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Salary Expectation Assistance

DixieAddo

Hi!

I am a EU citizen who has recently moved to Ireland for work. I am looking to see if some of you on this forum could advise on my upcoming salary negotiation.

My job offer is for a Restaurant Manager to run a popular fast food restaurant in the heart of city centre, Dublin. The role will include running all aspects of the restaurant, from business operations to HR and marketing. I am expecting the hours of work to be over 40 - most likely 45-50/week.

Here is my dilemma - I am quite unfamiliar with the industry standard salary in Dublin for this type of position. Therefore, if I am required to throw out the first number, I will find some difficulty in this.

In regards to my experience, I have 7 years of customer service and business industry experience. However, it is important to note that much of this is outside of the restaurant sector. My restaurant experience is about 3.5 years worth, with 2 years being at the supervisory/managerial levels. I am well educated with a variety of international business degrees/qualifications.

With a basic understanding of my experience level and the job I am considering, can someone advise the range of acceptable salary I should be considering?

Thank you in advance!

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Comments

charlietheminxx

In the fast food industry you're more likely to be paid an hourly rate than a salary. You should be on about €12 to €15 per hour depending on the company.

DixieAddo

charlietheminxx wrote: »

In the fast food industry you're more likely to be paid an hourly rate than a salary. You should be on about €12 to €15 per hour depending on the company.

This job is essentially a General Manager position managing the entire establishment. I know for a fact that it is salary based, not hourly. From what I've seen, it seems mainly shift managers end up on the hourly pay.

DixieAddo

I would also note that this is not with a large corporation (McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks, etc). This is a fast-paced, privately owned business.

seamus

http://www.payscale.com/research/IE/Job=Restaurant_Manager/Salary

If you assume 45 hours a week, €30k a year, you're looking at around €13.90 per hour.

You're pretty experienced, so maybe go with €14-€15 per hour, €30k - €33k per year.

DixieAddo

seamus wrote: »

If you assume 45 hours a week, €30k a year, you're looking at around €13.90 per hour.

You're pretty experienced, so maybe go with €14-€15 per hour, €30k - €33k per year.

Thanks. I did see that, but I was having a hard time deciding how big influencing factors were, such as private v. corporate, fast food v. fine dining, education levels, etc.

on_my_oe

If it's a corporate in house restaurant canteen, I suggest you can expect a salary of €32,000-€35,000 including 10% bonus. Make sure you get very clear KPIs for the bonus.

The_Conductor

DixieAddo wrote: »

Thanks. I did see that, but I was having a hard time deciding how big influencing factors were, such as private v. corporate, fast food v. fine dining, education levels, etc.

Experience is key here- not educational factors (unless the education is directly relevant to trade in question- and even then it would have to be seen to be married with commensurate experience).

I'd also question your assumption that as manager you'd be doing a 40-45 hour week- the only restaurant type posts with these hours- tend to be in fast-food sector (and even then, they'd be backroom posts, probably offsite). Its far from unusual for restaurant managers to do 60-65 hour weeks, a significant portion of which may be antisocial in nature (start in the afternoon- working through to early morning)- however, a lot of that may depend on your level of interaction with the staff, and whether you have deputies you can share responsibilities with etc etc

Family run institutions- tend to be the least forgiving- and most demanding of employers- and it can be difficult, even as manager to be seen as anything but an outsider. Sometimes you can find yourself having to justify fairly innocuous low level stuff- that rightly bears no oversight.

Corporate entities- despite their reputations- can be very good employers.

A very good question to ask prospective employers in this sector- is what their staff turnover in the previous year was- typically it may be as high as 200% in the fast food sector- but tends to be vastly lower in the private restaurant trade- typically between 30-35%- if the staff turnover appears improbabily high- its an indication of unhappy staff- which normally means there are core reasons why people are leaving- and be damn careful when looking at the position- ask probing questions.

Fast food joints- totally contrarily to what you might imagine- tend to quite well paid in Ireland- if you're willing to put in the hours. Promotional opportunities can also be better than you'd imagine- some of the larger chains have specific targets to promote internally instead of recruiting externally- and it works for them..........

Will you earn more in the private restaurant trade as a manager- than in the fast food sector- quite possibly, not. Its wholly a different job though- you may find it more satisfying- though from experience I'd argue that the hours are a double edged sword- and poorly recompensed.

You have a lot of leeway over your hours working for a chain- you do not have the same leeway in a purely private context.

DixieAddo

The_Conductor wrote: »

Experience is key here- not educational factors (unless the education is directly relevant to trade in question- and even then it would have to be seen to be married with commensurate experience).

I'd also question your assumption that as manager you'd be doing a 40-45 hour week- the only restaurant type posts with these hours- tend to be in fast-food sector (and even then, they'd be backroom posts, probably offsite). Its far from unusual for restaurant managers to do 60-65 hour weeks, a significant portion of which may be antisocial in nature (start in the afternoon- working through to early morning)- however, a lot of that may depend on your level of interaction with the staff, and whether you have deputies you can share responsibilities with etc etc

Family run institutions- tend to be the least forgiving- and most demanding of employers- and it can be difficult, even as manager to be seen as anything but an outsider. Sometimes you can find yourself having to justify fairly innocuous low level stuff- that rightly bears no oversight.

Corporate entities- despite their reputations- can be very good employers.

A very good question to ask prospective employers in this sector- is what their staff turnover in the previous year was- typically it may be as high as 200% in the fast food sector- but tends to be vastly lower in the private restaurant trade- typically between 30-35%- if the staff turnover appears improbabily high- its an indication of unhappy staff- which normally means there are core reasons why people are leaving- and be damn careful when looking at the position- ask probing questions.

Fast food joints- totally contrarily to what you might imagine- tend to quite well paid in Ireland- if you're willing to put in the hours. Promotional opportunities can also be better than you'd imagine- some of the larger chains have specific targets to promote internally instead of recruiting externally- and it works for them..........

Will you earn more in the private restaurant trade as a manager- than in the fast food sector- quite possibly, not. Its wholly a different job though- you may find it more satisfying- though from experience I'd argue that the hours are a double edged sword- and poorly recompensed.

You have a lot of leeway over your hours working for a chain- you do not have the same leeway in a purely private context.

Very thorough and well thought through reply - thanks! This is a fast food restaurant (technically), but is also privately owned. I'm accustomed to working very long hours, so that's not an issue for me; they did spend a lot of time emphasising that they are fully compliant with EU work law hours... We shall see, I presume!

MarkAnthony

Food service along with retail grocery is very tough going. I didn't last in food service and I was previously very well paid as a retail manager for another type of business.

The max working week is 48 hours averaged over a number of weeks depending on the industry, 13 IIRC in your case. You have exactly the right attitude though, in customer facing roles a 5 day week is always a 6 and a 40 hour week is always closer to 50.

As for pay Ireland (well Dublin) is generally quite well paid. I'd expect somewhere in the 30s. You know yourself it comes down to what can be negotiated.

DixieAddo

Thank you all! So... From what I'm gathering here, I should likely negotiate for 30k at the minimum?

MarkAnthony

DixieAddo wrote: »

Thank you all! So... From what I'm gathering here, I should likely negotiate for 30k at the minimum?

It's very difficult to say. That's the market rate but do the business pay market rate? What's your bargaining position do you have to take this job?

No one likes being in that interview when you're asked your salary expectations/current salary and it's 10K more than the Area manager you're sat across from. (Although I had a giggle afterwards).

Irish_Elect_Eng

Remember the golden rule with salary negotiations.

The first person to name a figure is in the weaker positio

n.:eek:

If asked "What is your salary expectations?" or similar question.

Answer:

"As we have discussed this is an important role with significant responsibility and a wide scope of activities across many functional management areas, bringing value to your business, I expect a market competitive salary in line with my experience and qualifications?"

""As we have discussed this is an important role with significant responsibility and a wide scope of activities across many functional management areas, to provide real value to the operation, what is the salary range on offer?

But if pushed/forced, do not name a figure, name a negotiating range, starting at the minimum that you are willing to accept and having the upper at the figure that you would be very happy with. For example. if your minimum was $35k, I would quote:

"I am looking for a benefits package in the range of $35k-50k depending on benefits and bonus"

This gives them room to negotiate with things like healthcare, bonus's, educational perks etc. But know what your minimum salary is as the other items, while valuable are not liquid.

Before going into the negotiation, remember everything is in play. Holidays, flexible time, healthcare, bonus's, educational perks, even free food :-) It all adds up and sometimes it is less painful for businesses to give these things.

Good Luck!