Browsing by Subject "Työssä oppiminen"

The object of this study was to examine waiters’ early career perceptions on learning and professional growth in a new restaurant. Jobs in the restaurant industry are often seen as a low-education jobs that serve as a gateway for young people on their way to their actual careers. However, the industry can also accommodate employees who see themselves working in the industry in the future as well. The purpose of my thesis was to find out what kind of experiences the waiters who started in the target company had during the probationary period in terms of learning and professional growth. The theoretical framework of the study is based on theories of work-based learning and professional growth. In addition, the theoretical framework opens up specific features of the restaurant industry that help form a better understanding of the industry. Six young waiters in the early stages of their careers who started a new job at the target restaurant took part in the study. The interviews were conducted at the end of a 4-month probationary period in the spring of 2019. The interviews were conducted as semi-structured thematic interviews. Data was analyzed using theory-directing content analysis, in which theory guided the analysis. The results of the study revealed that waiters’ work based learning manifested itself in many different contexts and was multidimensional in nature. Learning took place in formal training provided by the employer, but most of the learning at work was perceived to take place during customer service and through interaction with co-workers. The development of professional competence was also perceived as an important measure of learning, from which the waiters felt able to concretely notice that learning had taken place. Professional growth was perceived to have taken place through the self-reflection required for particularly challenging work, although the process of professional growth was at the beginning. From the research results, it can be concluded that learning a new job is a multidimensional process that consists of many factors and also continues beyond the actual probation period.