Sunday, February 3, 2008 at 12:03PMJob Boards vs Restaurant Recruiters
In the beginning stages of a job search, most restaurant managers are often frustrated by the lack of response they receive from blindly sending resumes to the published markets, amazed and confused that a professional with their impressive background and qualifications could be consistently ignored or overlooked.
To better understand why this too often happens, let’s follow the typical path of a restaurant manager job opening at a given restaurant concept.
A job opening is available, the restaurant's Human Resources department has prepared the job order and candidate specs. Both corporate and independent recruiters are searching for the right candidate. The internal recruiters are provided a detailed list of position prerequisites and they will (depending upon the sensitivity of the position) post the opening on an internal job board, in the public "Careers" section of their website and also work with confidential executive restaurant recruiters.
Many times the company will post career opportunities on the large public boards such as Monster, Career Builder, Hot Jobs, etc. Due to the efficiency of internet job search engines, major restaurant companies usually receive up to 20,000 resumes for a single job opening. Statistically, only 10% of those resumes will be read by a person. If it is a restaurant executive recruiter posting the job, around 500 resumes will be received and read.
Why Your Job Search Can Be Ineffective If You Lack the Proper Help:
The first filters used by the restaurant concept's HR department are typically:
1) Preferred Background vs Non-Preferred Background (two stacks are made).
2) Employed vs Unemployed. All the candidates with the right experience from the first stack are now separated into two new stacks. Candidates who are both Unemployed and have a Non-Preferred Background are completely ignored. It is unfortunate that when a job search leads restaurant managers to apply for opportunities on the internet, years of career expertise, professional accomplishments and positive impact on employer profits are largely ignored.
Rather than marketing your value and service directly to the company by chasing publicly posted jobs and ending up in the wrong "stack", like 99% of the workforce does, mindlessly pointing and clicking on the internet, a restaurant executive recruiter will market you directly to the key decision makers in each targeted company. When dealing with opportunities from their client restaurant companies, a good restaurant recruiter will always perform both written and verbal introductions to assist you in getting both feet in the door. The hiring managers already have a sense they know something about you even before contacting you for the first time.
Restaurant Executive Recruiters can be highly effective because they reach the hiring managers with your resume 100% of the time and work for you, keeping your best career interests in mind at all times during your search for new opportunities.
Brian Bruce, author of multiple articles published on many websites and several industry trade publications, has been cited in multiple news stories as an authority in Restaurant Executive Recruiting. He's an Executive Restaurant Recruiter with Premier Solutions in Oklahoma City and Blogger. He can be reached at 877-948-4001, by email at HeadHunterBrian@gmail.com , or on his blog at HeadHunterBrian.com .
Reader Comments (3)
Sorry for the cynicism, but why am I not surprised that a recruiter feels you should use a recruiter. In my experience, the success of either hinges on the candidate's situation.
If you are between jobs, a recruiter can weed through the hurdles, and get you interviews quick, thus rushing you back to work. Not to mention they can help spin why you are out of a job.
However, my experience, and those of friends as well say that the better success lies within job boards. If you have the luxury of time because you are currently employed, often the better opportunities exist on the board, as some companies avoid recruiters altogether. And, you will find, recruiters advertise on those boards as well, so you are not missing much.
Of course, you still must aggressively pursue the potential employer. One company said they do not look at an emailed resume until the candidate has called following up. They look for some level of effort, not just a carpet-bombing of resumes.
Ultimately, the decision is yours, but I have never accepted a position found by a recruiter, and the two best jobs I have ever had came about from my own research on Monster, with companies where they do not use recruiters.
Jeff,
Of course this recruiter believes in the efficacy of using a recruiter's services. I believe that what I do provides a valuable service, both to restaurant clients who reach candidates they otherwise would not have had the opportunity to, and to restaurant managers who may not have been able to get an audience with a decision-maker otherwise.
While preparation for the interview process is part of the services a recruiter provides, helping a candidate "spin" why they are out of a job is not. Not for this recruiter anyway.
Jeff, I'm glad you have found success using job boards, as many have. The path of the typical resume submitted to a job board, however, does not change and many quality candidates are overlooked without adequate representation.
It is noteworthy to mention at this point that, by using a recruiter to introduce you directly to the decision-maker, with a certain amount of pre-qualification, you gain several advantages over a candidate who blindly submits their resume. That candidate has no method but hope to receive any feedback or update and can only follow up in a limited capacity. Also worth mentioning is that the service of a recruiter comes at no cost to the candidate.
Jeff, I appreciate your comments and wish you well.
Excellent post Brian,
I have learned many useful resources from your blog. Thanks for sharing this useful information and hope to read more from you.
As any restaurant manager who has ever been out of work knows, finding a job is no easy task. In general management of a restaurant, the restaurant manager plays a vital role. The restaurant managers undertake the responsibilities of the whole restaurant business. They manage with all departments for the smooth running of business. They handle a huge number of information at the same time during their work hours.
Restaurant managers, regular task would involve hiring staff, making work schedules, overseeing all operation including preparation of food, addressing the complaints from customers, taking care of supplies, designing menus, maintain cleanliness and hygiene, and filling up for anyone in any section or branch of the restaurant. Their task hours may not be fixed; most managers prefer to put themselves in busy hours, but the scope of their task is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
As the customers might sometimes be very irrational, restaurant managers must also be very patient. They should be able to listen and take their views gracefully. The restaurant managers must also be very bold when the condition arises to be able to accept mistakes – overall to do everything to make the customers happy at the end. A happy customer is a almost guaranteed return business.
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