Being a waiter in London

More than running food

Hospitality nowadays is not the most attractive work field on the market. If you want to work in hospitality in London, prepare to put in action your physical, mental and social skills, all of this added to long hour shifts, low basic hourly salaries and the certainty of being disrespected on your work place by both co-workers and costumers.

Hospitality is not as easy as it might sound or seem, it's true that there are jobs in hospitality that are easier to learn than others but it doesn't mean that the workloads and mental stress are bearable by everyone. Take waiters for example, waitering is way more than simply running food and setting up tables, a waiter has to; negotiate with clients, build a short but confident relationship between him and the costumer, learn the whole menu (including ingredients and allergies), learn every table number, know how to use a till and take payments, deal with drunk costumers, build a peaceful relationship between him, the bartender, the kitchen and the managers, know how to clean properly, run multiple plates, carry trays full of glasses and in some cases even clean public toilets.

Eddy Mina is a 45 years old manager from Italy, he moved to London 23 years ago and has been working as a waiter ever since:" When you work as a waiter you become a computer, you start developing every skill you have, especially social ones, social skills are the ones that will open you doors in the future. People think that this job is easy and everyone can be a waiter, but the reality is completely different, it's true that the job is learnable but not everyone, especially in todays time has the willingness and patience to learn it properly. I've seen a lot of young people starting this job and leaving it soon after, those who stayed in the other hand developed both working and life skills. I have to say that I've never met a dumb waiter in my life, those who look down on this job should try it before speaking".

Piero Mina, 40, is Eddy's brother, he is also a waiter, and about his experience he said: " it's true that this job can get tiring , but nobody in the world will gift you money, you have to earn it, no pain no gain. I did this job for years and I have to say that I ended up loving it, I love the relationship and the discussions that I have with my costumers, I made a lot of contacts solely with this job. I think that waitering is perfect especially for young people with no experience, they will end up growing as people".