The hospitality market is expected to reach $6,715.27 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 10.2%.

The growth in the hospitality market is mainly due to the companies rearranging their operations and recovering from the COVID-19 impact,

In the hospitality industry, one of the important segments is food and beverages – which includes restaurants. With the rapid forecasted growth in hospitality, and with over 15 million Americans working in eateries, it’s one of the most in-demand professions.

Obviously, as with all other jobs, seeking a position in a restaurant requires you to have talents and skills that you can include on your resume. You should also mention the soft skills that are vital for you to work better and become a well-rounded employee.

Top 12 skills if you are seeking a job in the restaurant industry

Here’s a rundown of the top skills every professional must have if they want to take up a position in an elite restaurant.

1. Safety awareness and certifications

Contamination of food, spills, overcooking, or undercooking, safety while using commercial kitchen appliances, allergies to certain food — all these are health and safety measures in restaurants.

It's dangerous to misunderstand one of them in a certain function. Numerous restaurant personnel are required to obtain certification in either one or multiple areas, or should opt to do so.

Recognized global or national certifications, or a local recognised restaurant training courses are all examples. If you've done something like this before, mention the courses you took, the credential you earned, or the name of the institute for further authenticity.

2. Technical knowledge

Employees should have proficiency in a range of various software and technology tools in the ever-growing field of restaurant tech. The technology used depends entirely on the function, however these are some of the most common examples:

• Servers, front-facing employees, and on-the-desk staff are likely to be familiar with point-of-sale aka POS systems, scheduling software, digital ordering interfaces, and possibly booking software. Knowledge of a restaurant POS system is vital in the current market. This software diversifies your offering with delivery and no-contact online ordering, adjusts the eatery’s floor plan on the app, enables buyers to use different payment methods, among other benefits.

• Inventory control systems and kitchen-displaying tech are commonly used by chefs and back-of-the-eatery workers.

• Accounting software, review sites management, and other responsibilities — managers must manage everything.

3. Teamwork

Being in a restaurant fosters a cooperative, family-style environment for both you and your employees.

This leads to a deep knowledge of and admiration for teamwork when combined with an unbiased view and a superb set of professionals. Any restaurant that may benefit from this skill would be delighted.

Positive teamwork fosters strong community spirit and increases employee satisfaction, which can help extend a restaurant employee's average tenure of less than a couple of months and reduce replacement costs.

“Working well in groups and teams requires some understanding of how teams and groups function, and the way that familiarity changes group dynamics.” Read more Team-Working, Groups and Meetings.

4. Patience

We're not going to keep you waiting for this one. Patience is a necessary ability in the restaurant industry.

In any hospitality job, you should be physically and psychologically patient to deal with angry customers, co-worker mistakes, and long time spans without significant break times – all while keeping a happy face and an inviting demeanor.

Keep in mind that the consumer is always right! When things get heated, keeping your calm guarantees you don't make things worse by accident, and it also helps agitated consumers save face and gather themselves.

5. Multitasking

You're never doing just a single thing in a restaurant job, whether you're trying to prepare multiple servings in the cooking area or welcoming different groups at your tables.

This is the reason why multitasking counts among one of the important restaurant skills to be put on your CV.

Waiting staff, bartenders, and managers must all handle a large number of customer requests. The difficulty is to devote yourself to everyone without losing track of the others.

Multitasking isn't for the faint hearted but, once mastered, it boosts productivity and efficiency without sacrificing the visitor experience.

6. Communication skills

If you really want to run a restaurant or work in one, you must be able to communicate well. This ability has two aspects, both of which are critical:

Staff Communication — With staff misunderstandings, the always-moving elements in a restaurant might turn even more jumbled.

Servers must know how to alert other servers when a table is ready, as well as how to inform the kitchen staff that the person at table five has a serious intolerance for dairy products.

Meanwhile, the back-of-house staff must know how to inform waitstaff that the order has been 86'ed in order to prevent an uncomfortable encounter with the lady who is currently disheartened that she will not be able to get the catfish she craves.

It's crucial to understand and follow these good staff communication strategies and channels.

Guest Communication: Guests must feel welcomed and cherished, and it is the responsibility of every staff to ensure that this message is conveyed effectively.

What appears to be insignificant – such as tonality, body language, or choice of words – can have a significant impact on a guest's perception, and restaurant staff must respect and appreciate this.

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7. Detail-oriented

It's your responsibility to find out that the consumer who left without even touching his plate was probably dissatisfied with his meal and to enquire if there was something you could have done about it.

It's your obligation to inquire about the waiter's error in adding jalapenos to the burger order when you're very sure he wanted cucumbers.

It's all aspects of the profession — double-checking orders, remembering to deliver that additional requirement to the cooking area, and adding the last garnish prior to it being embedded in your memory.

8. Speed

Efficient service leads to customer loyalty. It also boosts table turnover time, allowing a restaurant to serve more customers every shift.

Being quick without becoming aggressive is the key to learning this restaurant talent. When a guest's plate is prepared too quickly, the meal's look and quality may be compromised.

Arriving at a guest's table and immediately inquiring what they wish to eat is seen as being pushy. You've discovered the restaurant pace sweet spot when you strike a balance between aggressiveness and laziness.

9. Mentorship

With so many new faces coming into or out of the profession, there's always the chance for a veteran player to show a novice the basics.

A satisfying aspect of any work is mentoring. A mentorship position in a restaurant, whether formal or informal, can quickly become a credential for a career as a head chef or team coach.

It's also personally satisfying, as taking on the job makes people more responsible, accountable, and involved in the team.

10. Trust

In this sector, career success is heavily reliant on others. The back-end team must have faith in the front-facing team to send the correct orders and to clarify any changes.

Front-house staff must have faith in the back-of-house staff to consistently prepare delicious meals with no errors. To keep the firm running well, management must have faith in everybody to take their job seriously.

The trick is always to presume good intentions. If something doesn't feel right about a colleague who doesn't appear to be on his or her game, it could be a personal issue rather than laziness.

As a result, if something is harming your work efficiency, you ought to be willing to trust your supervisor to explain what's going on so you don't come off as an incompetent or inefficient professional.

11. Stress management

Anybody who has worked in an eatery even for an hour understands how difficult it can be. Without warning, a shift might go from a slow evening to a queue out the door, and you must be prepared to grin and give excellent results in any case.

The ability to maintain your cool and provide excellent service regardless of the conditions aids in the development of the vital talent of stress management. You won't last three seconds in an eatery without it.

12. Mathematical calculations

The capacity to do fast mental calculation is one of the most crucial yet underappreciated restaurant abilities. Before anyone without restaurant experience finishes reading this sentence, cashiers and servers can probably tell you that the change for a $5 check for a $10 bill produces how many dimes and pennies.

Workers in the back of the house must check current orders on a regular basis to ensure there aren't too many burgers on the barbeque or enough turkey pieces in the fryer. And you thought you'd never use math again once you graduated high school.

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Conclusion

In spite of the fact that many people work in restaurants, the restaurant industry has an infamously huge turnover and often lacks specialized training and specialization.

Those who take the initiative to grow and practice new restaurant skills stand out among the sea of restaurant employees and have a long, happy, and good profession in the culinary industry.

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