Stand Apart From the Crowd — Join a Poached Shifts Roster To Be Prioritized for the Best Shifts
Poached Shifts is bringing more flexibility to working in the hospitality industry. You can pick up work when it fits your availability and make extra money—all while networking and growing your skills.
Sounds like a pretty good gig, right? Many other hospitality workers agree, so picking up shifts can be competitive.
There are two ways to increase your chances of getting the shifts you want.
First, you want your Poached Profile to be flawless. The second is to join an employer’s Shift Roster so you’re prioritized for that employer’s future shifts.
In this article, we’ll review the latter and dive into why you want to join a roster and how to do it. If you want to learn more about improving your Poached Profile, you can read about that here.
What Is the Poached Shifts Roster?
Think of the Shift Roster as being a part of a hand-selected on-call team through Poached. It’s basically a feature where employers can add preferred workers for their shifts.
Employers ensure their shifts go to the workers they’re confident will do a great job, and workers build relationships with their preferred employers.
When an employer builds a roster, they can prioritize those workers for their shifts or limit their shifts so only rostered workers can book them.
There are three ways to get rostered through Poached:
1. Employers can invite you via email.
2. Employers can add you after a shift when paying their invoice.
3. Employers can browse the profiles and ratings of workers nearby and invite those who seem like a good fit (another reason to ensure your profile is in tip-top shape).
Employers can roster you for a specific location and/or job category (like cook, server, or bartender) or they can roster you to pick up any shift they post for any location.
Why Do I Want To Join a Roster?
Joining a roster gives you a leg up when picking up shifts and comes in handy as things get competitive.
Once you’re on a roster, we notify you via push notification whenever a new shift is available so you can be the first to pick it up.
Also, as mentioned earlier, employers can allow only rostered workers to pick up a specific shift or prioritize their roster.
When prioritizing rostered workers, we give them a 6-hour window to pick up a shift before we open it up to others on our platform.
Beyond helping you get the best shifts first—joining a roster also allows you to develop a relationship with the employer and their team.
You’ll become more familiar with the job and job site so that you can learn and grow and feel more confident when you do work.
Additionally, many employers use Poached Shifts to hire someone for full-time employment. So being on a roster and working a series of shifts with an employer is a great way to network and ensure you enjoy working somewhere before agreeing to employment.
How Can I Join a Roster?
1. Complete Your Poached Profile
Not only is the Poached Profile a requirement to work with Poached Shifts, but it’s also the first thing an employer see’s when you book their shift.
If your experience doesn’t match the role they need help with, they can decline your booking to open it up for someone else.
You don’t want to rush through building your profile. Be sure to list all relevant work experience and highlight your skill set. Also, read the description closely before picking up a shift to ensure your work history aligns with the job.
2. Be Punctual
Once you’re booked for a shift, arrive on time or early to get situated and avoid any last-minute delays.
Employers are counting on you to fill an important role—so you want to offset any anxiety. Just showing up on time goes a long way in the hospitality world.
Give yourself time to review the menu, ask questions, and get comfortable with your tasks.
3. Stay Professional
By staying professional, I mean honoring yourself with integrity, reliability, honesty, and accountability. Employers can rate you after a shift, so you want to make a good impression.
Some examples of professionalism while working with Poached Shifts include: following our guidelines, keeping communication open with our Customer Success team, following requirements set by the employer, being friendly with other staff members, submitting your invoice promptly— and more.
4. Build Your Reputation
The more you work with Poached Shifts and maintain a good reputation on our platform, the better your chances are of staying booked for a Shift and being asked to join a roster.
Since employers can search for nearby workers and view profile ratings, someone could invite you to join their roster without ever working for them. This happens when you have a great profile and a high rating.
5. Ask To Join the Roster
If you book a Shift and feel like you did a good job and got along with everyone, don’t hesitate to ask the employer to add you to their roster!
Let them know that you enjoyed the shift and you’d like to work for them more often as shifts come up.
Employers enjoy rostering workers because it gives them more security their shifts will be picked up, and being assertive can go a long way.
Poached Shifts can be a fantastic opportunity for hospitality workers to take control of their careers and income. But, as more employers build their Shift Rosters, shifts that are open to the public go quickly.
When working through Poached Shifts, you’re your own business. You want to be sure you’re putting your best foot forward, gaining that experience, and building that reputation, and you’ll be rostered in no time.
