Alan Stutts | BLOG | Education Author

In food service, a willingness to relocate often is essential for advancement to positions with greater responsibility. Managers typically advance to larger establishments or regional management positions within restaurant chains. Some eventually open their own food service establishments.

Large hotel and motel chains may offer better opportunities for advancement than small, independently owned establishments, but relocation every several years is often is necessary. The large chains have more extensive career ladder programs and offer managers the opportunity to transfer to another hotel or motel in the chain or to the central office. Career advancement can be accelerated by the completion of certification programs offered by various associations. These programs usually require a combination of course work, examinations, and experience. Outstanding lodging managers may advance to higher level manager positions.

Restaurants and hotels come in all sizes. Small cafes may have fewer than five employees, while large chain restaurants can even several dozen at each location. A boarding house or bed and breakfast may be run entirely by an owner/manager, while a large resort hotel has hundreds of staff people, some of whom live on the grounds.

This is an industry where most people spend long hours on their feet and spend each day making complete strangers feel welcome and happy. Regardless of size, all establishments are governed by local, state, and federal regulations that affect the minimum working conditions your work under. What makes the big difference in how much you like working someplace is what the owners and managers of the establishment do above and beyond the legal requirements.

For example, in a large, chain restaurant you may have an employee break room and lockers for stowing personal belongings. But working for a small café owner who works side-by-side with you and takes a personal interest in your well-being can make up for having to take breaks in an alley or stash your handbag under the counter.

Now that you have spent time learning about yourself, you need to spend some time learning about the realities of a hospitality career. This phase of your research is not about specific companies, but about the industry or occupation in general. The information you want includes:

Characteristics of individuals working in this field
Values held by individuals in this field
Skills required at entry into this occupation
Knowledge areas / educational requirements
Duties & responsibilities
Working conditions (hours of work, environment, physical demands, level of stress, etc.)
Salary range / compensation
Advancement & promotion
Future outlook
Related occupations

On the Web, you can use O’NET Online (http://online.onetcenter.org/) to find descriptive information about specific occupations, either by entering the occupations title or by entering a list of your skills that are then matched to relevant occupations. You can also enter an O’NET SOC number for an occupation if you know it. In the illustration below you see the detailed report on the occupation “Lodging Managers.”

Wages and employment outlook for each occupation is available on a state-by-state basis. The state information also includes links to a video, and a list of credentials or certificates related to the occupation.
You can get a customized report compares wages and occupational trends between occupations and amongst various cities at America’s CareerInfoNet (http://www.acinet.org/acinet/). Select the section “What it Takes” and then under “Wages and Trends” select customized report.
All of the data in the world cannot tell you all you want to know about a career in hospitality. You also need to talk with people who do the job you want to do. Informational interviewing and job shadowing are two ways to see a job from the inside. In an information interview, you find a person who currently has the position you seek and spend an hour or so asking them questions. A job shadow involved spending a day or two following someone around as they do their job.

Yes, we just said don’t go over the bosses head. When you and the boss disagree about a decision the boss has made, you have to accept that decision and work within the bosses guidelines. He is the boss and you are not. If you are afraid a bad decision by your boss reflects poorly on your, follow-up a meeting with an email to your boss that summarizes the meeting. State the concerns you expressed, the solution you offered solution, and the decision your boss made. Should it ever come to defending your role in the decision, you have this email.

In rare circumstances, however, you must go to someone else of authority in your company and, in strictest confidence, share your concern with them about behavior by your boss that includes any of the following:

The company is on the line because of the decision or action

Your boss has done something illegal.

Your boss is seriously ill or addicted and is unable to function effectively.

Your boss is committing or permitting sexual or racial harassment.

Once you inform the appropriate person, return to work and let this person solve the problem.

Your boss picked you; you did not pick your boss. Your manager is the second most important person in your career (right behind you) so it makes good sense to find out what you need to do to keep this person happy.

There are a few basic guidelines for building an effective partnership with your boss, one that is productive and offers you the maximum opportunity to achieve success in your job.
The first critical piece of information you need to know is how your boss wants you to communicate with her. If you have a meeting with her on your first or second day and get a chance to ask questions, ask these three questions:

What is the best way to communicate with you - send email, call, or wait for a staff meeting?

When I have a question or a bit of news, should I set up an appointment to meet with you or is it OK to pop in to your office or stop you in the hallway?

How much information do you like to get about a subject? Do you want a brief verbal summary, a short written report, or a formal, detailed report?

Your job is to make your boss look good. This does not mean that you become a “yes woman” or a sycophant with no ideas of your own. It does mean that you find ways to make your team or department successful that does not challenge your manager’s authority or self-esteem.
Successful boss management really boils down to these things:

Figure out your boss’s biggest problems and solve them.

Never go to your boss to present a problem without also presenting a solution.

Always refer to “we,” when talking about yourself and your boss; this creates a sense of unity and shared purpose.

Anticipate what your boss needs and give it to her.

Learn what ticks the boss off and don’t.

Be loyal to your boss and your department and committed to its success. Do not continue debating a decision once it is made and never do it outside your department.

Become an expert in some critical area and share what you learn with your boss.

Stay within your authority; don’t speak for the boss unless the boss tells you to.

Don’t go over bosses head.

How you are perceived by management and your co-workers is affected not just by how well you do your assigned tasks, but by how well you communicate, how tolerant you are of others, how much responsibility you take for the entire department or company’s success, how willing you are to help solve problems and help others, and how you react to conflict or a crisis.

The office is not a democracy; your manager and your manager’s manager and everyone up to the CEO set policy and make assignments that you are expected to accept and carry out. Your success can hinge on how well you do this, even when you feel their decisions may not be the best ones.

Although it is not in your job description, two of your major job responsibilities are to manage your boss and to manage your relationship with your co-workers. Failing to take care of these two duties well can be career disaster.

Don’t do anything to embarrass your mother! The work environment requires good manners. In the hospitality industry, courteous and respectful behavior is a job requirement. The following guidelines apply in all professional situations:

Never wipe your hands on your clothes when eating, burp, put your elbows on table, talk with your mouth full, or overindulge in food or alcohol.

Welcome people appropriately. Greet every person in a group. Offer a firm handshake to everyone. Introduce everyone who is with you.

During a meeting or presentation, listen. Do not whisper to someone when another person is speaking. Do not send text messages via cell phone to the person across the table during a meeting. Do not read a book, get out your PDA to check email, doodle, or gaze into space during a meeting or presentation. Never ask a question whose answer was given while you were not listening!

Answer the phone politely, identifying both yourself and your company. Always offer to take a message for someone else or put the caller through to voice mail or someone else. Repeat any message to make sure it is correct. Ask for the spelling of the callers name to ensure you write it down correctly. Thank the caller at the end of the call.

Don’t leave your stuff allover the staff room or let it spill out of your office or cubicle into the aisles. Don’t hang art work on the wall of a shared office without asking your desk mate if it is OK. Don’t crank up your music until the guy in the next office can hear it.

Be considerate of other people’s time. Arrive at the appointed hour for all meetings. Be brief when it is necessary to interrupt a co-worker to ask a question. Turn off your cell phone in meetings and ignore it if it rings or vibrates while you are chatting with someone in the hall.

Always pay your fair share of a group meal, a cab fare, or a round of drinks. Never borrow money or anything else from co-workers unless it is a real emergency, and pay them back or return the borrowed item as quickly as possible.

Never snoop. Keep your hands in your pocket while sitting in someone’s office waiting.

Four of the most important business skills you need are writing, speaking to groups, listening, and expressing ideas. Sure, you did these things in college, but you may not have done them in a business-like manner.

Speaking in public can be terrifying. A management or sales career requires you to persuade and motivate with speech. Do you have trouble giving a talk in front of two or more people? What about giving a formal presentation with a slide show? If you have no experience doing either of these things, or your experience was less than satisfactory, look for a workshop, a community college course, or an online course to help you improve in this area. Toastmasters are an organization for people who want to improve their public speaking ability through practice. Find the local chapter and explore this option, too.

Business writing has conventions that are different from academic writing, journalism, or creative writing. As a manager, you need to write letters, reports, performance reviews, job descriptions, and perhaps even articles for the business press. You must use correct grammar and punctuation and choose appropriate words to convey ideas. Take a business writing class in college. If one is not offered or you don’t take it, take a class in writing, grammar, proofreading, report writing, technical writing, and other writing skills available at community colleges, through continuing education programs, using self-study guides, or online.

Listening is a skill that can be learned. You have to listen effectively to customers, to your subordinates, to vendors, and to your manager and other superiors. Good listeners do not spend the time while someone is talking to them figuring out a snappy response or reasons why the person is wrong. They listen to what the person is saying. To ensure they heard correctly, good listeners repeat what they heard back to the person, usually by paraphrasing it. Only after they are certain they understand what was said do they offer a response. Even if you think you are a good listener, get a book on effective listening or find a community college or continuing education course where you can use role playing and other techniques to become a great listener.

Expressing an opinion comes much too easily to some people! The styles in which opinions are expressed vary from one company to the next and even between departments in the same company. Free-ranging, open debate is a style found often in small companies, creative companies, or start-up companies. Large, mature corporations may prefer that the debate occur outside of meetings and limit meetings to stating the conclusions reached. Debate and opinions may be frowned upon at some companies. You have a style of expressing yourself that has worked well for you in previous jobs, but if your new company prefers a very different style - perhaps less boisterous or more formal - you’d better find out what it is and adopt that style.

On your first day, you may spend several hours filling out paperwork in the human resources office. You will need a proof of citizenship or authorization to work in this country. This can be a passport, naturalization papers, voter registration card or other proof. A driver’s license is not sufficient in most cases. Bring your work history information if you have not filled out an application, yet.

Have at least two emergency contact numbers. One should be someone who lives in the same town and can fetch you or accompany you to medical care. It helps if this person has your family telephone numbers, too. If you have a chronic medical condition, ask to have a letter put into your personnel folder that contains information about prescriptions and the names and telephones numbers of your healthcare providers. This information could be crucial if you are not able to give emergency personnel this information.

Now that you have accepted the job offer and scheduled a first day of work, make sure you learn some important company policies that affect how you dress and behave.

What should I wear to work? If the information you were given by the company up to now did not discuss a dress code, call your new manager or the HR office and ask. Even if you had three or four on-site interviews and saw what others were wearing, don’t assume dressing just like them will work. Individual managers may have slightly different standards for dress than others.

In your visits, the employees you saw may have been enjoying a casual dress day, or dressed inn full business suits because they were interviewing candidates. Before you spend money on a new wardrobe, or walk in on your first day and realize you made a big mistake, ask somebody.

If you wore a traditional Western business suit to your interviews, but you prefer to wear the traditional dress or hair styles of your own ethnic or cultural heritage, discuss this with someone before starting work. Religious clothing, such as head coverings for men or women, prayer shawls, and such are likely protected under constitutional protection of freedom of religion. Conservative companies with a strict dress code may balk at your wearing a sari instead of a dress, and you want to know this before you arrive for work and are told you should go home and change.
Skimpy clothing on men or women is rarely appropriate. Bikinis may be the required attire for Olympic female beach volleyball players, but chances are they are not required attire for your job.

Where is my office? Are you sure you even have one? You don’t want to show up with a box of family pictures, art work, and office toys only to discover you are assigned only a locker for personal affects.

What time do I show up? Companies may have all new staff spend their first week shadowing another staff member as part of their orientation or training. The time you are given to arrive on your first day may not be your regular start-time. You don’t want to be surprised at the end of the first week to find out you are actually working the night shift! Find out how you are supposed to record your time and where and when it must be turned in to ensure you get your paycheck.

Where do I eat lunch (or dinner or breakfast)? Hotels and restaurants often provide meals for employees during their shift, but you want to be certain of the arrangement before you show up with no brown bag or lunch money!

What’s the company policy on personal calls or email? Before you share your office telephone number or email address with friends or family, make sure that you understand the protocols. It goes without saying that the office computer is not your computer and you should not be using it for shopping, playing games, or downloading music.

How do I schedule time off? You need to ask if vacation is accrued (earned at a certain number of hours per month) or given in a lump sum. Companies often have policies that prohibit using vacation time during the first three to six months. If you made plans to go to a family reunion or take a vacation before being offered the job, you should negotiate the time off before you accept the position.

What happens if I get sick? Learn the policy for calling in an absence caused by illness. You may be required to provide medical evidence of illness if you are absent for two or more days.