Working at a place that is popular all over the world, also requires you to have certain skills and knowledge without which you would not be able to keep up with the restaurant standards and environment.
A lot of times we have the skills but we don not recognize or define them properly in ourselves and when it comes to presenting them on our professional resume, we have no clue how to go about it.
Which is why we have curated this article discussing some of the most relevant and important skills for the KFC team members who are about to write their resume or want to update their resume to optimize their job prospects.
This guide is relevant and helpful for everyone who might be a KFC team member regardless of their job title and particular responsibilities.
So let's get to it then!👇
Importance of skills for a KFC team member
Without skills, no professional can perform well or get good opportunities especially in present times where education and even experience are the aspects that are less prioritized and skills are more important for the recruiters who are considering your resume for the positions they have open.
Depending on your resume format, you might describe your skills with some details that back them up or incorporate them in your experience details, resume summary and list them in your skills section.
In either case, you need to choose the right skills that will make the most impact on the recruiter. There are some of the soft skills such as interpersonal communication skills and there are some specific skills such as maintaining hygiene and sanitation and providing excellent customer service.
Here we will discuss some of the generic soft skills and some of the specific hard skills and you will also learn how to present your skills on your resume so will have a fair idea of how to include your skills on your resume that are perhaps not talked about here because they are very specific to your role.
KFC team member roles
Before we get to various skills, let's discuss what kind of roles and responsibilities does a KFC team member have. The KFC team members may be working with a hierarchical structure with management tier and such and depending on their role they may be given various responsibilities.
Regardless of your role, there are some skills that everyone needs such as interpersonal skills, time management skills and so on.
- Shift managers
- General managers
- Chef
- Sous chef
- Assistant manager
- Customer services
- Food server
Even if we have missed your role in above list, you can still take help of this guide because the skills are applicable for you as well.
Those 11 spices blend of KFC may be a trade secret but the important skills for a KFC team member are not so let's dive in now!
Leadership skills
One may think that leadership skills are only required when you are a manager or executive level professional who is supervising or leading a team of multiple team members.
But that is not true, leadership skills define an individual who is also in a role that does not require managing a team but only customers or individual scenarios in a restaurant like KFC.
For example, in a restaurant during rush hour, when there are many customers to handle, someone might need to step up and find a solution to ensure everything works smoothly and that someone could be anyone who simply has good leadership skills.
As management personnel, leadership skills will become even more important to ensure the restaurant has good repeat business and customer satisfaction rate is high.
Customer service skills
Serving customers is the huge part of restaurant services because customers will take that experience and base their opinion of the restaurant on it. The food servers, hosts and any other team members including managers need to ensure friendly customer service along with answers to all the customer questions.
Customer service skills on your resume defines what kind of a presence you will be in the restaurant, your way of greeting customers, taking orders and providing all the assistance will decide if that customer will visit the KFC again or not.
The customer services of a restaurant also decides the high standards or lower standards of a restaurant because customers prefer etiquette, polite behavior and helpful behavior. These aspects of a restaurant are appreciated a lot, sometimes even more than the food and drinks themselves.
Cash register skills
Cash register skills include your ability to count the tips, cash payment, answer any inquiries, using credit cards to complete payment, providing bills, managing the cash register and cash deposit box or place.
You may also have to get familiarized with processing online payments, counting the cash money, providing the change back to the customer and so on.
Sometimes, you will have to answer the customer questions about the prices of particular food items, tax calculation, any other charges and so on. You might also have to provide assistance in case the customers have any coupons or gift cards or such that may be applicable on their bill.
Inventory management skills
If you are a chef or manager or a personnel whose responsibilities overlap or focus on the inventory, you will need the inventory management skills.
Inventory management skills include having good awareness and idea of the demand and supply of the branch, the freshness of products, the storage space of the products and making sure that products are in proper sync with the order and bill.
Inventory management skills may also be required for chef or the space organizer who might have to provide insight or handle the supply of food products.
Inventory management includes other restaurant items such as napkins, forks and spoons, bowls, plates and such stuff in addition to food products so you need the knowledge of everything.
Business skills
Your business skills are not just limited to marketing and advertising or investment, those areas may be important for CEOs and CFOs. For a KFC team member, business skills mean how the smallest aspect may affect the sales and in hindsight the business.
From basic courtesy to greeting customers to ensuring seasonal décor of the restaurant, everything contributes to how many customers visit KFC and come back again which in turn makes a big difference for the business.
Business skills overlap with team management skills, communication skills, team player skills and many more. What it means to have business skills, is to have the knowledge of how smallest of things can make a difference and making sure your services are provided accordingly.
Communication skills
Communication skills are essential especially in B2C business which is KFC and customers. Without good communication skills, you will not be able to navigate your responsibilities well.
As a food server, you need the communication skills to ensure a good dining room experience for the customers, as a manager you need a communication skills to manage your team and provide satisfactory resolutions in case of customer complaints.
Communication skills are really important in fast paced environment to battle the stress and workload in efficient manner without causing any problems.
Team player skills
Any project or establishment can only succeed and function if the people are working together. No one man can do it all. As a team member, you must have team player skills to efficiently work with others and make sure the mechanism functions well.
You need to be able to work with the chef, the manager, food servers, customers and any other professionals in your surroundings.
Problem solving skills
When you are providing services directly to people who visit your restaurant, you will face many issues. Customer complaints, rush in the kitchen and piled up orders, unavailability of menu items, cleanliness in dining area, challenging work environment and much more.
To be able to navigate through it all, you need the problem solving skills. You need to be able to provide answers, come up with solutions, find the right person in time to resolve the issues and so on.
Many employees get confused and end up becoming helpless or frightened, often failing to keep up with the challenges and pressure. If you have problem solving skills, you will be able to handle such challenges in efficient as well as professional manner.
Management skills
Managing the guests or cooking in the kitchen or ensuring the fulfillment of company standards or even training new employees, from rare occurrence to daily operations, everything requires some good management skills.
Your lack of management skills could cause a chaotic environment that cannot function well, let alone provide a good customer service.
Hiring manager might provide paid training for such skills however, you will need some basic information and knowledge of the same if you are not a fresher.
Most great jobs require these basic knowledge and skills in order to ensure you can fulfil your job duties and sometimes some other duties as well.
Industry Knowledge
Apart from the skills discussed above, you will also need some industry knowledge. You should know a bit of a history of KFC and its world famous chicken. You should know the reputation of the restaurant and be able to treat customer accordingly so that they are not disappointed.
Industry knowledge also includes your knowledge of hygiene and sanitation regulations, some basic laws of restaurant and customer services, the rules and policies of the KFC restaurant itself and so on.
Having the industry knowledge will allow you to avoid making any mistakes that could disappoint your superiors or the customer. You will be informed enough to guide the customer and make sure there are no violations for which the restaurant or you as a KFC employee could get in trouble.
Putting your skills on your resume
We discussed the importance of the skills before. Now let's talk about how to put your skills on your resume. In the professional resume, you will have the summary section, the experience section and the skills section.
Depending on the format you will be able to describe and back your skills or list them in the skills section.
You should also incorporate your skills in the resume summary section and experience section. While you talk about your accomplishments and usual duties, you can mention how and which skills helped you fulfil those duties and perform in professional and satisfactory manner.
You should also pick some skills from the job description to ensure you have used the right terms and particular words that the recruiter is looking for in particular. It will also help you out with the applicant tracking systems that filter and shortlist the resumes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, your KFC team member skills are important on your resume and you need to pick them with a lot of consideration of various aspects such as your role, your responsibilities and so on.
You can also be considerate of the local public and the culture along with the language and etiquettes, it will help you perform even better than your superior may be expecting.
You can also check out our resume examples, templates and resume writing guides to write your professional resume. Good luck!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do I need training for KFC team member skills?
For particular skills, you might be provided training on the job however you may not need any training for most of the soft skills.
Should I include my cooking skills as one of a KFC team member skill?
It might be relevant depending on the role you are applying for at the KFC. You can include it if it is useful for your role and responsibilities.
Is taking orders a KFC team member skill?
Yes, if your role is food server or such, your responsibility will include taking orders, sometimes in case of staff shortage you might be required to take orders even if you are not a food server so having that skill might be useful as a KFC team member.
