There is no doubt that today, those first steps in to the workforce are not easy ones. Almost every major employer is beginning to mechanise, and those that are still hiring are often seeking experience. Finding someone willing to take a chance on a newcomer, and train them up properly, can be a tiresome process.
This reality is one of the biggest reasons behind the rise of training programs, such as Melbourne’s Serve It Up. Far from just being a bartending and barista training program course provider, this business has found a niche market among the young, who are looking for some experience among their target market, before they hit the streets with a stack of resumes.
Serve It Up have recognised the main drawback of hiring complete rookies in to such positions. The time, and the patience, that it takes to educate and teach them how to use the equipment and mix properly can be spent battling the razor-thin profit margins of this market, keeping your key clients happy, and performing a myriad of other tasks. But by removing this necessity, you are no longer employing a total rookie. You have a newcomer, sure, but someone who is not a total amateur behind the counter.
These courses won’t see you pouring flaming shots of Sambuca or mixing Renaissance paintings on to your customers’ morning cuppa. But they’ll know how to mix basic drinks, how to perform maintenance, and how to operate the point of sale. They can operate with confidence, and like with many young people, will learn quickly, once given a vote of confidence by their new employer.
To keep our young moving upwards, they can sometimes use some thoughtful intervention, and a training course can lead them to a spot within the service industry that can move them on to bigger and better things.