The Rumours Are True: Hospo Experience Makes You Insanely Hireable

Lads, lords, ladies, and lumberjacks, the rumours are true. Hospitality skills like thinking on your feet, dealing with a plethora of customers, working as a team, learning fast, multitasking, managing time, and improvising... they're transferable to every other industry. Hence why every employer looks for hospitality experience. Why? Keep reading.

You deserve an Oscar for your improvising skills

Think you know crisis management? Try being a cook handling the dinner rush on a Saturday night whilst under-staffed. Or a bartender when all the Eftpos machines suddenly cark it. See, you're always thinking on your feet in hospitality, improvising to keep everyone happy. 

Making decisions and problem-solving with limited time is the hallmark of any good employee. I mean, even CEOs have more time to ponder a decision than you do when two people have asked when their food is coming, one group needs sauce, another needs cutlery, one wants the bill, one wants to change their order, another has done a dine 'n dash... chaos!!! But hey, you're used to the chaos. You're actually pretty calm, cool and collected in the face of adversity compared to others who haven't worked in hospo. 

That's what employers are looking for.

You're dealing with all sorts of people

You can literally go from one customer singing your praises and sliding you a $50 tip to someone abusing you because there are no croissants left. Having customer service skills basically means adapting to each interaction. Being able to communicate with all types of people is a trait of an emotionally intelligent person, and everyone wants to hire that person.

Not to mention, the people you work with will all range from slack to lowkey OCD, shy to doesn't-shut-up. Since working in hospo is all about teamwork, you're constantly figuring out how to get stuff done alongside your ragtag colleagues. 

You've been humbled 

Yeah, we talked about how you've dealt with all sorts of people, but I think this one deserves its own point.

First things first, the customer is always right, right? Even when they're so obviously wrong. Putting customers' wants and needs first teaches humility pretty quickly. In another industry, you'd be a gun at making clients happy, empathising with their vision and striving to deliver. 

Hospitality workplaces are such fast-paced environments so you're bound to make mistakes. Taking the wrong order to a table, making the wrong coffee, smashing plates in front of everyone... The more you deal with these blunders with an audience, the better you are at brushing, even laughing them off, and remembering that the show must go on. This sort of humility in a person is so so so hireable.

And of course, there's so much more

You know how to multitask and work with a team. You're no stranger to stress and you have mighty endurance - I mean, eight hours at a time, on your feet on a Saturday deserves a medal. You've learned worth ethics and have training experience - y'know, like when you had to train all the newbies.

Hospitality hands transferable skills to you on a silver platter (no pun intended). Just the other day, my brother went for a huge job. Unlike all the candidates, he had no experience. But he was hired. Why? His manager literally said, "I can see the hospitality experience radiating off you - you're humble, eager to learn, and can communicate openly." 

Never underestimate the things you learn from hospitality. Never underestimate it as experience for any other industry.