Food Service Manager Training: What Do I Need to Know?
The food service industry offers opportunities for talented, well-trained individuals, including that of food service manager. A food service manager (FSM) is the individual responsible for the daily operation of a restaurant or any establishment that prepares and serves food and beverages. The FSM typically directs a staff composed of cooks, kitchen assistants, and wait staff. Many FSMs reach their positions by starting at the bottom and working their way up, but another way to get there is to obtain formal training.
Why Get Food Service Management Training?
Why would you put in the time and expense it takes to get food service management training, when you could work your way up?
Entry-level training can give you the basics you will need to manage a staff, and to understand the ins and outs of food preparation and restaurant management. But while you're getting that entry-level experience, you could also be enrolled in a food service management program, taking course work that could lead to a degree.
A degree can prove to prospective employers that you're a few steps beyond an entry-level cook/manager. It can confirm that you've worked in a setting that offers an experience similar to that of a professional kitchen, and that you are acquainted with a broad range of the duties involved in running a food service. It also demonstrates that you've been exposed to the wider world of food service management, in all its many facets.
A degree verifies that you've become acquainted with different management styles, that you've learned about customer service and team work by working with other prospective food service professionals, and that you are well versed in the food management process, from procurement to presentation.
What Can I Learn in a Food Service Management Program?
As you research various food service management programs at different colleges, you will want to find one that offers instruction in diverse subjects such as these:
- Accounting
- Food service financial management
- Wine and beverage
- Food service cost controls
- Customer service
- Facility management
- Special event management
- Food service entrepreneurship
- Hospitality leadership
While you're pursuing your degree, you'll also study core subjects and electives such as algebra, computer applications, communications, marketing, and statistics.
By mastering the subject matter and completing all hands-on projects that your instructors require, you'll have the foundation for a future in food service management. Couple that with the experience you can obtain by working in a kitchen while you study, and you'll be ready for a better-than-entry-level position once you graduate.
How Training Relates to Your Responsibilities
Formal education provides the broad spectrum of knowledge that you need to be a manager. When you start at entry level and move up the ladder, you learn a lot about the duties you're required to perform as an FSM, but you may only learn to do things the way they're done in that one kitchen. Formal education could expose you to one or more superior management styles. You could also gain insight through formal education in how to do the following:
- Supervise the use of kitchen equipment
- Promote and market the restaurant
- Oversee finances, payroll, and accounting
- Oversee food preparation and procurement
A degree program will also teach you how to stay in compliance with safety and health regulations, as they pertain to food preparation.
Most degree programs also focus on customer service, including resolving complaints.
What Degree or Certification Should You Aim For?
Some restaurants and other food service enterprises prefer that managers have post-secondary education, usually with an internship or some type of experience, to ensure the manager has the necessary skills and experience. Certainly, many high-end operations will require a bachelor's degree, while an associate degree or certificate may work fine for jobs with establishments that aim for a family or generally less exclusive clientele.
FSMs may also want to look into additional certification with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, which issues credentials for the FMP, or Foodservice Management Professional. To earn this designation, the FSM certificate seeker should have taken food service management courses, have some relevant work experience, and must pass a written exam. This is a voluntary certification process, but it would look good on your resume.
You may find other certifications in areas of specialization -- food safety, hospitality, or customer service, to name a few -- that you can learn about through membership in trade organizations, which may also enhance your resume.
Are you Ready to Become a Food Service Manager?
If you want to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Food Service Management, consider ECPI University’s Culinary Institute of Virginia. With accelerated classes and a year-round schedule, you could earn your degree faster and start looking for work sooner. For more information on this exciting program, connect with a helpful admissions counselor today.
It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!
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