TBH hospitality is the area where I NEVER got a job as a student (unless you include being a pizza boy/kitchen hand).
I did a heap of free trials for literally nothing (and every time was told 'I love the way you work and your attitude... write your hours down here and I'll call you soon').
This was back before e-mail and mobile phones so I was literally sitting there next to my phone, waiting for a call whenever possible.
I never got feedback on why they didn't call but:
- My hours were always honest... 'I have footy training on Tuesday and Thursday nights... yeah and I'll have a few hours of uni every day too'. ANYBODY in the industry will say that you HAVE to say you're free 24/7. Like it or not, I think it's bullshit to treat your employees like that. People should be encouraged to have hobbies (particularly if they involve exercise - I wasn't gonna give up my 2 nights of exercise a week for work).
- I worked my butt off during trials and while online this probably comes across as arrogant, in RL I'm generally super hard working and capable of following orders. I have really good manners, don't argue with bosses and pick things up really quickly. Believe me or not... in a generic sense, I think the industry has to work harder to hold onto this kind of character. Kitchens can be WILD (having worked in prisons I now know who gets the jobs). If a restaurant REALLY wants a good chef... why not sweet talk a young undergrad, convince him that uni's bullshit and get him interested in aspiring towards being your chef? Admittedly I never worked in the field, but I saw no indication of such things happening. Being a kitchen hand is a JOB for a backpacker or a convicted criminal willing to be paid shit all (because nowhere else will take a guy who is on ice and is an aggressive motherfucker towards everybody 24/7). If all you offer is jobs (not careers) then you'll get a bunch of peons who are just working for a (shit) wage rather than career-minded employees. I loved food/cooking as an amateur waaay before it was cool to do so and as a largely confused uni student (paid nothing) woulda jumped at 'a career' if somebody offered me one.
- Can I make a general comment that working for a small business sux? Most restaurants go bust within 5 years, so expecting a career somewhere can be a joke. Also... learning from a chef who is a dickhead (who under-pays his staff and will go broke soon) isn't exactly the BEST lesson, is it?
When I worked as a kitchen hand and pizza delivery guy (near King's Cross) there was no career there for me and nothing to learn. The boss was an unscrupulous Greek dude who paid me $5 cash in hand, expected me to use my own car and was a complete arsehole to me. His skills as a 'boss' included sitting outside playing backgammon, magically losing the timesheet every week, having no recollection of the fact I'd worked every night that week and being extremely aggressive when I dropped in to collect my pay. He went under for a good reason, and nobody wanting to be a rockstar chef needs to go through working for an arsehole like him in order to make it big. IMO the view that people need to take it up the arse from a jerk of an employer for 10+ years before they'll be 'good enough' is bullshit.
If anything (different profession) my career took off the day I walked into my director's office (uninvited after being told he was 'too busy' for a couple of months) and said 'mate I know I'm 3 or 4 levels below you but as a professional I disagree with you on this, this and this...' He told me I wouldn't make it anywhere else with those opinions. Guess what? I did. I imagibe that being good at MOST jobs is like that. When you're good enough that you KNOW you are more capable than your boss (despite the fact he thinks you're a peon) then you've reached the stage where you can think for yourself + think strategically rather than just taking orders.