Skills assessment tips for Cafe and Restaurant Managers

At VETASSESS we assess the occupation of Café and Restaurant Manager for migration purposes. This is a popular occupation and it is important for applicants to understand all the criteria when seeking an assessment.

Here are some tips to help you before you submit your application.

Ensure you have worked for an eligible business for migration purposes

It’s important to fully understand the experience you must have, because not every hospitality business will be accepted as providing the tasks and duties required for this role in Australia.

This occupation is classified under ANZSCO, the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, which sets out the duties of a Café or Restaurant Manager.

The tasks include:

• Planning menus in consultation with chefs
• Planning and organising special functions
• Arranging the purchasing and pricing of goods according to budget
• Maintaining records of stock levels and financial transactions
• Ensuring dining facilities comply with health regulations and are clean, functional and of suitable appearance
• Talking to customers to assess their satisfaction with meals and service
• Selecting, training and supervising waiting and kitchen staff
• They may take reservations, greet guests and assist in taking orders
• Managing staff performance including targets for sales and expenditure
• Managing rostering and scheduling of restaurant/cafe staff.

Someone who has worked with the job title of Restaurateur or Food and Beverage Manager may fit into this classification.

Fast food managers are not covered as café and restaurant managers

Café and Restaurant Managers, as classified by ANZSCO, work in businesses where a range of food is prepared on site by a chef. This reflects the requirements of Australian industry, where employers expect the manager of a café or restaurant to have a wide range of industry skills, such as being able to work on menus with an appropriately-qualified chef, and to buy and order food from outside and according to a budget.

The manager of a business where food arrives prepared, or semi-prepared, would not qualify under this classification.

Fast Food managers can apply for assessment as Retail Managers

If you are concerned that you might not meet the Café and Restaurant Manager criteria, you may consider applying as a Retail Manager.

Fast Food Managers can apply for assessment as a Retail Manager.

The ANZSCO criteria for this occupation include:

• Determining product mix, stock levels and service standards
• Formulating and implementing purchasing and marketing policies, and setting prices
• Promoting and advertising the establishment's goods and services
• Selling goods and services to customers and advising them on product use
• Maintaining records of stock levels and financial transactions
• Undertaking budgeting for the establishment
• Controlling selection, training and supervision of staff
• Ensuring compliance with occupational health and safety regulations.

Know the difference between supervisor and manager

In order to be considered as a Café or Restaurant Manager, you must be responsible for every aspect of the café or restaurant’s performance, including the management of all employees and their occupational development, oversight of establishment operations, management of sales and profit targets, and participation in business planning.

A supervisor may have worked in a role assisting the restaurant or café owner or manager. They might deal with customer complaints, do staff rosters and internal stock ordering, but for this type of assessment they won’t have the level of skill and decision-making required.

We understand the hospitality industry requires its workers to perform many tasks and that people step in to help each other when times are busy. You may have performed managerial duties at times, however, this occupation requires manager-level duties to be part of your normal work and your job description.

Ensure your evidence is clear and can be verified

Restaurant businesses are often owned by companies with a different trading name. If your documents state that you were employed by XYZ Pty Ltd, please explain that this company owns the restaurant trading as Tom’s Café, and give us the address and contact details of the cafe.

You can find the evidence we will require on our website and information sheet for this occupation. We encourage applicants to provide menus as well as photographs of the premises, so we can see what sort of venue it is.

Contact us if your hours were reduced due to the COVID pandemic

Many people had their working hours reduced when businesses closed due to pandemic lockdowns. We look at this on a case-by-case basis so if you are concerned about meeting our requirement for hours worked, please contact us to discuss your situation at migrate@vetassess.com.au.

Understand the assessment evidence for self-employed café and restaurant owners

If you have owned and managed your own café or restaurant you can still apply for a VETASSESS skills assessment, but the evidence you provide will be different.

• Evidence of self-employment such as sole trading or business registration details and/or official statements issued by your (registered) accountant and/or legal team. The statement from your accountant or solicitor must include the accountant's or solicitor's letterhead, your full name, how long you have been continuously self-employed, including official dates in each role, the nature of the business conducted, the signature and contact details of the accountant or solicitor. View our Employment Reference for Self-Employment template.
• A Statutory declaration listing your main duties.
• Payment evidence showing regular income from self-employment, such as client invoices together with corresponding bank statements and/or official taxation records.
• Supplementary evidence, such as contracts with clients or suppliers, client testimonials and evidence of projects completed.

Qualifications for a skills assessment for Café and Restaurant Manager

This occupation requires an Australian Qualifications Framework-level Associate Degree, Advanced Diploma or Diploma (ANZSCO Skill Level 2).

You can fulfil the criteria in a variety of ways and our Information Sheet explains them.

You can find more information and download VETASSESS information sheets here, for

Café and Restaurant Manager

Retail Manager

If you are self-employed, we have a blog that explains our documentation requirements.

VETASSESS Skills Assessment Support service

Finally, we also offer Skills Assessment Support services, where you can discuss your individual circumstances before you submit your application.

We provide a Consultation Service for individuals and for migration agents. An individual applicant can ask us about:

• Educational and skill level requirements
• Whether your qualifications are likely to meet Group occupation requirements
• ANZSCO criteria and the occupational industry environment relevant to the occupation you are considering nominating.

This is helpful if you are concerned about whether your qualifications or employment experience are likely to meet the requirements for an occupation.

We also offer a Document Checking service that checks whether the documentation you are planning to provide for a skills assessment will be sufficient for a Skills Assessment application.

These services can help you to submit an assessment-ready application for an occupation that we assess.

You can find out more about these services here