Hey this is the 100th post, but don’t read it.

Well don’t read it if you expect it to be entertaining or funny (that means that the Recruiting Animal can go back to his cave.) Nope this post is going to be about succeeding at your job. Most people have figured out that I work as an executive recruiter in the restaurant industry, even if they haven’t stopped to read the title of the blog. So most of the time my advice is targeted toward restaurant professionals and today is no exception. However, as I was reminded by Tim Totten from Final Embrace, many ideas and practices in business are universal, so there may be some nuggets of advice that you can use regardless of your industry.

If you are a restaurant professional I don’t have to tell you what how long the hours are, how late you have to work, and how difficult finding great help is. For those of you who don’t know anything about the restaurant business or haven’t worked in the industry the hours are very long – averaging 60 or more hours per week and when management shortages occur hours can stretch up to and exceed 100. Many restaurants are open late at night and require managers to be there until all closing procedures and clean up are done. It isn’t uncommon for employees to be working 2 hours after the restaurant has been closed to the public. And many people who don’t work in the business can easily evaluate the kind of employees that are available in the talent pool, just by seeing who we have working in the restaurants now. The picture that I’m trying to paint is one that is realistic, if not bleak. Restaurant work is hard, especially for management.

But, there is a bright side to the bleakness, at least as far as helping one advance one’s own career. Because the work is hard, approaching undesirable, it means that there isn’t a flood of competition for just a few spots. In fact the opposite is true. There is a critical shortage of really talented management to go around and the need is growing all the time… as more and more restaurants are built. And the lack of competition will help some managers advance to higher levels more rapidly than they could in other industries.
A year or so ago, I was having a telephone conversation with a very successful multi-unit manager who was then a Director of more than 50 Burger Kings. We were talking about what it takes to succeed as a manager and to get promoted. Almost simultaneously we both said:

The key to getting promoted is two things. First show up to work when you are supposed to – don’t be sick, don’t have excuses, don’t try to weasel out of being responsible to your employer for the hours you are expected to work. Second, do your job – do the paperwork, do the management, turn reports in on time, take care of every element of the job, not just the parts that you like.

That’s it, those two things. In the restaurant industry, people who do those two things will have a long career which will be filled with opportunities for new positions of increased responsibility. Those people who don’t do those two things, will be the ones that are suddenly looking for a new job. If you are looking for restaurant jobs, check out our corporate website at www.cecsearch.com. If you are thinking about how to create some strength in your personal brand visit JibberJobber and sign up for a free account.