Building a Career in Top Restaurant Groups: Interview with Paul Downie 

Paul Downie: As the Director of Service and Hospitality for our group, my job is to ensure that everyone in the company truly understands the nuances between service and hospitality—their differences, their close similarities, and, most importantly, their interdependence. It’s about guiding our teams to perform at their absolute best, always with the guest experience at the heart of everything we do. 

Paul Downie: I started in hospitality at 17, just looking to earn some pocket money while still in high school. My first job was as a dishwasher in a small café in my hometown of Canberra, Australia. From there, I moved up to barista, then server, and kept working my way up. Eventually, I decided to attend hospitality school in Canberra—and the rest is history. That was 30 years ago, and I’ve never looked back. 

Paul Downie: You have to be careful—you have to take care of yourself. Hospitality is tough, both physically and emotionally. You’re often working when everyone else is off, missing weddings, parties, and celebrations while making sure others have a great time. It takes a lot out of you.

The key to longevity is balance.

Prioritize rest, relaxation, and self-care to sustain a long and fulfilling career in this industry. 

Paul Downie: I think it’s still a prevalent issue, just as it is in many high-pressure industries like finance. When the work is long and intense, people need a way to decompress.

In hospitality, shifts often end well after midnight, and it’s common for teams to go out for drinks afterward. It’s easy for that to get out of balance. The good news is that awareness is growing, and more support groups are emerging.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to balance—taking care of yourself and making sure you don’t let the stress of the job take over. 

Paul Downie: I think hospitality school is important, but no more important than practical experience. Many people enrol with the goal of becoming hospitality executives, and while learning finance and strategy is valuable, the real challenge comes when you step into the industry itself. There are some fantastic hospitality schools out there, but I often have students reach out to me for advice, and they don’t always like my response. 

I always tell them: go and get real-world experience. If you’re studying hospitality at university or college, take a job as a dishwasher, a busser, or a host. Learn what it’s like on the ground.

You can’t fake experience in this industry, and hospitality is all about leading people. If you graduate with a great degree from a prestigious school but expect to walk straight into a management role without ever having worked in a restaurant, hotel, or bar, you’ll be at a massive disadvantage. 

My advice? Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. Understand the roles of the people you’ll one day be leading and earn their respect by knowing what it takes to do the job firsthand. 

Paul Downie: How long does it take to move from entry-level to management? Well, that depends—it’s like asking, ‘How long is a piece of string?’ There are so many factors, but ultimately, it’s up to you. 

First, you need a natural aptitude for hospitality. High emotional intelligence, humility, and—above all—empathy are essential. The best hospitality professionals anticipate guests’ needs before they even realize them. If you bring something to a guest and they say, ‘That’s exactly what I wanted—I didn’t even know I wanted that,’ then you’re doing it right. 

Climbing the ranks in hospitality isn’t just about experience; it’s about attitude.

A great mentor or teacher can accelerate your growth, but if you don’t genuinely enjoy taking care of people, this industry might not be for you. 

If making people happy brings you joy, hospitality can be incredibly rewarding. But if you lack patience or don’t find fulfilment in serving others, it can feel miserable. Success in this industry comes down to passion, awareness, and a willingness to put others first. 

Paul Downie: I’m currently involved in one of our new openings in Washington, D.C., and I interview multiple candidates every day. 

If you want to get hired, focus on three key things, and you’ll be 90% there: 

• Be Early. Arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of time—punctuality matters. 

• Present Yourself Well. Dress appropriately, be well-groomed, and look professional. 

• Come Prepared with Questions. Show that you’ve thought about the role and are serious about it. 

There’s nothing worse than reaching the end of an interview and asking, ‘Do you have any questions?’—only to hear, ‘No, I think you covered everything.’ That signals a lack of preparation and interest. 

If you can do these three things—arrive early, look the part, and ask insightful questions—you’ve already done most of what it takes to land the job. 

Paul Downie: A lot of people shy away from talking about money, but it’s actually one of the most important things to ask about—especially if the pay varies. 

Don’t be afraid to ask about the salary range and working conditions. It’s completely reasonable to ask, ‘What is the pay range for this position?’ or to state how much you’re looking to earn. 

You should also ask about the hours and what the work environment is like. Interviews should be a two-way street, giving job seekers a real feel for the role. The more informed you are, the better decision you can make. 

Paul Downie: I like to ask quirky questions like, ‘How do they get the shell and color on M&Ms all the way around without any markings?’ or ‘Why is a manhole cover round?’ 

It’s not about knowing the right answer—I don’t even know the answers myself. What I’m really looking for is the reaction. If someone can roll with it, keep the conversation flowing, or even make something up in a fun way, that gives me confidence they’ll be comfortable interacting with guests and handling unexpected situations. 

I started asking these kinds of questions as icebreakers. They help candidates relax and show that our organization has a lighthearted side. After all, we’re in the hospitality business—our job is to create great experiences. Some of the best, most memorable responses I’ve heard weren’t true, but they were delivered with humor and confidence. And sometimes, those moments lead to great long-term working relationships. 

Paul Downie: Just be honest. If you’re applying without a lot of experience, that’s okay—everyone has to start somewhere. In that case, list your hobbies and interests. Even if they aren’t directly related to the job, they give you a way to start a conversation and show some personality. If you don’t have much experience but have a ton of personality, find a way to make that shine. 

If you do have experience, highlight it accurately. Lately, we’ve seen some extraordinary resumes, but unfortunately, not all of them are 100% truthful.

Hospitality is a small world—it takes just a quick text or phone call to verify if someone actually worked where they claimed. If your experience doesn’t match what you say in the interview, it raises red flags. 

Ultimately, no one expects every candidate to be a superstar. What hiring managers want is someone who is honest, willing to learn, and ready to contribute. It’s far better to be truthful than to embellish and get caught later—you have to prove yourself in the role, and if your resume was exaggerated, that can lead to problems. Integrity and a willingness to grow go a long way in making a lasting impression. 

Paul Downie: That is such a wonderful question, and it’s something that we think about a lot. 

How do we attract the younger generation, and how do we deal with the fact that the younger generation has changed? 

They’ve certainly changed after the arrival of the smartphone, and then certainly after COVID—something shifted as well. 

And it’s not… it’s a very common story, you know, in all industries. I think that the younger generation has different expectations about work, has a different estimation of their own worth a lot of the time. 

And look, we can’t make blanket statements. There are certainly—what we look for in hospitality are people who have that spark, right? And who show that they have that something, that X factor in them. 

And I’m so overjoyed to say that we do find them—the people that love to serve, the people that seem to have a natural talent for reading the room and reading the guests. They still exist. They’re just not as common as they used to be, you know? 

So, it’s a hard question to answer. And it’s one that we ask all the time. 

I don’t know if we can. I think we can just be truthful. 

And make it clear that the restaurant business is not as glamorous as maybe it’s made out to be on social media or other media. And it is hard work, but it is rewarding. 

And I suppose it just makes it harder for us to find them. But they’re out there. 

How to attract them? I don’t know, because you’ve always been trying to attract a certain type of person, right? Someone who has that love for service. And service—not in a subservient sense. 

You know, someone once said that there’s a certain nobility in service, in helping people have a nice time. 

And it’s something that’s real, and it still exists. People still have it, but it’s just harder to find these days, I suppose. 

Paul Downie: Mentorship is incredibly important. 

And I don’t think it’s… certainly in this country, there’s not enough formal structure around mentorship, and I wish there was. 

To be able to help guide people through it, you know, to help young people stay on the right path—because it is full of temptations and distractions. 

And there’s a lot of adrenaline that happens in it, too. Like, people come off a heavy shift in a busy restaurant, and they have to go out and decompress. 

They can’t go straight to bed because their adrenaline is up there. It’s been pumping through their veins, and they need time to decompress. 

And again, they have to be careful about how they do it. 

But I wish mentorship was more formally organized, and there were more opportunities for people to be shown the right way through. 

I wish I knew how they got the color all the way around the M&Ms… because maybe one day, someone would ask me. 

But real advice? Expect this industry to be hard. Anything worthwhile is. 

If you don’t love creating amazing experiences for people, hospitality might not be for you. But that doesn’t mean you have to be guest-facing—there are incredible people in finance, logistics, and strategy who make it all work. They may not be outgoing, but they share the same passion for service. 

If you’re on the front lines, remember it’s not about you. It’s about the guests. Sometimes they’re having a bad day, and it might come out on you. But it’s rarely personal. 

The people who thrive in this industry see that as a challenge—How can I turn this around? And when you do? That moment when a frustrated guest walks out smiling, thanking you for making their day better? 

That’s magic. And it never gets old.