Post Restaurant Jobs in New York City

Discover the best strategies and tips that employers and recruiters can use to attract top talent for restaurant roles in NYC.

The competition for talent in New York City’s restaurant scene is fierce. Thousands of restaurants vie for the same pool of workers, with data showing that 87% of NYC restaurants struggled with hiring in recent years.

That said, restaurants in NYC need to adopt the right strategies when it comes to attracting potential staff — whether it’s a Chef, Line Cook, Server or Bartender. 

This detailed, step-by-step guide shows how to post restaurant jobs in New York City. You’ll learn everything from writing effective job descriptions to selecting the best job posting platforms that work in NYC.

1. Determine Your Restaurant’s Staffing Needs

Success in NYC’s competitive restaurant market depends on identifying and understanding your staffing needs. Below are some key points you need to consider.

Positions needed for both FOH and BOH

First off, you’ll need to identify the positions you need to fill before you post restaurant jobs in New York City.

A restaurant staff is divided into two core areas: front-of-house (FOH) and back-of-house (BOH).

FOH employees are those who are visible and accessible to customers, such as:

Servers	Bartenders	Baristas
Waiters and Waitresses	Hosts and Hostesses	Restaurant Managers

Meanwhile, BOH positions work behind the scenes. They encompass the kitchen team which includes:

Line Cooks	Prep Cooks	Executive Chefs
Dishwashers	Head Chefs	Bakers

Role-specific skills and qualifications required for each

NYC’s restaurant scene demands specific skills and experience levels for each role. When it comes to management positions, you want applicants with specialized training or extensive experience. 

On the other hand, when it comes to entry-level roles, you can typically afford to be a bit more lenient when it comes to the list of qualifications. 

However, here are essential skills worth requiring across all restaurant roles:

• Communication 
• Teamwork 
• Organizational skills
• Adaptability to work in fast-paced, ever-changing environments
• Attention to detail 

Language skills for the NYC market

Given NYC’s diverse market, it would be good for restaurants to have staff members who are multilingual. 

As such, you might want to consider looking for potential employees who can speak Spanish, Mandarin, Korean or Russian, as these are some of the most commonly spoken non-English languages in NYC. 

Having multilingual employees (especially for FOH) can enhance the customer experience, build stronger connections with diverse clientele and cater to tourists and locals who feel more comfortable communicating in their native language.

Urgency and timeline for hiring

You’ll also need to consider various factors affecting your restaurant’s staffing needs. Start by evaluating the urgency of the roles you need to fill. For example, are you replacing a critical team member like a Head Chef or hiring additional staff for an upcoming busy season?

It’s also essential to align your job posting timeline with key business cycles. In New York City, the restaurant industry experiences significant seasonal fluctuations. The holiday season, summer tourism and major events can create surges in demand, requiring additional staff to maintain service quality. 

Planning ahead for these peak periods ensures you’re not scrambling to fill positions at the last minute.

2. Establish Your Employer Branding

NYC’s bustling restaurant scene has over 47,000 establishments across all five boroughs. Standing out requires more than just simple job listings; your employer branding becomes your competitive edge in this crowded market.

Here are some things you can highlight in your employee branding:

• The restaurant’s origin story and culinary philosophy
• Innovative menu concepts
• Unique dining experiences
• The values of your brand or establishment 

Once you’ve set or refined your employer branding, you can then integrate it into your company’s hiring materials (including job postings!).

3. Create Job Descriptions for Each Position

Writing effective job descriptions plays a significant role in posting restaurant jobs in NYC. Quality applicants respond quickly to well-written job descriptions, yet these remain surprisingly rare in the industry. 

The content of your job postings should reflect your restaurant’s personality while meeting compliance requirements. Every listing must include:

• Overview of the position
• Key duties and responsibilities 
• Required qualifications (e.g., skills, experience and/or education)
• Compensation package (salary or wage, plus benefits and perks)
• Details about the workplace, including its location and the working conditions
• Clear application instructions
• Schedule expectations

On customizing job descriptions

Although you can use AI tools like ChatGPT to provide a basic template for all your job descriptions, personalization remains essential in making your job postings stand out. 

Tailor each description to reflect the specific role, your restaurant’s culture and the qualities you’re seeking in an applicant. 

Also, don’t forget to proofread each job description thoroughly before integrating them into your job posting. This should help you avoid errors that could harm your establishment’s credibility.

Pro tip: Check out OysterLink’s library of job description templates for over 30 restaurant and hospitality roles. 

On posting a salary or wage range

New York State’s pay transparency law requires employers with four or more employees to post a pay range in all job postings. The pay range may either be the annual salary or hourly wage. 

Below is an overview of the NYC-specific average pay for some common restaurant positions. 

Role	Average annual salary in NYC
Host or Hostess	$39,120
Server	$40,041
Waiter or Waitress	$50,860
Bartender	$58,050
Restaurant Manager	$90,180
Dishwasher	$36,220
Line Cook	$48,007
Prep Cook	$41,255
Sous Chef	$67,503
Head Chef	$83,631
Executive Chef	$104,902

Pro tip: To find out the average salaries for various restaurant positions across the U.S., explore OysterLink’s salary guides. 

4. Choose the Right Platforms or Methods for Posting

The right mix of general and specialized job boards plays a crucial role in posting restaurant jobs in New York. Research shows that using multiple platforms and methods boosts qualified candidate discovery by 65%.

Industry-specific platforms

These are the most ideal for posting restaurant jobs in NYC because they connect you directly with a targeted audience of skilled professionals in the hospitality field. 

Moreover, platforms like OysterLink offer special resources like customizable job templates and salary insights to make your process easier.

General job boards

Job sites like Indeed may also provide extensive reach for restaurant positions. Not to mention, candidates looking to switch careers into restaurant and hospitality can easily find these postings.

Online groups or forums related to New York’s restaurant scene

NYC’s restaurant scene thrives in local online communities such as neighborhood Facebook groups or Subreddits like r/AskNYC. These spaces are excellent for directly interacting with locals who might be looking for job opportunities or know someone who is. 

So, go ahead and engage in these communities by sharing job postings and even participating in discussions. Such engagement will help you reach a wider audience and tap into a pool of potential candidates who are already familiar with the area.

Restaurant industry associations

The NYC Alliance and New York State Restaurant Association also provide essential hiring resources. Their job boards attract qualified professionals committed to restaurant industry careers. 

Culinary schools

Partnering with institutions that have campuses in or near NYC — such as the Institute of Culinary Education — is another good way to find fresh talent, especially for culinary roles. These schools maintain exclusive job boards for their students and alumni. 

Borough Chamber of Commerce networks

Each of the five NYC boroughs has a Chamber of Commerce, which utilizes newsletters and social media channels to disseminate information among its residents. 

These networks could then help you easily connect with job seekers who live within the area where your restaurant is located.

5. Optimize Job Postings for NYC Audience

Wherever you choose to post restaurant jobs in New York City, keep in mind that your job postings may also need some optimization to increase reach among local audiences. 

Location-specific keywords

NYC-specific terms can enhance job postings for commonly searched positions like Line Cook or Server. The listings become more targeted by adding neighborhood names and landmarks. 

For instance, you could replace generic descriptions like “Italian restaurant hiring” with targeted phrases like:

• “Central Park West Server position”
• “Tribeca Line Cook opportunity”
• “Williamsburg Sous Chef opening”

Local places and services account for almost half of all internet searches. Maximize visibility with precise location markers such as:

• Borough names (e.g., Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens)
• Neighborhood identifiers (e.g., Tribeca, Williamsburg, Astoria)
• Landmark references (e.g., Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge, High Line)

Location tags and hashtags

Local candidates find job postings easily through location tags (otherwise called geotags, if it’s on social media). 

Visibility increases with city-wide hashtags like #NYCjobs or #SummerJobsNYC. Borough-specific hashtags like #ManhattanJobs and #BrooklynJobs may also help target candidates in particular areas effectively. 

Multilingual posting strategies

NYC’s diverse restaurant talent pool makes multilingual job posts essential. 

With immigrants comprising over 60% of the restaurant workforce, tailoring listings to come in multiple languages can significantly expand your reach and attract applicants of various cultural or ethnic backgrounds.

Key Takeaways

Posting restaurant jobs in New York City requires careful planning and local market awareness in order to stand out amid the city’s talent-competitive landscape.

Each borough presents distinct recruitment opportunities. For instance, Manhattan’s Executive Chef searches may significantly differ from Brooklyn’s Line Cook recruitment. 

Understanding these nuances transforms challenging hiring markets into strategic advantages.