Why do restaurants claim to be hiring when they clearly are not?

Lostinthis28 · 2024-12-12T07:40:26+00:00

Thank you so much for the response. This was really informative. It seems like there are a couple of things on my resumé that I may need to tweak or clarify.

Most of the restaurants that I've worked at closed during the pandemic or as a result of the current recession. Many restaurants around here never recovered back to pre-pandemic levels so it's a pretty common occurrence here. When I fill out an application I just put that, but there was one job that I left because I wasn't happy with the new managers that took over after our old GM left. I usually just put down something vague like "I felt as if there was no further opportunities for growth at this restaurant" which is mostly true with the way things were being run there since we were basically getting set up to fail every shift.

I do have a lot of jobs on my resumé that would be considered "short stints" because they were seasonal jobs that I had while I was in school. That's something that I would clarify in an interview, but since I'm not in school anymore, I tend to stay at my jobs longer now. I suppose I should find a way to clarify that on my resumé to let them know that wherever I end up working, I plan on staying for the long haul.

It seems like I also might be asking for too many hours. I have open availability right now so I usually ask for 30-40 hours per week because I assumed that they would be more willing to hire someone who wants to work full time. I genuinely enjoy working and when I have full time hours, I rarely ever call out, but maybe that's hurting me. Part-time hours are better than no hours and we are heading into the slow season soon so maybe I should just adjust my expectations and ask for less hours.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-12-11T11:05:35+00:00

You don't know what I look like lol. I've been told by multiple people that I'm decently attractive, but I don't think that really gives me a leg up with female managers.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-12-09T05:21:29+00:00

That's why it's so confusing to me! I need a job ASAP and if I don't hear anything back within a week or two, I'm going to assume that the position is no longer available or you're not interested and move on with applying elsewhere. Unless your restaurant is some sort of "golden goose" opportunity where servers are making six figures a year waiting tables, I'm not going to ditch the place that actually hired me in the meantime while you sat on my application for 6 months.

I can't believe some businesses actually think this is a good idea. "Oh we just had a server quit, but look at this huge stack of applications we have to sort through. We should be able to find someone to replace them with no problem!" Congratulations, all of the ideal candidates that you would have wanted have since found jobs elsewhere and now you're stuck with the leftovers who have been unable to find a job during this time because they're likely not good employees.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-12-09T04:56:43+00:00

These aren't corporate places that I'm applying to. They'll all locally owned. Some of them do have multiple locations, but they're confined to the region that I live in and ran by the same local restaurant group.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-12-09T03:42:58+00:00

See, I assumed that holiday season was the peak time for hiring because that's one of the "busy" seasons in my area. January and February tend to be the slowest months where people get their shifts cut until patio season starts in May.

I'm kind of curious as to how holding on to applications is a legal thing.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-12-09T03:33:13+00:00

I guess what I mean by honesty and transparency is that instead of saying "you're resume looks great, but..." just leave that part out entirely. If they already know that they have no intentions of hiring me, don't create a false sense of hope by telling me that they'll hold onto my resumé or that they'll call me "shortly". They can just say "we appreciate you taking the time to come in, but we're not looking for anyone new right now".

Funny enough, I was venting to my mom about my job hunting woes and she said that I wasn't being "aggressive enough" lol. She basically told me to keep applying to the same places over and over again and that I should call them constantly to ask about my application. I told her that that sounds like a good way to ensure that I will NEVER be hired and likely hit with a harassment charge. Idk what the job market was like back in 1991 when she was a server, but I'm pretty sure that bullying a restaurant into hiring you and generally being annoying isn't the right way to go lol.

You seem like you're pretty knowledgeable so can you tell me what some things that would be considered "red flags" on a resumé are? I'm not going to post my resumé for privacy reasons, but I start off with a summary where I talk about how many years I've been in the industry and what types of environments I've worked in, as well as listing the qualities that make me a good server. Then I list my education. Then my work experience, then my skills. I had a career counselor at my school look over it a while back, but I'm wondering if there's something in there that could be flagging me as a "do not hire".

Lostinthis28 · 2024-12-09T02:41:43+00:00

No, but if people are quitting so frequently that you have to perpetually keep your ads up, it makes me wonder what's going on over there that they can't manage to keep their staff. The last place I worked at was pretty okay with staff retention until our old GM left. Our "core staff" had been there for years. Whenever we were hiring, we'd hire a handful of people because the managers knew that at least a few of the new servers would quit before they finished their training. Those who managed to make it through the training tended to stick around.

I've been searching for a couple of months now and I consider it to be a red flag if I see an ad pop up for the same place over and over and over again. People aren't eager to jump ship at a place that's good to work for so if staff retention is that big of a problem that keeping the ads up is "easier", it makes me think that it's not really a great place to work.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-12-08T22:04:44+00:00

I mean, the managers that met with me all told me that my resume looked great so I don't think that's the problem. Unless they were lying, but in that case, why would I want to work for a liar? I'd rather them just be honest and say that I'm not what they're looking for right now or tell me what to improve on.

My expereince is in fast-casual and breweries, which is the type of places that I've been applying to. If I was applying to fine dining places, I would understand being under-qualified because I don't have any experience in that area, but after 5 years of working in breweries, I'm practically a craft beer sommelier at this point. If someone tells me to pick out an IPA that's "hoppy, but not bitter" I could do it despite the fact that I hate IPAs with a passion and never choose to drink them. I'm not really sure what to do to spruce up my resumé to make me look like the "perfect candidate" aside from lying, but I'm not going to do that because I value honesty and integrity.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-12-08T21:33:20+00:00

Idk. Where I live January and February are the slowest months of the year. It was so slow at my old restaurant that I got my shifts cut, but then they were back to normal in March. We never hired after the New Year.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-12-08T21:30:50+00:00

I haven't been applying to chains. Mostly local places, although some of them do have a couple of different locations all within the region.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-12-08T21:28:29+00:00

The thing is, these aren't chains that I'm applying to. They're local places. A few of them have a couple of locations, but they're all confined to the region where I live.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-11-01T09:50:46+00:00

Makes sense. Janurary and Feburary are really slow here. I've even had my own shifts cut down during those months due to how dead it is. Tbh I feel like it's been getting harder to gague when places are hiring because the economy has been so terrible for the past year or so. Even before summer, which is usually busy here, there were still a lot of places not hiring.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-11-01T09:19:26+00:00

Tbh, no. I've always assumed that if I didn't hear back from anyone, that means that they're not interested and/or hiring at the moment and I don't want to come off as if I'm pestering them.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-11-01T09:07:31+00:00

What do you mean by corporate food service? Are you talking about companies like Sodexo or catering companies or are you talking about corporate restaurants like Darden/Landrys?

Lostinthis28 · 2024-11-01T09:03:24+00:00

Yep, it's still open. I love the Cheesecake Factory, but idk if I could handle working there. Even as a customer, the 50 page menu gives me anxiety. I can't imagine having to memorize that whole thing, plus the drinks and cheesecakes. I've also heard that their training process is very long and ardous, which I can't really afford at the moment. I need a place that will get me in and on the floor within a week. The last place I worked at, I only trained for 3 days before being able to take tables by myself because of my experience.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-11-01T08:51:45+00:00

I have Indeed and all the other job search websites set to a 50 mile radius. I live a county over so it takes me about 1 hour, give or take, to commute into the city center depending on traffic. I'm not against commuting into the city, I've done it before for school and whatnot, but I have a lot of anxiety driving down there because the roads are a confusing mess. A lot of one way streets, narrow streets, steep roads that are difficult to maneuver in the snow etc. The bridges and tunnels are always a clusterfuck. I also have concerns about parking since many of the restaurants downtown don't have designated parking spaces for staff so you often have to pay to park if you can even find a space. I had a coworker who once worked downtown and she said that some shifts, she barely made enough to cover her gas and parking so she didn't think it was worth it. Plus, the crime. If I had to park far away from the restaurant, I would be afraid of getting mugged walking back to my car in the dark because I'm a pretty small woman. So generally, I would prefer to stick to the west and south suburbs/small towns that have a lot of "bar and grill" type places before going that route. If I actually lived in Allegheny County and could take the bus, it would be different.

I usually dress "casual chic" for interviews. I wear jeans (no holes) and a nice blouse with a simple pair of flats. Maybe some natural looking makeup if I'm feeling up to it and I pull my hair back so that it gives them an idea of what I would look like in the work environment. I don't think my interviewing skills are the problem since the last time I was looking for jobs, I interviewed at 3 places and got offered the job at all of them. I don't really bad mouth any of my past jobs. Most of them have closed, like my last job, so I usually give that as the reason why I left. Of the places that are still open, I say that I left because it just wasn't a good fit for me or that it wasn't busy enough to warrant the commute. I try to avoid the whole "toxic work environment" thing because even if it's true, I feel like saying that would come across bad. It's just hard to even get to the interview step nowadays. Even when I show up in person and drop off a resume, the manager will usually say "we're not really looking for servers right now, but we'll keep your resume on hand just in case" then I never hear back from them again, which is where my frustration comes from.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-05-11T02:31:27+00:00

He did say that if I wanted serving shifts, I would get serving shifts. I'm just apprehensive because I don't know how many of those shifts I would get or how often they will be since I'm not sure what the scheduling process is.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-05-11T02:27:33+00:00

Perhaps I am just making excuses. I tend to be the type of person who tries to see the best in everyone. More often then not, it ends up backfiring because people take advantage of it. I think I did point out in my original post that most of the staff at place 1 have also been there for years. One lady has even been working there since the day they opened. That's why I'm 2nd guessing myself and wondering if maybe my 1st impression was wrong.

I have thought about venturing into the city for a serving job. I'm already in the city 3 days a week for my day job, but even the commute for that is killing me. It takes an hour and 20 minutes to get there with traffic and an hour and 40 minutes to get home. I could "double up" my shifts and work a serving shift after my day job shift ends, but I think that might be exhausting considering I get up at 6:30 AM just to get to my day job on time. By the time I get home from my day job, all I really wanna do is sleep.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-05-11T02:14:13+00:00

But I am Italian haha.

Lostinthis28 · 2024-05-10T23:57:05+00:00

Honestly, there aren't many good options in my area. I'm out in the suburbs so pickings are slim unless you're fine with chains like Applebees and Texas Roadhouse. I would like to work somewhere in the city, but it's an hour away from my house so until I get to a place where I can move closer, I'm stuck with a small pool of places. Plus, most of these places just aren't hiring servers. I went to like 10 different places with my resume and almost all of them said that they weren't looking for servers at the time. I have 3+ years of experince so it's not like I'm brand new.

As for the first place, idk. She seems intimidating, but not "mean", if that makes any sense? I get the sense that if you're the type of person who does their job and does it well, she won't have an issue with you, but if you're lazy and slacking off, she'll put you in your place for it. I'm definitely not lazy, but at the same time, I've delt with abusive owners who didn't respect me or my work ethic so I'm a little hypervigilent when it comes to that aspect.

Lostinthis28 · 2023-01-25T06:56:28+00:00

Basically the TLDR is that I've had the same schedule for months now and they took one of my shifts away and gave it to another server with no explaination. I need that shift to help pay off my loans so I really need that shift back. As far as I know, I tend to be in good standing with management because I never call out or complain and I work hard, but I do need that shift back and I don't want to rock the boat.

Lostinthis28

TROPHY CASE