Career Development for Waiters: Time Management and Productivity

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the skills required to be a professional waiter, including patience, communication skills, time management, and physical stamina. It also includes a personal evaluation of individual skills and a career action plan to convert weaknesses into strengths.

MG410 Career
Viewpoint

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Personal analysis..........................................................................................................................3
Career action plan........................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Career viewpoint is concerned with setting goals and objectives and then finding the job
accordingly. The career viewpoint of a prospective candidate involves a combination of both
economic objectives and the intrinsic motivation so that the goals and objectives can be
accomplished effectively and efficiently. It is imperative for an individual to identify their
desires, field of interest, strengths and weaknesses so that a career perspective can be established.
The identification of strengths and weaknesses can further help in grabbing the opportunities and
countering the future threats accordingly. The list of skills and knowledge required to be a
professional waiter includes good communication skills, multi tasking, problem solving, good
memory and physical strength. Also, work experience is mandatory if a person wishes to
improve their chances of getting job. Furthermore, it can also help in the overall growth and
development of a person. The current study will highlight the comparison between required and
the actual skills for a profession and also include a career action plan to achieve these objectives.
MAIN BODY
Personal analysis
According to my personal evaluation it has been evaluated that I hold 6 year work
experience of working in the restaurant industry and I have worked in different types of
restaurants, cafes, banquets and hotels which is very essential because it has helped me in
learning different skills and also has played an important role in my professional growth and
development. The experience of working in different industries has made me confident and also I
have incubated leadership and management skills from it. I am also a part-time cook thus in case
of emergency these skills can prove to be very useful. I also believe in team work as it increases
the overall productivity of the workers and further help in providing maximum satisfaction to the
customers. I have worked in Lagenda Chinese and Malaysian restaurant where my job involved
greeting the guests, providing them with seating facility, raking the orders, serving them the
food, suggesting them the best-sellers and finally providing the guests with the bill and sharing
additional information about the restaurant in order to indulge in a friendly conversation.
Friendly interactions helped the restaurant in receiving positive feedbacks and thus increased its
brand image which further led to profit maximization for the business. Although, there are
certain skills that I need to work on in order to grow as a professional waiter and also there are
some strengths which give me a competitive edge over others.

 Strengths: My major strengths include having good communication skills, problem
solving, team work, good customer service and high persistence. These skills are
imperative as they help in image building of restaurant and also further contribute
towards increasing customer loyalty and profit maximization. My other strengths include
communication skills, problem solving and physical strength. For instance, I used my
interpersonal skills to interact with the guests at Lagenda Chinese and Malaysian
restaurant which resulted in guests giving the restaurant five stars on social media and
also recommended it to other people and it proved to be really beneficial for the growth
of the restaurant. Another example involves that one time I used my problem solving
skills to resolve a conflict between the manager and the waiter which is important to
maintain peace and harmony in the organization and to make sure that there exists
smooth working in the company. My good and prompt customer service has also helped
in timely management of services thus maximizing the revenue for the hotel.
 Weaknesses: While working in the restaurant I found out that there are some weakness
which creates difficulty in performing the job. I found out that I lack multi-tasking, time
management and I do not have good memory. These skills are essential in every business
in increasing productivity and enhancing the quality of work. For example: sometimes
there is rush in the restaurants I forgot some orders as all the orders are taken on same
time. Due to this customers get frustrated and angry because they do not receive their
order on time, it leads to decrease in the reputation of the restaurant. I also lack multi-
tasking and time management skills for example: one day I need to manage all the orders
and manage bill counter for two days, I faced difficulty in doing both the work. I was
taking orders from the customers and at the same time I was also collecting money from
customers which made a delay in completing the orders of customer. Due to lack of time
management skills and multi-tasking customers were not satisfied which lead to decrease
in the profits.
Career action plan
A career action plan is a document prepared by an individual that includes a list of goals
and objectives they wish to accomplish. These goals are generally SMART(Specific, measurable,

attainable, reasonable and time bound). The following career action plan will include all the
weakness and the areas to improve for being a waiter.
Skills Current level Strategies Resources Time
Multi tasking Multi tasking is a
major issue for
me as I can focus
only on one thing
at time. I face
many problems
because of this
like inadequate
time management
which further
leads to waste of
time and efforts.
Multi tasking
issues make
customers
dissatisfied as it
increases their
ideal time and
also hampers the
image of the
restaurant.
I can use the
strategy of
making adequate
plan and
procedure to
perform multi
tasking skills.
Also, I will
improve my
concentration
skills by avoiding
distractions as it
would help in
improving my
multi tasking
skills.
Technology can
play an important
role in improving
my multi tasking
skills. Use of
mobile or tablets
to take order and
directly passing it
to the kitchen will
reduce my work
load and also
improve my
concentration
skills.
Furthermore,
providing every
guest with a code
number that will
display on the
board once their
order has been
prepared will
reduce the burden
and thus improve
my multi tasking
skills even
further.
Multi tasking
skills can be
improved within
1-2 months
through
continuous
practice and by
keeping a
presence of mind.

Memory Poor memory is
my another
weakness and I
have faced a lot
of problems
related to it like
serving wrong
order to wrong
guests and
forgetting about
some customer's
orders. Memory
issues is a big
problem as it
hampers the
image of
restaurant and
further reduces
the overall
productivity to
perform the job.
I can improve my
memory related
problems by
increasing my
focus and
concentration
which can be
done through
practising
meditation and
Yoga daily. Also,
I will use pen and
paper to write
orders clearly and
completely in
order to avoid
mistakes and
troubles.
Use of digital
technology like
tablets can help in
easy recording of
orders but it can
be a costly affair
to allocate the
tablets. Therefore,
I will increase my
concentration by
doing exercise
daily and also I
will read a lot of
books as it would
help in improving
my memory and
learning ability.
Improving
memory can take
up to 4-6 months
as it is a long
term affair but it
is important to be
persistent and
dedicated in order
to observe the
results faster.
Time
management
All the
weaknesses are
inter-related to
each other in one
way or the
another. My time
management
skills are below
average and I
need to manage
I can improve my
time management
skills by effective
planning daily
tasks and also
delegating them
to right person at
right time.
Furthermore, I
will also assign
I can use SMART
goals as a
potential resource
for achieving my
daily targets
effectively.
SMART goals
help in setting
practical daily
targets which
Improving the
Time
management
skills can take up
to 3-5 months and
once time
management skill
is achieved then
all other skills
will get improved

that by improving
my memory and
by learning multi
tasking skills.
Time
management
issues can prove
to be a costly
affair for the
restaurant as it
can lead to a loss
of potential
customers which
will hamper the
smooth working
of the
organization.
priorities to my
daily tasks as it
would help me in
providing a clear
picture regarding
the total time
allocated to a
particular task.
Also, it will act as
a roadmap in
achievement of
daily targets and
objectives.
further help in
improving the
overall
productivity.
automatically.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that, there are various skills required in order
to become a professional waiter. It may include patience, communication skills, time
management and physical stamina. It is imperative for an individual to identify their strengths
and weaknesses in order to get information about the area of skills and knowledge where they
need to work on. The report included a personal analysis to evaluate individual skills and also
included a career action plan for overcoming the weaknesses and converting them into the
strengths.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Online
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