Working with Restaurant Management Recruiters | Hospitality & Restaurant Management Job Search & Resume Tips

Working with Culinary, Hospitality, & Restaurant Management Search Firms

Search Firms & Recruiters are usually either retained or paid on contingency by an employer to locate specifically skilled candidates with defined skills, experience and talents for specific positions.

Search Firms are also sometimes referred to as Executive Search Firms, but don’t let this title steer you away. Within the Restaurant and Hospitality recruitment field, many of the positions these groups represent, especially in the culinary fields, may actually be unit operations/property level positions and not just top level management opportunities.

Working with Career Resources

Working with a good search firm can be a boon to your career in the hospitality or restaurant industries beyond advising you of interesting leads. To make the best use of these resources you need to know what you can reasonably expect from, how best to deal with and how to select consultants. You also need to realize that there can be pitfalls when you entrust the very personal details of your career to third parties.

While a few bad apples gave "head hunters" a somewhat unsavory reputation in the eighties, the industry has evolved to include firms with pride in reputations based on integrity and professional service.

The Rules of the Game

Search firms may not advertise bait and switch jobs, that is, jobs which are more attractive than those they have to offer. This does not mean that the agency has to offer you the jobs that they advertise, if they do not believe you are competent, and sometimes firms do not have time to update job listings, but recruiters may not indicate that they have jobs at 5 star hotels, when they really only deal in chain restaurants.

If you have any doubts about or problems with search consultants, you should first speak with the management of the group, since most situations are caused by over eager or naive subordinates. If you are not satisfied, you can check with the consumer affairs department of the state in which they practice, with the District Attorney’s office of the city where they are located or with a Better Business Bureau.

Caveat Emptor?

While most restaurant & hospitality search firms today are proud of their record of careful matching of candidates to positions, a rogue group may pop up every now and then for a short period.

It helps to know with whom you are dealing. Look for referrals. Try to find others who’s opinions you trust that have used search firms in their job search.

In 1998 we were made aware of a West Coast firm which was causing another problem. Resumes to blind ads were broadcast to a number of restaurant groups in the area, although the firm seemingly had no authorization to deal with the firms. In one case, if one candidate is to be believed, a forged letter of consent from the candidate, whose resume was culled from an Internet web site, was included with the submission.

Since candidates believed to be dealing directly with an employer, they were truly victims of this behavior, as the employers targeted refused to hire even qualified chefs or managers referred in this manner.

The firm folded after about two years, but the practice of posting resumes on the internet has created a few situations where search firms have distributed information without permission.

Make sure your recruiter does not do anything without your express approval.

If confidentiality is a concern for you, and in our opinion it should be, make sure that any material you send to blank addresses contains something to the effect of:

"Your discretion is much appreciated. This material is intended for the party to whom it was sent only and may not be shared with third parties without my express permission."

If you post resumes on the internet, which can be seen and distributed by any passing firm without your consent, you could include:

"This resume may not be distributed by any search firm or recruiter nor are previous or current employers or colleagues to be contacted without my express permission."

Of course, posting anything on the Internet is a poor way of maintaining discretion or control of your information and job search.

Most large restaurant and hospitality companies constantly review the the resume databases of both the major and restaurant/hospitality specific career websites. So if you are employed and have posted your resume, don’t be surprised if it is discovered by your company.

What Should you Expect from a Search Firm?

Courtesy: A good search firm will treat you with professional courtesy. They will answer your questions as directly as their need for discretion permits and explain how they can or cannot deal with you. They will attempt to work within your time constraints.
Honesty: A good search firm will not offer you something for which you are not suited. They will want you to succeed, because that makes them look good. They may tell you why they cannot present you to a specific job or type of job. They will not "lead you on".
Discretion: Search firms which endanger their candidates don’t last long. You should not be sent to a job without your permission, unless you have given the firm carte blanche. You should not be used as advertising by the firm. Don’t be embarrassed to confirm with the person with whom you speak that your privacy and need for discretion will be respected.

Should You Deal with a Search Consultant?

The question here is really whether a search firm should deal with you, and, if so, which one.

Not all hospitality positions are dealt with by search firm, for instance, or agencies. Search firms are not in the business of providing first employment, training jobs or entry level positions for people who want to enter the field. Students graduating from a culinary school, for instance, need to exhaust the placement services of their schools, who are well equipped to deal with entry level jobs.

Agencies can be specialists or generalists. Some deal with chain restaurants, some with food service operations and commissaries, and others deal with high end restaurants or hotels. If your next logical step is the regional manager for a chain group, you need an agency with a fairly broad candidate base in corporate restaurants.

There are several good ways to find agencies. Most schools keep lists of approved firms. So do restaurant and professional associations. There are the internet search engines. A good way, too, is to find out how your colleagues dealt with in finding their their positions, whom they trust and why.

Don’t be afraid to ask agencies what their practices are and what kind of clients they deal with, and you want to know if they deal with the regions where you can work.

Some questions you can ask a search firm are:

Do you accept resumes from candidates? (Rather than representing only candidates you seek out.)
How long have you been established? How long have you worked with this firm?
Do you specialize in a certain kind of restaurant or hotel?
How does my background work with your client base?
How wide is your reach? Are you international, or do you limit your scope to a specific area.
What kinds of restaurants/properties compose the majority of your clients?
Will I be informed and asked for permission before my resume is referred to each specific client? (Your resume should never be sent to a potential employer without your direct understanding and approval.)
Do you always have an agreement with clients before you present resumes? (Your resume should never be broadcast to clients who have not expressed interest in working with the firm.)
Will you be representing me actively, or will I be put in a general database?
Are you familiar with the restaurants/properties where I have worked?
Who will be my contact at your firm? Will I be informed if another person deals with my information?
Where are you located?
How are you associated with other firms? (A limited, tight association is ideal.)
Will I be informed if my information is shared with another firm?

You cannot expect an recruiting agency to:

Divulge the names of his clients or to give you the specific details of a position which is entrusted to him as confidential.
To give you specific information on the working of his offices, his personal contacts or the financial details of his business.

As you discuss your background with the search firm, listen for points of common knowledge. If the recruiter knows friends of yours, take a moment to check with that friend on his dealings with the recruiter.

Try to listen to what the recruiter says with a clear head. This will be difficult, because you probably have a great deal you want him to know about you, so you can easily overhear important statements or misinterpret what he says. In your first conversation he will be laying down some of the rules by which he functions. You need to understand and follow them.

How Hospitality & Restaurant Search Firms Work

Candidates wonder how search firms choose where to send their applicants. In most cases the search firms are actually chosen by the restaurant or hotel company seeking assistance. Recruiters may work on retainer or contingency. Either way the recruiter will choose between an existing base of good candidates and potential candidates gained through networking for any specific opening.

Good recruiters are contacted by repeat clients or clients who learn of them through word of mouth to find staff for specific jobs, but if a recruiter has a good relationship with a client and finds a candidate who fits their profile, he may contact the client directly to see if there is a need for the candidate. Since it takes years to develop a good client base, the professional restaurant/hospitality recruiter will be very selective in presenting new applicants when no position has been posted with him.

A firm may also have standing orders from one or more restaurant/hospitality group to provide them with profiles of professionals appropriate to their specific requirements.

Some firms send out blind descriptions of candidates available to potentially interested clients. This may be dangerous for you if you have an easily identifiable profile in a specific industry segment, such as being the manager of a well known country club or chef of restaurant which is easily identifiable.

Most firms selectively pick from one to a few candidates for the openings they are expected to fill, sending only candidates they see as fully suitable for the vacancy. A broader type of operation, however, may have a per capita arrangement, usually with the larger chain style hotel or restaurant corporations, to forward large numbers of resumes with little or no prior selection. These resumes may come through mass recruiting efforts or from job fairs.

A recruiter with a good candidate may learn of a position and contact the employer, identifying himself as a search firm, and propose the applicant, whom he will refer if it there is interest.

Why do employers spend good money on search firms, with so many good employees available?

Search firms are specialists. They save their clients the expense of a full time human resources staff.
The clients have faith in the agency’s decisions and know that referrals from an agency are pre selected.
They know that the agency has access to individuals who are not actively seeking change and so can identify more suitable candidates than they could themselves. quickly.
They have an emergency on their hands.
They are not comfortable accessing some of the top people from other locations, so they leave the "dirty work" to a search firm.

Regardless of the details of the consultant/client relationship, it is important that the referring agency has the specific authority to present candidates, contact with the hiring firm and will be able to market you to his client, who finds the service worth the fee. It is the relationship of the recruiter to the employer which also benefits you as a possible candidate. The recruiter will do nothing to jeopardize it.

Although you may want to guard your information with a new search contact, you can, of course, especially if you are not able to pursue any employment opportunities on your own, give a recruiter carte blanche or limited permission to distribute your information, thus gaining the advantage of the free use of his time. He can save time spent waiting for your approval of individual positions this way. Allowing a recruiter this liberty should be a matter of great trust. You want to be careful with this approach, if you require a great deal of discretion in your current position.

How Can You Help The Agency Help You?

Once you have decided to approach or work with an agency and to provide them with your resume and work information, you can facilitate their work in a number of ways.

If you are accepted by a search firm, even if only for passive consideration, you have a pretty good deal: You pay nothing, and someone who probably spends ten hours a day dealing with employment specialized in your field is looking out for your best employment interests.

You can increase the value of the agency’s concern for you by forming a considerate alliance with the consultant. The most important thing you can do in this partnership is to be reasonable, honest and clear in your goals and present your information in a comprehensible and comprehensive manner.

Your end of the bargain:

Return calls proposing positions, even if you are satisfied with your current position. This permits the firm to update the information, and, if you desire, retire you from further consideration.
Once you have begun to work with a firm you need to keep a line of contact open. Be available by email, cell or regular land line.
Keep all appointments, telephone as well as on site interview, which have been set up for you, and report your impression of the interview promptly to the recruiter.
Return all calls by potential employers arranged by the recruiter. If you don’t, you will have one recruiter less the next time you need a job.
Provide the agency with a clean and clear copy of your background in resume form. If you do not have an effective resume see our resume tips.
If you promise to forward material to a search firm, you should do it without delay, especially if the recruiter requests prompt forwarding for a specific purpose. Current openings don’t wait and cannot often be repeated. The delay of one day can cost you the job and the search firm a client.
Provide the recruiter with a good list of safe references attached to your resume. Contrary to popular belief there is no law against reference gathering, or where only facts are given, to giving references. Although the main reason for referencing candidates is the control of the quality of the agency’s own referral, references, either given by sources on the candidates’ own list or developed by the agency, often serve as very effective promotional material.
It is equally important to tell the search firm what reference sources would endanger your current position. The last thing the firm wants to do is jeopardize your job.
The consultant needs to make a call as to his clients’ reaction to your background. Understand that the questions he asks are for this purpose.
Be honest with your consultant and allow the consultant to be honest with you. Explain clearly to the agency, if you initiate contact with the intention of changing positions in the near future, why you have decided to do so. If you have been terminated, explain the true circumstances of the termination to the recruiter with whom you are dealing, so that he will know what referrals to avoid and how to circumvent positions which might set you up for failure.
Do not inflate your salary in the hopes of prompting the consultant to seek out a better paying position. The recruiter will see your requirements as unreasonable and not contact you with reasonable offers.
Know your limits. Do not hesitate to turn down jobs you feel are beyond your ability or other considerations. Ask the consultant early on to withdraw you from consideration for positions you know you cannot keep.
Have respect for the consultant’s time. Listen to their suggestions for marketing you, if they propose them. Arrange to call them or to wait for them to call you. If you do need to call, understand that the time they spend calling you will detract from the time spent developing referrals for you. There will be times when the firm may not be able to speak to you. When the search firm is involved in a contract, for instance, they may not have time to take calls from candidates asking the progress of their referrals. Your understanding of these limitations will be appreciated by your consultant.
Reporting all contacts, especially job offers is not only considerate, it will enable the consultant to foresee and avert problems and misunderstandings before they arise. The consultant may prefer you to deal with the financial matters yourself, but if you have questions or problems during the interview process, include the search firm. Especially financial questions can usually be smoothed over by the recruiter.
If you are having trouble making contact with the employer, tell the consultant. It is his job as a resting pole to make sure the two of you get together. This is not an imposition but a good use of his time.
Sometimes a firm will discontinue the process then contact the candidate after several months. In this case it is not only wise, it is your duty to contact the search firm which referred you.
Remember that all information that passes between you and the recruiter is confidential. Do not share information about positions offered you.
Do not refer friends to an employer to whom you have been referred by a search firm. Respect the relationship of the search firm and the client. If you don’t want a position but you feel a friend would be interested, tell the recruiter.
If you believe you have already contacted or been contacted by a firm mentioned by a search consultant, tell the consultant. This can spare both of you touchy situations.
Inform the firm if you feel that something inappropriate is going on.
Remember in the interview and in negotiations for the position, that you represent not only yourself but the recruiter who was kind enough to refer you. Remember, too, that even if the interview does not go well this round, that there is a good chance that you and the interviewer will cross paths again in the future. Keep your dignity and diplomacy for all parties concerned.
Although you may have your heart mind one particular kind of position in a very narrow area, you will do well to keep your mind open to the opportunities the search consultant proposes, as he may know of some openings which could prove interesting to you. Listen first, then decline.
Say no without hesitation. It’s the recruiter’s job to offer and your place to decline. Don’t feel bad about doing it, but please do it graciously.

Other Considerations

The more narrowly you define your search, the fewer chances the recruiter will have to assist you. Every search firm has experienced the candidate who shackles them with unrealistic expectations, then accepts a position far inferior to the positions the agency did not offer him, a lose – lose situation.

There is a limitation to what a search firm can achieve, and it is important that you realize this, too. During some months there is little or insignificant growth in certain parts of the country. Consultants simply cannot create positions where they do not exist.
You need to realize that you might have to make concessions to achieve your career ambitions or to meet your personal requirements. These can be in the areas of geography, title, job environment, product nature or compensation, among others. Be aware before you consider a job what your first and consecutive priorities are. Try to present this information to the recruiter with whom you are dealing.
Search firms are neither the tooth fairies or miracle workers. They cannot repair bridges which have been burned or repair wasted careers. That is what friends are for. Although most search consultants would like to fulfill all wishes, they cannot convince five star restaurants to move even the nicest people from family restaurants across country or convince major clients that very fine cooks have the "talent" to head up R&D departments, although they have no experience in that area. The consultant’s task is to locate the person with the closest set of skills for a position, not to force their client to take on an eager pretenders.
Most firms have only limited time to counsel job seekers, and rarely have opportunities to assist in career changes.
Agencies are not directory assistance. They are not sounding boards. They are not therapists. Trying to use them as such is very inconsiderate.
A good restaurant or hospitality recruiter will tell you their limitations. This is not nastiness, but realism. Remembering again that agencies are paid a fee for referring precisely defined candidates, you can understand that agencies may not be able to achieve the results you desire. This does not mean it cannot be done, but that the probability for the consultant to succeed is very low. You may have great success on your own. "I can’t get you that position" is not something that an agency says lightly.
Good search consultants really like and respect the people with whom they deal. Their frank assessments their capabilities with you is intended to assist you in your decision making, not as an insult.
Some agencies work with other agencies for some jobs and not for others. It is indescribably rude to ask an agency for the names and addresses of competitors. Of course if you don’t realize this, you are probably not good agency material anyway.

When Should you Register with a Search Firm?

The best time to find any professional service is before you need it. You should have your resources in place while your position is still comfortable and challenging.

Conversely, the least productive scenario occurs when a candidate contacts a search firm as the last resort to finding a position, after all other resources have been exhausted, funds have run out and the car has just broken down.
By making contact early, you enable the firm to inform you of opportunities you may find interesting and which you can consider rationally, without the pressure of pending unemployment.
A conscientious hospitality/restaurant recruiter would prefer that you be selective rather than highly motivated through the necessity to find a job quickly, and people safely employed make the best decisions about their careers. He will gracefully take "no" for an answer.
Experience shows, furthermore, that prospective employers much prefer candidates currently employed: There is a security in knowing that the candidate has not been fired. Potential employers often appreciate the opportunity of tasting the food or observing the service where the applicant works, and like the consultant, employers understand that employed candidates make fewer short term decisions.
If you do not maintain an informational registration with a search firm, you should at least try to contact a consultant before a job search is urgent rather than at the moment you are ready to go return to work.

Easy Ways to Alienate a Search Consultant

With just a little ill will and effort, you can turn a great ally into a luke warm representative or an enemy. Some of the best ways to irk a recruiter are:

Snow jobs, horse feathers, and malarkey. There isn’t a consultant who hasn’t heard every sob story, minor backgrounds hyped to stardom, and seen creative resume fiction. Don’t insult their intelligence and waste their time. If they are worth anything, they won’t believe it.
Attitude. Need we say more?
The initial question, "How do you work?" He probably works about ten hours a day and frantically.
Begin your first call by asking him what he does without introducing yourself. Professional, reliable people preface their calls by identifying themselves and their business.
Let your spouse, your best friend, your mom or your roommate call to find out what the agency does, or better yet to demand a list of the agency’s current job listings.
Confuse search firms with career consultants, directory assistance or therapists. Spend time with you consultant eliciting information about other firms and restaurant or hotel groups who are not his clients. Ask to whom, beside his clients, you should submit your resume.
Call your consultant every a couple of times a day, just because you are blue.
Whine about your past boss, colleagues, bad luck. etc.
Make it clear to the firm that you understand their scam, and are willing to assist them at it.
Be vague about what restaurant or hotel you work at or worked for, "because it’s confidential".
Confine your search to a small geographic area, then approach a search firm and explain to them that, since your attempts have been futile, you expect them to succeed.
Present the recruiter with inflated salary history and requirements, in the belief that he will strive to meet them. He won’t. He just won’t call you.
Confuse the search firm with a travel agent. ("I want to go work in Maui…")
Call an agency to request a list of other agencies in the area.
Interview for a position to which the agency has referred you. Decide that this is not a position for you, but tell the interviewer to call your best friend, who would be perfect for the job.
Tell all your friends about the jobs to which the agency has referred you. This is also unwise, since under certain circumstances, the agency can claim a fee from you.
Play "Twenty Questions" with the recruiter when he has been enjoined from releasing the name of a client. (Although firms are often not able to give details on jobs initially, they should nearly always be able and willing to inform you to whom you were refer after the position has been filled.)