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As a restaurant management recruiter I am
constantly bombarded with resumes all day, every day, on weekends and
holidays. It is amazing how many great managers out there can run a
profitable restaurant operation inside and out, but they have no idea what
to write when it comes time to shop for their next opportunity.
In the restaurant industry it isn’t about where you went to school, what
degree you have or what you like to do on your days off. Plain and simple is
the best strategy for getting an interview in this field. You have to
understand that the hiring managers who review your resume see more resumes
than I do any given day. We are talking in the mid hundreds depending on how
they have their needs and job hiring goals presented to the public. Many
times a resume is passed over because it isn’t user friendly or it is out of
order chronologically. The worst thing I ever saw was a resume that stopped
over 2 years ago with no explanation. Go ahead and file that one in the
round outbox on the floor.
Before we get started let me tell you if you are not using Microsoft Word
you will probably never get another job. Compatibility is the key here and
whether you like it or not Word is the king of word processing software.
Please don’t try to reinvent the wheel using Word Perfect or something else
obscure in the marketplace. When someone gets a file that can’t be opened
with their existing software they take the path of least resistance and
delete it. They don’t try and contact you via email and you just lost a
potential career opportunity. So step one is always use Word or you will
regret it later.
The first thing a resume should have is your name centered in 14-point bold
Arial font. Arial is easy on the eyes and it doesn’t distort like some other
fonts. Under that you want to put your address and phone numbers a smaller
10-point Arial. You do not need an email address on there and remember just
because you have a cute or clever email address that your friends think is
cool doesn’t mean anyone else will. And for your sake please change the
messages on your phones to something clear and precise and welcome in the
job arena. This is not the time to express yourself!
The second thing you need is an objective statement, which looks great in
12-point Arial. I would suggest keeping the text size and font the same for
the rest of the résumé. This objective description should be clear and
driven. Don’t ramble on for three sentences and think anyone will care,
because they won’t. For example, a nice statement about how you want to
contribute to the bottom line profitability of a team using your past
experiences often works well. Through in some upward growth potential and
you’re on the right track.
Next is the most important part and that is experience. Starting from the
present and going back is the only way to go. All you need here is the name
of the company, your title and the dates (from past when to present when).
Don’t worry about exact dates, but do include months and the years
obviously.
After that you will need to briefly bullet statements regarding actions
while in that position. These should be one-sentence statements that are
clear to the reader. Don’t tell them you are a great manager because that is
vague. Instead tell me why I should hire you. For instance, did you increase
sales over a two-year period or did you increase sales by 12% over a
two-year period using local store marketing and targeting repeat guest
counts? Do you see the difference? One statement keeps you reading and one
is clouded in vagueness. Take this and run with it on all other details such
as labor, food and controllable costs. Any training and development of team
members is also a very good example that you are part of a team and you care
about their success. Because of this you will also be successful and it will
help you delegate lesser jobs onto key hourly team members.
If you follow these guidelines you will probably have about 6 to 8 bulleted
statements that should get you noticed. Repeat these steps for all your
previous positions as well until you have described your last 5-8 years
depending on the timeframe of your career. No one cares about what you did
15 years ago in this field. They want to see the most recent performance and
some career progression.
As far as references go I would consider them a waste of space. No one is
going to ever list a reference from a bad experience and hiring managers
know this. If you have a great looking résumé that flows and is widely
acceptable you will be getting far more calls from interested parties than
those others who don’t invest their time upfront.
GreatMgrs.com is a restaurant management recruiting firm specializing in the
placement of managers in all capacities of the restaurant industry. From
quick serve to casual and all the way up to senior level area supervisors or
district managers, we can find the right candidate for any situation or job
order. We also help the right management candidates find great and new
opportunities that are not advertised to the public. We eliminate many
unnecessary steps in the hiring process and get the candidate in front of
the hiring manager more quickly than using the conventional wait and see
tactics. The best part is it is FREE for the candidates! Email your resume
to raymond@erhire.com or Fax to 866.862.3547. Client companies feel free to
email at the same address because we would love to be a part of your team
and find you the next great leader!
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