This post brought to you by National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The content and opinions expressed below are that of upstartHR.

Earlier this week we looked at the importance of restaurant experience as a valuable tool for entry level self starters. Today we’ll continue with a glimpse into just how deeply rooted restaurant work experience is within the American workplace and what that means for future career growth. Here are a few stats from the infographic below that highlight this trend:

• 69% of of employees ages 18-24 had their first job in the restaurant industry. This shows the impact of the industry in starting young people on a career path.
• Many in the industry continue their education while working at restaurants. 64% of bartenders, 49% of managers and 41% of servers are enrolled in a four-year college or university. In addition, 48% of industry business operation employees are enrolled in graduate school and 45% of chefs or cooks are enrolled in hospitality or culinary arts programs. The industry allows for employees to further their education and careers.
• Many of those employees are planning to stay in the industry, showing the long-term career prospects in the industry. 72% of business operations managers, 69% of chefs or cooks and 56% of restaurant managers plan to continue working in restaurants after graduation.

I don’t know about you, but I am pretty astounded at the scale and professionalism demonstrated by these figures.

This isn’t a profession where people “settle” for a position in the restaurant industry. The data shows that workers in this field are actively learning and growing, and many of them plan to continue working in the industry even after graduating. Anything else in the infographic below seem particularly interesting to you?

Infographic (Full size graphic here: Building Blocks)

Click here to review the other posts in this series:

A Good Place for Entry Level Self Starters