The ability to speak, read and write another language is a
desirable one to employers, especially in the restaurant industry. According to the National Restaurant
Association, the owners of America’s
935,000 restaurants estimate that up to 30% of their business comes from
tourists, many of whom do not speak English well or at all.
Bilingual Restaurant Job Hotspots
Throughout Canada,
the United States and the United Kingdom,
tourism and dining entertainment industries are booming and contribute billions
to the economy each year. While
travelers from any corner of the globe can be found traveling the countryside,
there are certain areas that see travel from one or two countries as the majority
of their visitors.
For example, the U.S. Department of Commerce reports that
20.3% of the overnight visitors to the United
States in 2000 were from Mexico. Add to that figure the 35 million Hispanic
people already living in America;
there is a huge demand for restaurant employees bilingual in Spanish and
English.
Working visas allow employees to travel the world while
gaining valuable experience in the restaurant industry. You may one day find yourself working beside
a Japanese chef or German hostess. In highly
populated tourist areas, it is not uncommon to see people of many different
nationalities all working together under one roof, sometimes unable to even
understand each other! The one employee
or supervisor who acts as translator is a major asset to the success of the
restaurant.
What Your Future Employer is Looking For
Restaurant owners and managers understand the need for
bilingual and multilingual employees to act as a liaison, not only with
customers but between staff members as well. Greg Ryall, Executive Sous Chef at the Crowne
Plaza in Ottawa, Canada,
has first hand experience working in a bilingual restaurant with a diverse
staff. “We have restaurant patrons visit
from around the globe. We look for
servers and hostesses who can speak and read at least two languages fluently to
help us better serve our international clientele.”
Servers and bartenders aren’t the only restaurant employees
who benefit from multilingualism. Ryall’s
kitchen staff also come from varied backgrounds and speak an assortment of
languages. “Because we are so close to Quebec, many of our
cooks and kitchen staff are bilingual, speaking both French and English.” He went on to explain the importance of good
communication in the kitchen, saying “Having a staff who understand each other
and work well together as a result is a necessity.”
Ryall’s personal experience working at the Manoir Richilieu
in a predominantly French area in Quebec
taught him the importance of mastering a second language. Although his knowledge of French was limited
when he accepted his position as Sous Chef, he quickly learned the language in
order to communicate effectively with the staff he supervised on a daily
basis. “Supervising staff who do not
speak your language is a near impossible task,” he says. “If we have a supervisory job or training
opportunity available with two candidates of equal talent applying, the one who
is multilingual has a huge advantage.”
Use Your Language Skills to Win Your Dream Restaurant Job
If you would like to work in a certain geographic area or in
a specific hotel, find out if they are seeking bilingual employees with the
ability to speak a certain language. Or,
if you are already fluent in a second language, apply to restaurants who serve
clients of that culture.
Learning a new language is easier than you may think,
especially with the home study audio and written courses now widely available
on the internet. Some might enjoy the
classroom setting in a night class, where you can interact and converse with
other students. Of course, the best way
to polish your language skills is to immerse yourself in an environment where
the language you are learning is spoken often.
Have your language skills featured prominently on your
resume, including the level at which you speak, read and write each
language. Be honest… your employer will
be relying on you to converse with their clients and other staff in your second
language, so don’t be caught saying something silly!