Got my first job waitressing;Terrified!

edelg

Hi, I've gotten a job as a banquet waitress at a hotel. This is my first job and I am absolutely terrified! I'm a bit shy but mostly I'm just scared that I'll be rubbish! Has anyone got any tips?

vixdname

If its your 1st job I'm betting your pretty young so if I were to give you some advise it would be as follows:

For the job your in, always turn up for work clean and presentable, you're the face of the hotel you're working for and the hotel will want you to represent them in a decent condition.

Listen exactly to what your duties will be during the course of your shift.
If you're not sure of anything when the jobs being shown to you, don't just nod your head and pretend you understand everything, don't be afraid to ask questions until you're 100% clear on whats expected of you.

As you get to know you're work colleagues, don't get involved in any bitching or back stabbing, at least until you can make you're own mind up on the people involved.

Always be willing to help out with something, even if its not within you're normal duties if the hotel are stuck, but don't be over bearing, it will look very good for you in front of management if you're willing to go that extra mile and believe me, management do notice these things and do take them into account when you are looking for a favour in return or promotion.

Stay on you toes, keep an eye out for situations that may need you to rectify them i.e. a spilt glass of drinks on a table, a knocked bottle etc etc.

You may come across a work colleague who is on the same level as you but may try and act as your senior, simply because they're there longer then you. Be polite at first and thank them for their direction but if it continues don't be afraid to let them know that you only take orders from your manger and not anyone else. - Always be assertive and polite until such a time as you have to be slightly more aggressive in how you talk to them.
Never let anyone bully you, there are laws against it and the hotel can find itself in hot water if you report it and they fail to act upon it.

Enjoy your work, you may come across some ignorant finger clicking clients who love to try and talk down to or belittle catering staff, you can approach this by being over nice to them and making them look stupid in front of their friends OR if its causing you offence, speak to your manager .
You're not being paid to be made little of or insulted.

I hope you get a few bits from the above and very best of luck to you in your new job.

Tipsy McSwagger

A lot of customers are assholes so try not let them get to you.

Lux23

Never be afraid to ask questions and you will be fine. Best of luck OP.

blinding

Listen very carefully to instructions. It can be a help if you can pretty much repeat(to yourself)
instructions that you are given.

The amount of times I have seen young people asking one another what the manager said/meant when the manager is gone is loads.

Tipsy McSwagger

Always show up on time and don't be an asshole. That's the best piece of advice you can get when you are starting your working life. Best of luck you will be flying it after a few days.

edelg

Thanks all! I have a training evening first! I just want to be competent at this job and hopefully come across as well as I can

edelg

Thanks all! I have a training evening first! I just want to be competent at this job and hopefully come across as well as I can

Konata

In addition to all the advice given here, I will also add a few waitressing specific ones:

Take things at your own pace (within reason!). By this, I mean don't try and be an expert waitress on your first week. You'll see other waitresses clearing every plate from a table in one go, or carrying a huge stack of glasses or something but DON'T feel like you have to do this too when you've only just started. Trust me, making a few trips to a table to collect all the plates looks a million times better than trying to take more than you can handle and dropping them all on the floor!

Some customers will treat you like everything wrong in their life is your fault but that's not everyone so just continue to be polite and courteous even when you want to slap them.

Don't try and resolve anything involving customers on your own that you don't 100% know the protocol for. If a customer has a complaint (outside of, this is cold/not what I ordered etc. - just bring it back to the kitchen in that case), ALWAYS get your manager or supervisor. Never offer them any sort of compensation (free drink, discount on the meal etc.) yourself. Similarly, if you're asked something about the food or whatever that you don't know the answer to (is this gluten free?), don't guess - just go and ask. Don't be afraid that this will annoy the customer or anything - they'll likely be more confident they're definitely getting the right answer.

Best of luck in any case! Just be polite, do what your told and ask questions if you're ever unsure and you'll likely be absolutely fine

Sideshow Mark

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

A lot of customers are assholes so try not let them get to you.

If you go into any customer facing role with this attitude it will become a self fulfilling prophecy and you'll never enjoy it. Enjoy chatting to people and getting to know them, both your colleagues and customers.

A very tiny proportion of people you'll come across are assholes, just be glad that you only have to deal with them for a few hours.

You described yourself as shy, which may be true, but no one you work with knows this, so you can be anything you like. You can be outgoing, personable and helpful if you want to be. You can always "fake it", because that's what most people are doing anyway, especially when starting out. Eventually it will come so naturally that you won't be faking it anymore.

Jawgap

First and most important piece of advice if you are going to be waiting tables......

........get comfy shoes. You are going to spend a lot of time on your feet so invest in decent, comfortable footwear.

After that what everyone else has said is pretty good advice. I'd also emphasise....

......be well groomed, clean and presentable - look like a waitress and everyone will believe you are! Plus go with your parents' ideas of groomed, clean and presentable, not your mates.

.....ask questions if you're not sure

....if you are working a shift or roster be early - your colleagues will worship the ground you walk on if you turn up and are ready to work even 15 / 20 minutes early if it means they get to go those few minutes early

....take whatever shifts are going even if you only get very short notice - managers etc will remember you helping them out of a hole when it comes time to divvying out the handy jobs / shifts

....you'll make mistakes, but don't worry most customers won't really care or will laugh it off, and the ones that make a fuss are not worth bothering about

....the hospitality industry is a brilliant place to start your working life - the learning curve is steep, but the skills etc you pick up in respect of how to deal with people and problems will serve you well.

....there is a lot of banter in the industry - try and ignore it. If it gets too much or crosses a line talk to someone you can trust and listen to their advice

....finally, take this advice or don't - but my experience (admittedly from way back when) is that you'll enjoy it, there's usually a good social life attached to it (you end up socialising at strange times and strange days!) but think carefully before having a relationship with anyone at work until your feet are well and truly under the table and you're up the pecking order a bit