To develop a career in the catering industry, especially in a restaurant with international standing, job seekers have to prepare to meet customers and work with colleagues in a multicultural setting.
Dynamic & International Culture
Zuma, a restaurant providing contemporary Japanese cuisine and is ranked 51st in Restaurant Magazine's S. Pellegrino's World's Best Restaurants Awards 2009, has branches in different countries and its Hong Kong branch, opened in 2007, employs staff from all over the world.
Julie Lee, Administration & Human Resources Manager of Zuma, says, "Zuma is a dynamic and international restaurant, and we look for staff who are creative and proactive." She adds that personal qualities are essential because staff have to fit the culture of Zuma.
Three Ps
"We look for 3Ps ¡V personality, passion and being proactive ¡V in job candidates," Lee says. "Since staff have to work as a team, it is very important to possess teamwork spirit and to be proactive. For example, our customers come from different countries, and when frontline staff find that they speak the same native language as a customer, they will initiate to help other staff to serve that customer." Lee mentions that language skills are also important since staff have to meet customers of different nationalities.
In meeting and serving customers, Chi-li Ma, Waitress, having joined Zuma for a few months, says that the most important is to wear a smiling face. ¡§There may be customers who are demanding and have lots of requests, but if my services can satisfy them, then I am successful.¡¨ Enjoying meeting different kinds of people every day rather than sitting at the office, Ma says that job seekers need to have a strong interest in the job and be willing to learn as there is so much to learn in this industry.
Wasabi Lam, Sushi Commis, also has to meet customers because the kitchen at Zuma is an open one that allows interaction between chefs and customers. Lam says that he has to know the products well because customers usually ask chefs for recommendation. He also says that there are a lot to learn even if he has been working at Zuma since it was established in Hong Kong. "Making sushi is not easy. There are lots of procedures, from making the rice roll to keeping the freshness of the fish. It needs much time for one to be an expert in sushi making."
Hands-on Trial Shift
To find out if a job candidate is suitable or not, Zuma arranges, in addition to an interview, a trial shift for the candidate to work with existing staff to serve customers for a few hours. "They can find out what it is really like when working in the industry and in our restaurant," Lee comments. In this way, job seekers can find out if the job is what they expect, and the management can find out if the candidate is suitable for the post by observing their performance. Lee says that after this exercise, the success rate of hiring the right talent has become higher.
More Staff for High Season
In catering industry, junior staff are in the highest demand, such as junior cook, waiter and bartender. In early July this year, Zuma has already started to hire new staff to meet the expected high season later this year. Lee says that Zuma did not implement layoffs or mandatory no-paid leave even during the financial tsunami since end of last year. "As we foresee booming business in the near future, we have to further increase the number of staff."
In addition to experienced candidates, Zuma hires fresh graduates to take up junior positions because as Lee points out, "they are new blood bringing a lot of energy to existing staff." Lee advises fresh graduates to view the job as their career instead of merely a job and engage in it with dedication and a willingness to take up responsibility.
Promising Career Prospects
Lee says that Zuma usually hires staff a few months in advance as they take into account training provided to staff. The period of training is long because the food products provided by Zuma are different from those in other restaurants. Product knowledge, cooking process, pronunciation of Japanese names of dishes are covered in the training conducted by the head and assistant chefs.
Career advancement at Zuma is based on work performance. Junior staff will be promoted to supervisor to assistant manager and then manager. An internal assessment is conducted every year on product knowledge, skills and teamwork performance of staff who have potential to be promoted. In addition, customers' letters of compliments to frontline staff will be counted in the appraisal for promotion.
Source: JobsDB HK
Source of 3rd photo: Zuma
Updated: 9 October 2009