or bar. One method is to try and come off as very confident, even cocky. This is a sure fire way to not get a job.
In the 15 seconds you have you want to be soft and humble. Try to envision the guy who goes looking to get his job back from his boss and walks into his office with his hat in his hands; that kind of humble.
You still want to be confident and well spoken. But you want to portray the idea that you would be honored if you could get a job at this restaurant. Whoever you give your resume to will think you are very nice, honest and sincere, and will give you a nod of approval to the manager.
Smile
Sounds obvious doesn’t it? However, I have taken so many resumes from people who do not smile once the entire half minute I talk to them. If you drop off your resume, chat briefly with an employee, say goodbye, and do not smile at least once, you literally do not have a chance of getting a job at that restaurant.
You’re only chance is if you’ve got a great rack, and your fortunate enough to give your resume directly to the owner, who loves nice breasts.
Otherwise, you’re screwed. Every day you work as a server you smile about 1 million times. If you can’t force a smile once as you’re applying, forget it.
As mentioned, one constant is the desire to talk to a manager. But here’s the problem; the manager doesn’t want to talk to you. You can be certain that if you’re told the manager is not there, you are being lied too. The manager will give specific instructions to staff that he is not to be summoned to meet with resume droppers.
This means that your best chance for a good impression lies with the staff, specifically the person you’re giving the resume too. A lot of times this staff member will take your resume back to the manager and the manager will ask the staff member if you seemed like you were nice.
The mistake that wannabe waiters make is that since they are not giving their resume to a manager, then there is no need to be extra friendly. Not smart.
Now you have a server handing your resume off to manager and saying that you were nothing special. You didn’t smile much, and you didn’t appear to be that friendly.
You’re done. Your resume is going in the pile, never to be seen or heard from again.
Finally, leave the boyfriend at the door. If your overprotective, clingy fella actually wants to walk around with you as you hand out resumes, that’s fine, but don’t bring him in with you. First of all it shows that you lack confidence and independence. Secondly it’s a sure fire sign that your boyfriend is going to be a pain in the ass. Always calling and dropping by the restaurant. That drives managers and owners crazy.
