Hiring Flexible Staff and On-Call Workers Through Your Restaurant Website
A hospitality business doesn’t run on a fixed team alone. Especially on weekends, during the evening shift, or in a busy season, you rely on flexible staff and on-call workers: people who step in when needed, often alongside studies or another job. Your vacancy page is usually written for someone looking for a fixed job with fixed hours. That approach doesn’t work for a flexible worker, who is looking for something different than a candidate for a permanent role.
Why a flexible worker looks for something different
A flexible or on-call worker isn’t mainly looking at a fixed number of hours per week, but at how flexible the shifts are and whether they fit around a study schedule, another job, or simply a busy week. Questions like “can I sign up for the shifts that suit me” and “how much notice will I get” matter more than a fixed roster. A vacancy text that opens with “32-40 hours a week” turns this audience away immediately.
Keep on-call work separate from your fixed vacancies
A flexible worker, much like an intern, is looking for something different than a candidate for a permanent role. So don’t bury on-call work among your regular vacancies; give it its own page or a clearly separate section. That way a candidate who can only work weekends won’t drop off on a text aimed at a fixed team member, and vice versa. We describe the same approach, with a slightly different focus, in Recruiting Interns and Students Through Your Restaurant Website.
What belongs on an on-call or flexible-work page
A good on-call page answers different questions than a fixed vacancy:
- Availability instead of hours: ask which days and time slots someone is available, instead of requiring a fixed number of hours.
- How call-outs work: briefly explain how and when you call people in, for example via WhatsApp or a group chat, and how much advance notice is typical.
- Atmosphere and team: a flexible worker also decides partly on vibe. A photo of the team during a busy evening shift works better than an empty stock photo.
- Room to grow: show that on-call work is sometimes the first step toward a permanent contract.
An example of a short sign-up text for on-call work:
“We’re looking for extra hands for Friday and Saturday evenings, with some flexibility into Sunday brunch. Let us know which shifts work for you and we’ll get back to you quickly. Experience is a plus, a hospitable attitude is a must.”
Same structure, different content
The basic principles of a vacancy page that converts also apply to flexible work: an atmospheric photo above the text, a concrete description, and a form on the page itself. You can read exactly how to do that in the layout that convinces candidates. Just fill it in differently for flexible work: availability instead of fixed hours, and a call-out process instead of an application procedure.
A low-effort sign-up form, not a full application
Don’t ask a flexible worker for an extensive cover letter. A short form with name, contact details, and available days and time slots works better and lowers the barrier to respond. Do you also recruit through an external platform? The same approach applies as for fixed vacancies: read Recruiting Staff Through Your Own Restaurant Website to see how to use Link Hospitality or Soigné for this.
From on-call worker to permanent team member
Many hospitality businesses find their best permanent staff in their pool of on-call workers: someone who first covered a few weekends and then grew into a permanent contract. Show that perspective on your page. Read more about how to build that kind of team in Retaining Staff in Hospitality: How Your Website Helps Build a Strong Team.
How to get started
- Create a separate page or section for flexible and on-call work, apart from your fixed vacancies.
- Ask for available days and time slots, not a fixed number of hours.
- Briefly explain how and through which channel you call people in.
- Put a short sign-up form on the page, without a cover letter.
- Show that on-call work can grow into a permanent contract.
Find the flexible people who complete your team. Try Sitebite and set up a page that fits how flexible workers search.
