Need advice on getting out of the restaurant industry

22 comments

1. I haven’t worked in the restaurant industry but if you want to change career I would say look for ways to break into tech. It might sound like a long shot but definitely doable. I am doing a masters degree right now and I have many classmates who didn’t had any experience working in tech before they hit 40 and will soon be graduating and breaking into tech jobs.

2. If you don’t mind kitchen work and just want more pay look at instatutional places. I work at a University,not in food operations myself, and the kitchen managers start at 65k with full state employee benefits.

3. I feel your situation!
   I switched from restaurant to senior living when I was young and never looked back. Cooking in Senior Living communities gives you some weekends off from time to time, no late nights (they eat dinner from 4-6), holiday pay, PTO, and 401k possibilities.

   You get to know your customers on a first name basis and the skill level is honestly pretty low in Senior Living. So if you are worth your weight, you will blow away the residents with your experience.

4. Why not take all of your experience and put it towards starting your own business? Gamble your savings on yourself rather than dump it into the education scam.

5. I waited tables for almost 15 years, all through my 20s and early 30s. Started college in my late 20s and got a degree in Computer Science, now am a Software Engineer working from home. It completely changed my life. Easily best decision I’ve ever made. College is a grind, but you can change your life.

   The job market it enormous for software devs, and your goal salary is the low end of the market. If you like problem solving and creativity, it’s a cool career.

   You don’t have to get a degree, if you can prove competency and get in the door somewhere. Lots of coding bootcamps out there as well.

6. If you have a more hands on learning by doing learning style, as I have, you might want to look at an apprenticeship.

   You might take a pay cut to start but won’t have to take on debt, and with a good work ethic in a few years 100k USD is pretty common and not nearly as much as it used to be

7. I would take a leap and go into business for yourself. I have a service business and do pretty well by most metrics. You can buy an existing or start from scratch. Buying a small existing gives you something to start with and allows you to learn the industry and then apply your hustle to it to grow it. You could also bartender and do restaurant work on nights and weekends to make ends meet while you’re growing the business.

   I left the car dealership service business after 15 years. It was a pretty scary leap especially because I was going to be cleaning swimming pools which seemed like a real step down from being a manager of a large store. I make double
   what I did and I make all the rules now.

   Depending on what day you catch me I will tell you it’s the greatest thing or the worst thing I’ve ever done. Employees unfortunately ruin owning your own business.

   Where are you located?

8. Since you’ve been successful you must have a lot of soft skills along with the usual restaurant skills. You should be able to take your organization and leadership skills to another industry. Have you considered sales? Some salespeople make huge commissions. Start looking for openings (in any field) and think about how your experience could translate, in many cases just being responsible and trustworthy can get you into an industry without experience.

9. VHA is hiring & you don’t need to be one. Idk if I can mention another website? USAjobs.gov

10. I was where you are now

11. You should ask this is the serverlife and talesfromyoursever subs. They may have some better answers for you.

    However, I got out of the industry for good at 37, but I have a college degree and had done several internships over the years that I could use as jobs on my resume – and it was still hard to get out. That said, I was also looking for a “skilled career” so to speak, and wanted fully out of the service sector and didn’t want to do sales. Most of the ex-servers I know went into wine/beer/liquor sales or an adjacent industry.

    You have to be prepared to struggle a bit. It’s just a reality. I know people love to tout the soft skills you gain in the business, but in my experience, those skills didn’t do much for me on paper. But, again, maybe that’s because of the path I was taking.

    Bottom line is that you need to make yourself marketable. Hiring managers need to look at your resume and see something of value you can bring to their business. That may mean going back to school for you, or starting at the bottom – which is what I did. It was worth it and my life has improved ten fold, but it took a lot of time.

    Again, try those serving subs. They may have some better advice for you. I hear people talk about getting into banking (like a teller), sales, project management, etc.

12. if you can manage a restaurant you can manage a business, or maybe a restaurant business. youve already got the important pieces, being reliable, dealing with customers, employees, etc etc

    be a manager for a bar, or a catering company or a hotel or event/catering sales like any business at all. take a few business courses or like a college 2 yr degree, continuing education certificate whatever

    loads of options that want you to have hospitality experience

13. OP, I got out of restaurants and into healthcare. I still manage foodservice, but I make better money and actually get to have days off and vacations.

14. I work in surgery transporting patients and basically do the grunt work for RN’s/Anesthesiologist’s. Currently doing general Ed at my local CC. I am set up for the X-ray tech program but having thoughts about going into information assurance(cyber security)I think it’s called? I would love to freelance work. What would you guys do? They. ITV have 2 year programs

15. Get into a trade apprenticeship.

    You’ll be making over 80K in 4 yrs

16. Find a trade.

    See if an electrician will make you an apprentice or something. Then find you’re way to a union. You’ll make good money and won’t get stuck in an office.

    Being an apprentice doesn’t pay much, i hear, but once you get passed that you should be good.

17. I started at a 2 year technical college at age 33, graduated 10 years ago, now making $35/hr with good benefits and 3 day weekends. 4 semesters of FT school plus FT work was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it was worth it.

18. It’s not for everyone but the military is always looking for cooks if you don’t mind doing that work. The Coast Guard was offering $40,000 bonuses for people to become culinary specialists.

    4 years and you get college paid for through the GI Bill when you get out.

19. Are you in America? Are you healthy? Join the Army Reserves.

    Join as an X-Ray tech or Nurse. You’ll come out with like 90% of an associates degree. And be in a very well-paying and in demand field.

    The school for both X-ray Tech and Nurse is about a year long. During school you’ll be living in the barracks, Dorms not a giant room with bunks like in the movies, so you can likely drop all your bills to your phone, internet, and car. You can save the rest of your paycheck.

    BTW, youll get Medical insurance and education benefits too. So you can finish that degree and have some extra money cuz you arent paying a big fee for health insurance for a year. After school its a small fee.

    I say all this cuz I was working retail, and hated it, and joined up around 30 so I can definitely say it is a huge relief to be only paying the car, internet, and phone bill.

20. Go into foodservice distribution! Find yourself a distributor/manufacturer and I’m sure they’re be interested to hear from you. Your industry experience is invaluable and there’s good money in sales and/or purchasing.

21. If you do go to college, don’t borrow any money. Go to community college for the first 2 years at least. Then transfer to a more recognized place if you want. But still don’t borrow. Pay as you go. Good luck.

22. I come from a tech background, so that’s what I’ll speak to.

    There are 3-4 categories of tech jobs you can find that are usually remote, 9-5, and pay fairly well.

    Engineer: Harder to get into but the most lucrative. Others have described the best way to get into coding…. try free resources for as long as you can befor paying for anything. You don’t necessarily need a degree of you can build shit well.

    Project Managers: are you organized, good at managing people, and have a decent idea of how software and tech works? This could be the route for you. You may have to deal with annoying clients or middle managers, but you don’t necessarily need to write code. It’s more about organization and communication skills.

    Sales: are you a little bit charming? Are you a good hang? You could probably handle a sales gig. Sales for a SaaS company can be LUCRATIVE but can also be shit. It’s a combination of how good you are plus how good the product is. But you could probably walk into a Junior sales role if you’re a competent adult with a good work history.

    Marketing: honestly the one I’m in and the least lucrative. Takes some time to learn but won’t get you money like sales or engineering.