Employment or Employability??

An excellent thought from an article I was reading really caught my attention.  As a restaurant management  recruiter, when I deal with a restaurant management candidate, I often see candidates who are focused more on employment, than on employability…a term I borrow from the article. I work through that thought process everyday with candidates that I deal with,  but I wanted to spend a moment or two just thinking about that and how it applies to restaurant managers in the job hunt.

Reader, think about your past job searches. In hind sight were you more concerned about “employment” or “employability”. It doesn’t take a lot of thought to distinguish the difference.  As a whole, when restaurant managers come to Martin & Associates People Source for help in moving their career forward, most are focused on “employment”. This is quickly evident by a candidate’s motivation for finding a new company. Typically motivation centers on dissatisfaction with an employer; on no quality of life; on too little pay. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of these factors but…all too often these are the things that come out in an interview with a hiring manager. These things cause us to be more concerned about “employment”.

Being focused on “employability” will pay off in large dividends. But being “employable” takes thought and planning. Focusing on being employable will cause you to think about who you are. It will cause you to think about you specific skills. You will begin to analyze the Value, Benefit and Impact you bring to a new employer. Being focused on being employable will cause you to make notes on your talents and skills, to look under the surface of “being great with people” to see the solid, tangible skills you possess. These are the skills that matter to hiring managers. Such skills as food cost, labor cost and other controllable costs, being a skilled trainer or a great marketer will tell a hiring manger that you are employable.

The point is this…THINK about who you are when you are thinking about moving to a new company. THINK more about why you are employable…and less about why you want another  position. As professionals at RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT RECRUITING our team coaches candidates through these issues every day.