Cammie writes:
I’m relocating about a thousand miles away, and your article on cover letter FAQs is absolutely great! Just wanted to thank you. I followed all of your tips on cover letters to a T. I’m looking to fill a waitressing postion in Portland, OR. If you have any advice on how to land restaurant jobs, specifically key qualities they look for, that’d be greatly appreciated.
The Career Doctor responds:
Hiring for waitressing and other restaurant jobs tends to be a very face-to-face activity, so you may not have a lot of luck until you are in your new city. If you have a cover letter, you most likely have a resume. Not all candidates for serving positions will have a resume, so if you go from restaurant to restaurant dropping off resumes, you may have an advantage.
To try to have an effect on prospective employers that is similar to the effect you’d have face to face, consider creating an online portfolio or LinkedIn profile. Consider including photos of you in waitressing situations.
The key quality employers would be looking for in a waitress would be customer-service skills, so emphasize those.
