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Has anyone worked at a dinning center before? Does experience supervising a supermarket deli translate into managing a dining center? It's a university dining center, like a big cafeteria. I moved to a university town with my wife, who is going after her degree. I really need this job, I'm currently unemployed. I've found a posting for "Food Service General Manager" 4k/mo and would like some tips on how best to present myself on paper and in person. I've read the beginning of the resume / interview thread on ask/tell, but I wanted some advice from restaurant folks. I hope this is the right place to ask these questions, and if I've posted here in error I apologize. I worked at a supermarket deli for five years and made it to supervisor after three. It was pretty big, about 4 full time employees and 10 part timers. I ordered food and supplies, and wrote the schedule from time to time. I was being groomed for management by my boss and often sat in on interviews and conflict resolution meetings. I did a lot of catering and worked the grill outside three summers in a row. I was the number two guy when my boss wasn't around, and the boss when he wasn't. It was busy and stressful, moving on my feet all day, no leaning no stopping, ten minute breaks were frowned upon. We cooked a lot of real food (not just cisco pre frozen crap, although there was a lot of that too). Then I was promoted to marketing director. It didn't work out, and after six months I was kicked back downstairs into the deli, where I had a new manager. Things had sort of fallen apart without me. I made it clear I didn't want to be a supervisor again because I was basically doing the job of a manager at half the pay, so they put me in charge of specialty cheese. This turned out to be a pain since I was expected to manage my section and work in the deli. It ended up being a catch 22; if I put enough time into my specialty cheese my manager told me I wasn't doing enough work in the deli, if I was doing enough work in the deli my manager told me I wasn't doing enough specialty cheese. It was surreal. Nothing was good enough, and they wouldn't let me work overtime. I described my problems to my manager and his superiors, I tried delineating hours so neither aspect of my work suffered but it just turned into a cluster. Eventually I put in my two weeks. One good thing from the specialty cheese thing was that I got to go to food shows and learn how to make deals with vendors. What should I try to emphasize on my resume? How good a shot do you think I have? Should I drop in and try to catch the executive chef, who would be my boss if I got the job, or would that be unprofessional? Thank you all in advance for any advice.
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Jun 28, 2016 19:18
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Pixelboy posted:Go post this question in whatever Goons w/ Spoons thread is proper (sorry, "Something Offal") and prepare to be heartbroken. Subject: Tell me about being a restaurant general manager I had a phone interview that seemed to go very well and I'm scheduled for a face to face on Friday. I am simultaneously intimidated and excited by the prospect and want to know how much is a good pay/ benefits package for this kind of commitment. Glassdoor has no info on this specific chain, but similar restaurants seem to pay GMs 40-50k with benefits. The restaurant is a small burger chain in a college town, and the guy warned me it would be something like a 55 hour a week job. I don't know if that means it's a salary position or what. He stressed that I'll be responsible for everything from hiring to firing to ordering to paying the electric bills. "You will be like an owner," were the words he used. I served for five years in college and worked in a deli for another five. At the deli I quickly rose to supervisor, but passed on management. I watched three department managers come and go. We went without a manager for about two of those years, if you put all the months together, and I was the only supervisor for most of that time. I ordered food, delegated responsibilities, really kept the place running. We also cooked a lot of real food, lots of catering, not high end but it wasn't all finger sandwich and veggie trays. I only got paid $15/hr. I always promised myself that if I ever ended up doing someone else's job for that long I'd get paid better for it. I've been honest with the owner of this new place. I've never been a GM, but I've done the ordering, cost control, publicity, conflict resolution, paying invoices, even scheduling. I've seen a lot of general managers come and go, but I've never been one. I know I can do it, I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it or not. We're going to be here for a couple years, it'll look good on my resume. Can anyone tell me what it was like for them to be a restaurant general manager? apparent pluses: less than a mile from home I scoped out the kitchen, looks clean college town, so easy to find replacement workers beer and wine, so no employees under 21 short menu implies easy ordering apparent negatives: 55 hours a week, can't do a second job Any advice is appreciated!
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Sep 30, 2016 03:11
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Silver Nitrate posted:If he's saying 55 a week it'll probably be more like 60+. The interview got postponed to Tuesday. I appreciate the post, thanks for editing to add. I like making things run smoothly and doing things right, and I know the pain of working under a manager who really doesn't care about his employees or the customers. I got some takeout from the place and everything is a little off, and I found myself filled with a desire to make the place better. It is a new challenge for me, but I want to take a crack at it. Thanks again.
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Oct 2, 2016 05:35
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Field Mousepad posted:Wanna go fast! Yeah. When you're struggling to finish your mis before you have to take your lunch break early because x means y means z means it's going to be a crunch before dinnertime you tend to get in a hurry. I always cut myself when I am or feel like i'm behind (at least one time with a mandolin). Me: "I used to associate the word Mandolin with delicate, old world music. Now I only associate it with terror and pain."
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Jul 16, 2017 05:40
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