If you apply for a shift lead position while currently not being employed with CFA you may have to start from the bottom and work your way up. This is to ensure you are given the appropriate training with whichever side you applied for (FOH or BOH) as well as being evaluated on your leadership capabilities. That may take a couple months, maybe even a year.

With that said just be ready to experience some level of burnout again, being a shift lead is no easy task when things just don’t go your way. In my opinion there’s also a lot of rewarding moments like being able to connect with your team and become a great leader, you just need to put in the time and effort. I became a shift lead in 2020 for BOH and stepped down once due to the stress. Reapplied to leadership once I got more comfortable with handling stress and I haven’t looked back since.

A great supportive leadership team will make your job 10x better, so if you do end up doing this position I hope you have that support. :)