How Can a Waitress Move into the Hospitality Industry? Interview Prep Coaching for Black Women
- Black On The Job Team
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
From Apron strings to leadership wings……… Janelles Story
Hey Bee. Hey, it's Momma Bee here, bringing you another I got the Job success story. There are over 100,000 members in our hive. Here in the hive, we live for the “I got the job “ post. In each one of these posts, there are not one, but several bees in the hive that have dropped some honey either on the resume or through one of several different services. We work as a team in the hive for the team because Success should never be a secret!
This is Janelle's story………….
Janelle always had a spare pair of shoes with her. Her walking shoes were often seen sticking out of the top of her bag she carried for work. Today, she was getting off an hour before her shift ended so she could walk over to pick up her seven-year-old's dress for the daughter/ daddy dance that was being held at the school tomorrow evening. Although Shawn was no longer in a relationship with Janelle, he stayed active in their daughter Shanelle's life.
The restaurant Janelle worked at was located in the downtown area of Memphis. It was pretty busy during lunch hour and not that bad on the evening shift, too. But, no matter how many tips she made, it just wasn’t enough for her to buy a car. When Shawn and Janelle broke up, she broke up with his car as well. She decided to look for a second job because customers just weren’t tipping the way they had when she first started four years ago. The economy was making an impact on everyone. But waitressing was all she knew. She landed a job in a sports bar for two days a week to fill in the gaps.
One night at the bar, a friend she knew from her days with Shawn was out celebrating, and she went over to wait on them. She asked what they were celebrating, and the friend said, “I Got The Job.” They had stayed Facebook friends and vowed to stay in touch. A few days later, Gwen sent her an invite to a group called Black On The Job, and sent her a message saying Join that group if you are looking for job tips.
In Janelle's words:
I joined Black On The Job in May of 2025. When I joined BOTJ, the first post I read was rather sarcastic, I must say. The post said Y'all walking around here with those ragedy resumes and trying to get executive pay. I died laughing because I had a ragedy resume. I originally planned on just getting a resume review. it took me about two months before I was ready to pull the trigger.
By that time, I was reading every post and decided I would invest in myself. I bought the Career Makeover Package. I remember feeling embarrassed when I first got on the call because my whole work history was nothing but waitress or bartender. Admin Cyn actually did my career coaching consultation.
Although she couldn’t see me, my head was down, and so was my spirit. That she could hear. As she was going through my work history, she said, “Bee, you got nine years in the hospitality industry! Let's get your resume services complete and get you booked with Momma Bee for interview prep coaching for Black women so we can get you out these restaurant floors and into leadership.”
Three months later I went to that same bar with my long time friend and had my “I got the Job” party. That first day on the job I took a picture and sent it to Admin Cyn then I logged on and posted I got The Job Bees!!!
I landed a job at a major hotel as a Junior Food and Beverage service director. My starting salary is $72,000 per year!!!! I didn’t need any degrees!
My transferable skills were strong enough to get me in the door.
My goal is to move up to Director of food and beverage services where the starting salary will be in the range of $98,000 - $115,000 a year. While I am working, I am also working on a couple of certificates to help me reach my goal. As far as those walking shoes? I use them to take my daughter on walks after Sunday church. We are loving our car. It’s not brand new but it’s new to us. I included my transferable skills so you could see how I was able to post I GOT THE JOB!
How Interview Prep Coaching for Black Women Helped a Waitress Step into Hospitality Leadership
Janelle’s Transferable Skills:
A waitress can leverage transferable skills like customer service, leadership, and communication to transition into a Director of Food and Beverage Service role.
Key skills include teamwork, multitasking, problem-solving, financial acumen (from cash handling and order tracking), and operational management (like prioritization and time management), which can be reframed to show readiness for a management position.
Trivia Challenge
Play this weeks trivia to get an opportunity to win a free Career Change Package from Black On The Job!!! Be sure to follow the three steps and you could be the next Bee posting I GOT THE JOB
Rules To Trivia
#1 Comment on this blog and let us know if you are in the hospitality industry.
#2 Find the success story of another Bee who also transferred her skills from the stage to working for the Liqour industry. When you find the blog hashtag #skillspaybills