Chances are that either you or one of your friends has spent some time (a summer? a semester?) working at a restaurant, hotel, theme park, or another job where your sole job is to make an experience better for someone else. These jobs generally are not glamorous, and they often don’t pay very well. The hours are long, your feet hurt, and you spend your days at the mercy of an often harsh and unforgiving boss. However, I’m here to tell you that this experience, as tiring as it may be, is invaluable to growth as a person and the skills you gain as a result will benefit you for the rest of your life. I can certainly say it’s helped me.

I worked as a hostess and opera singer (yes, you read that correctly) at Romano’s Macaroni Grill during the summer of 2013, right between high school and college in an attempt to earn a few extra dollars before I departed for New York. Though I’d had a few babysitting gigs and volunteer opportunities in previous years, this was my first real job. I was responsible for, along with a group of other hosts, greeting customers at the door as they entered the restaurant and escorting them to their table. I would then serve them bread with olive oil, water, and wish them a nice dinner. If they happened to have a birthday or anniversary, I would sing one the few Italian opera songs I know by heart, often to the amusement of all other patrons at the restaurant. It was, to say the least, transformative. Working at a fast-casual chain restaurant, I met customers from all walks of life and kept a smile on my face no matter how they treated their waitstaff. It was a taxing job, with occasional 10 hour shifts, no breaks to sit, and a seemingly constant stream of families who required high chairs (that I was responsible for lugging across the restaurant). However, I truly believe I am a better person today for working in a restaurant for three months. This job taught me humility, the importance of hard work, and how to always wear a smile even though it was a hundred and five degrees outside. Therefore, without further ado….

FIVE REASONS THAT EVERYONE SHOULD WORK IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY AT LEAST ONCE

1. You work with an eclectic group of people

I was on a staff of about 20 servers, chefs, and hosts during my summer at Macaroni Grill. I worked alongside aspiring actors, a mother of two, an artist who I still follow to this day, and many other wonderful people that, as a 17 year old heading off to college in the fall, I would not have met had I loafed around home all summer or worked at a wealthy summer camp like many of my high school classmates. Any number of people can find themselves working as waitstaff at a restaurant for many reasons, and it was fascinating to find out firsthand just how many reasons there were.

2. You learn humility, and learn it fast

Like I said earlier, you serve all types of people when working at a restaurant. All social classes, all temperaments. No matter who your customer is, you are serving them. Therefore, you must treat EVERYONE with respect (but isn’t that just something you should do anyway?), no matter how they treat you. People will yell at you for things you have no control over. As a hostess, I had nothing to do with food preparation, yet I had many customers personally hold me accountable for why their meal was slightly under or overcooked. You have to truly learn to put others’ needs before your own, and accommodate all the requests that you possibly can. Remember, in the service industry, the customer is always right.

3. Multitasking becomes a second language to you

You’re forced to think on your feet constantly. In any given moment, you’ll be expected to take reservations, greet guests, clear tables, take orders, and print receipts. If a server was swamped, I had to fill in for them and make sure no customer was left waiting. Even if I had absolutely no idea what to do, I always had to smile at the customer and pretend that I was totally confident. I’ve found this becomes second nature after a while, and has helped me a ton as I’ve gone through college.

4. It’s a great way to support yourself in school or between jobs

There is always a demand for more servers and hosts. Though the work is demanding, holding a check in your hands more than makes up for it. As a college student, working in the service industry can be a great way to help out with tuition or earn a little extra on the side. It’s sometimes even relaxing to change pace and go for a few hours without thinking about school at all. At Macaroni Grill, many of my coworkers were University of Texas students who genuinely looked forward to work every day because of the break from studying.

5. YOU LEARN PEOPLE SKILLS

This one might be kind of obvious, but it’s incredibly pertinent. You. Learn. Small. Talk. Most of the time, you only spend about two minutes in total with your customers, yet if you appear rude or disinterested it can negatively impact their entire experience. If you don’t think you’re a particularly social person, go work in a restaurant. I guarantee you’ll come out of the experience with newfound talking points. Because you must appear bubbly and enthusiastic (even when it’s 9 on a Sunday night and you’re really not having it), you develop specific talking points for different kind of customers, and I’ve found this has helped me immensely since leaving Macaroni Grill. Sorority recruitment, for example, is almost entirely short conversations and first impressions. Job interviews are usually similar.

Lastly, you’ll pick up stories of customers, co-workers, kitchen nightmares, successes and failures that you’ll tell for years to come. Whether you worked in hospitality for only a few months (like me) or for years, I think you’ll agree that you come out of the experience with invaluable experiences that you wouldn’t trade for the world.