assistant manager

assistant general manager

general manager

apprentice

associate manager

Nandos

I have worked for Nandos for 5 years now and I can honestly say they are the best company I have ever worked for. 

I originally had an interview 11 years ago but unfortunately, I had to drop out due to a family emergency. I then applied via email 5 years ago and was invited to a group interview, which I loathe. This group interview, however, was great. It was fun, easy-going, and not too demanding. I had an opportunity to talk to the managers that were attending and got to know them. I think I made a good impression on them, as I found out a couple of years after I started that the managers were arguing amongst themselves about which restaurant was going to poach me. 

I would typically arrive around 1-5 hours ahead of my shift, to give the guys any help if they need it and to see how the day has been and how it will progress before the start of my shift. I'll sit in the Staff roo, or on the restaurant floor if it is especially quiet. I will typically be on the tills, but I'll often find myself on the floor or the door. I enjoy being on the till as I can see the whole restaurant from there and help the managers if there is a dispute on the tills. I get on well with my colleagues and we almost always have a good laugh while on shift. The evening will be moderately busy but not heaving, We will typically start closing down at 9 pm, doing all the little things that we can whilst we still have customers until 10 pm. Once customers leave, we then start closing the floor properly. That done, we wait for the shift manager to come and check out work then we go home. Weekends are much busier than mid-week, we have more staff on shift and another manager on to help. We usually get out of the restaurant after we close either bang on the time or a little while later. Occasionally we may get out at midnight or possibly later.  This is one of the unfortunate things of working in a restaurant such as Nandos, but it is all par for the course. 

The management goes through thorough training and has a separate probation period. I get on very well with all our managers, in my restaurant and the other restaurants in our region. They are fair, friendly, and personable.

Thinking back on 5 years of service, things I take away from it all is that Nandos is a friendly, passionate, and caring company that will offer help to all Nandocas and do all they can to help further your career. I have watched many Nandocas come and go through our door and have seen them change, from young adolescence to more mature, sensible young people. Nandos does that to you. It changes you for the better. 

Working for Nandos has given me a lot more confidence in myself and more opportunities to express myself. Before I worked at Nandos, I wouldn't have even have thought have going to a Work Christmas Party, but with Nandos, I feel comfortable going out and have fun with my colleagues. The same goes for our Annual awards ceremony and the annual summer family celebration. This is the best thing for me as I can chat with other Nandocas from other restaurants. I do this whenever I attend the annual Rep Forum. This is an opportunity to meet other Store Reps and learn all that Nandos has achieved in the previous year. It is always a fun day and I learn a lot. 

Nandos lives by 5 values: Family, Courage, Integrity, Pride and Passion. We live these values every single day and by doing this, we ensure that our customers feel it. We show our customers that we are passionate and they see that we care about the company, We show our customers that we have the integrity to do our jobs no matter what is going on around us, We are not afraid to have our mistakes corrected because we learn from them, we will always do what is right no matter what, we will always look out for each other and make new Nandocas feel at home, and we will always always be proud of what we do, in the restaurant and in the wider community.

The chain of Nandos has been grown on the idea of family and integrity,pride in what you do, passion in its service and work ethic but that just does not reflect in its management and staff appreciation.

A typical day at this particular restaurant would include long hours, minimal staff and constant critisism from management.

The base staff would all be a closely knit family and stick together through thick and thin. They would all try and relieve each other from the stresses of work and understand each others problems.

The hardest part of the job was and is the little trust and appreciation that managers show to their staff, the fact that they will say something to their staffs faces and a complete different behind their backs.

How the family values are thrown out of the window and no understanding is shown to their personal needs as long as quotas are met or targets are hit.

There is no appreciation for how many hours the staff do or how hard they work. Very few managers will help the staff in times of need and busy periods and when they do they will always complain and belittle them.

There is no respect when speaking your on mind or trusting your colleagues. There is no respect on peoples abilities,skills or knowledge and ideas. As long as it is not the managers idea, it is wrong. Therefore the idea of having the integrity to speak up and mention your own ideas is thrown out of the window for the simple reason of retaliation.


The most annoying part of this branch is the double faced lies that the management have. The base staff always hear what is being said about them, the guilt tripping staff when they cannot cover a shift or stay later, the inherent expectation that all staff  must stay longer past their shift due to poor rota and shift planning. How all staff are not expected to have a social and personal life outside of work, and the back to back shifts that will end at 2 am and be expected to be back in the morning at 9 and 10 am.

The inherent idea and philosophy of the company is lost and has made many members of staff leave due to having breakdowns from being treated unfairly.

The idea of having a private life is lost when somehow the entire management team will critize you on your actions,relationships outside of work and constant keeping their noses in every persons business and gossip about it and critique it openly with all the member of staff.

I worked at Nando's for about 3 years before deciding to pursue my dream of becoming a Pilot. I had had many jobs before that, mainly in the restaurant industry and they don't even come close. I worked every side of the restaurant (floor, grills, back of house), in multiple restaurants across multiple regions, and even into management. Nando's is a great company to work for. 

Wage: minimum wage for a 25 year old, regardless of age.

FREE FOOD: If, like me, you are young and broke, you will love this! They give you AT LEAST one meal per shift you do and multiple meals depending on your shift length. 

Breaks: You are GUARANTEED at least one break (as long as your shift is longer than 4.5 hours). Breaks are also paid for on your full wage too!

Personal Development & Career Progression: Nando's recognise the desire for progression in their employees and strive to bring out the best in them. Doesn't matter if its confidence issues or personal battles Nando's want to see you excel and really help you to achieve whatever goal you may have. 

Staff days/nights out & Regional parties: Every few months Nando's holds big regional parties in a privately hired venue with pre-paid drinks and a chance to let your hair down, meet new people and catch up with friends from different restaurants. 

Meeting new people: After a while of working in your restaurant you may be asked to cover a shift in another restaurant in the region, either by yourself or with friends from your restaurant. this is a great opportunity to make new friends then when you go to your regional parties you have an even better time!

Great Management: The managers hired by Nando's are based on their character as well as their ability to perform. Gaining that perfect balance of friend and colleague happens naturally and therefor naturally makes you want to become a better employee. 

Contracted Hours: Nando's refuse to offer 0 hour contracts and therefor you are guaranteed hours every week. This means going to the bank to apply for a loan or credit card, getting a living space of your own etc is not a problem! Also puts your mind at ease knowing you have guaranteed hours coming up!


Nando's realise that if your staff are happy, their customers are happy. So what are you waiting for? Find your sense of Pride, Passion, Courage, Integrity and Family now! (You'll get what I mean by that when you apply! ;) )

Working in nandos has its advantages and disadvantages. If you want to work in Nandos, I would advice you to work in a small restaurant and not a big restaurant. They can be fun times and really stressful times. I have been working In nandos for 15 months now. Not gonna lie I am kind of tired of the job and the main problem in working in nandos is there is a language barrier. Most of the staff can't speak English fluently and this is a major problem because they make a lot of mistakes and you have angry customers going on that they didn't order this and so on. 

Another problem is the management team. They sometimes abuse power. They say we are not allowed to be on our phones during our shift but they go on their phones and sometimes make a phone call to loved ones during their shift and constantly taking cigeret breaks. It's double standards. Just because you are manager doesn't mean you should abuse your position. 

Another disadvantage about working in nandos is the long hours. If you are doing fulltime, God help you. You could start your shift at 11 in the morning and finish at midnight and get home around 2am in the morning. During those shifts, you have double shifts so say you start at 11am, you could finish your 1st shift at 3pm and start again at 5pm to midnight. But sometimes you get good shifts like 11am to 5pm for the whole day

The positive stuff about working in nandos is you build a strong friendship/family like with your colleagues, we have football tournaments with other nandos restaurants that are in our region and the winner in our region qualifers for another tournament where they will be competing with other restaurants around the country. We have good laughs and have staff day outs and the Christmas parties are the ones.

Also on your break, you get free lunches and if you are doing a double shift, you get 3 breaks and two meals. 

Nandos also helps you grow and it is good for your CV and it boosts your confidence. 

If you are the lucky ones, you can grow in nandos and make your way up gradually to buddy and from there to supervisor and from there up to Manager (1st and 2nd assistant) and who knows, you could become Patro (General manager)

The Nando's company has supported me in pursuing my education and as such has been flexible with regards to my shifts and training.

A typical day at work is incredibly past paced and sometimes stressful, but the management team and staff do their best to be supporting and keep the environment as light-hearted as possible. As a Co-ordinator and Griller, I am in the most high pressurised part of the restaurant. Luckily, everyone in the team does their best to help each other.

As a Buddy Trainer, my co-workers are actually the staff who I help train and supervise. This means that the work that my colleagues and I put into them is partly reflected in the work they put into the restaurant. Combined with their positive attitudes, we have now got a fantastic team of young people. The Nando's motto is that everyone should stick together and help each other, and this strong ethic of team work comes through every day.

The Management are lovely and are people who I consider to be friends. They will always go out of their way to help their staff, stay behind well after their shift has ended to support you and will get involved in the restaurant as much as they can.

One of the best parts of being a Buddy Trainer is the responsibility. I have my own group of staff to monitor and train. From taking on a slightly managerial role, I have learned how to complete paperwork and organise training session. Also, I can frequently liaise with management and have learned how to network positively across other stores. Now, I have great links with various managers across the West Midlands.

During my time, I have learned how to transfer my psychological knowledge of learning disorders and personality into the workplace. Typically, I can take any member of staff aside and assess their training needs on a more therapeutic level, which means I can organise a session which people will be most responsive to.

The hardest part of the job is career progression. Often, one person has to leave for another person to be trained to take their place. This means that currently, I cannot progress any further in the company.

I've worked in Nando's for a number of years as I am a student and the flexible hours that restaurants permit have made it easy for me to keep going. 

Overall it has been a positive influence on my life; however speaking on behalf of other people who work there full-time, it isn't an environment that is particularly fulfilling if you are just a cashier or floor/kitchen staff.

Like many other restaurants, Nando's are quick to exploit cheap foreign labour, and the labour turnover is extremely high, with European nationals benefitting from the job as a good way of learning English. But as soon as they become proficient, they leave. 

This high labour turnover makes it hard to maintain strong relationships with colleagues because your staff are forever changing. 

Moreover, the low pay (£7-£8 per hour with no tips) means that for some, they will work 40+ hours a week and still barely bring enough home to pay their bills. It is quite sad to see. In other types of restaurants where tips are given to staff, I can imagine that they would be more financially secure but the fast-food environment that Nando's has created does not permit these luxuries.

Instead of individual tips, Nando's staff have days out that are paid for by a collective pot. But these days are few and far between and are often threated with cancellation if we do not work hard enough.

Management have predominantly been very good at keeping a nice fun atmosphere which has been great and I've worked with some really lovely people over time.  

In recent years I have been disappointed that there has seemingly been a culture shift in the business, diverting away from customer service and more on profit and revenue. Which, yes does bring in more money, but as the staff are not fairly rewarded for the wealth they are creating, it leads to an atmosphere of overworking and underpaying. 

If Nando's were to be more progressive with their labour model, and look to increase staff wages, have higher pay for those who get called in to work on days-off; they would find their labour turnover would decrease and their staff would be more productive and happier in the role.

If your looking for a job that provides you with employee loyalty? Job rotation? Fair pay for the stress? Well don’t work at Nandos, despite the “free meal”,“paid every Friday” and “discounts at others” the overall job role is very bad, for my experience I was not given the proper training on every station and often found myself either doing the tasks wrong or trying myself. If your looking for a job rotational role you won’t get that. Throughout my year and 2 month employment I was constantly put on back grill which lead to a decrease in my mental health to a point a managers attitude and actions lead me to my first mental breakdown. I was given false promises of switching things up but it only lasted a week and at the point I knew nothing would change even if I said. For a company that values themselves on employee loyalty and understanding people as humans, they are not that, as they only care about you working and not your personal life. I was given no choice to leave despite me wanting to stay. The overall stress is not worth it as your often in positions where the expectation outweighs your capabilities. In a restaurant you do find yourself hating or loving the staff but the toxic work culture surrounding the staff is trickled down from management to staff with you often finding out how managers talk bad about you for who you are and the things you say, as someone who is very open and always pushing the boundaries on certain topics I was given the freedom to express my opinions freely but knew it was disliked. Having found out why my requested time off was not approved I was furious to know the reasons why and knew my time had come. Every 1/4 you get a staff survey and when speaking about ways you want to be recognised a “free staff drink” is all you get. Looking for a job that provides enough hours to pay bills then unfortunately this is not the one as you are given low hours and more days a trick they often use. “More hours!” Unfortunately you won’t get this but they will hire “more bodies” and this is one of the reasons why half the staff are leaving and the rest searching for other jobs, so if you want a place for free food and added stress to your life then Nandos is perfect for you.

I suffer from mental health issues and it seemed as if the managers had barely any training on how to deal with it which is extremely worrying. I’d receive no feedback at all during working hours and would only receive it during appraisals. This made me feel uncomfortable as it seemed like I was being talked about behind my back when I’d much rather be told in the moment! When my manager was confronted about this, they stated that they were too scared to tell me in the moment as they were worried they’d cause a panic attack etc - which is not encouraging at all and shows little belief in me as a Nandoca. 

The ‘family’ atmosphere is used as an excuse to have staff be rude to you and do more hours than you should be doing. Due to hospitality struggling at the minute, everyone is stressed and this is definitely taken out on the staff. We had to stay sometimes 2 hrs after close (on top of the hour designated for closing) to make sure that everything was cleaned properly due to Nandos not hiring a cleaner. On some shifts there were only two of us closing FOH.

As well as this, many staff, including myself, felt completely taken advantage of and received no encouragement whatsoever. We were constantly told we were not good enough and would be compared to the time before the pandemic, when there was a lot more staff and also a cleaner, which gave us unreachable goals causing several of us to feel inadequate and consider quitting.

I was also told that my lack of focus was starting to effect Nandos as a business and that I was ‘doing ten jobs at once and not finishing any of them’. Realistically, I shouldn’t have had ten jobs to do in the first place! I am good at multitasking, but when you’re constantly told that you aren’t good enough over things you can’t control, it just makes you feel hopeless.

To summarise, I think that Nando’s should give ALL staff more training as well as realising how hard their staff work. If none of the staff are managing to reach the goals you’ve set (that haven’t been changed since pre pandemic) - maybe it’s not the staff’s fault.

So a typical day at work for me is to oversee the running of the restaurant. Opening up, counting the safe and tills and ensuring all the monies are balanced. Setting up the restaurant for opening which includes food preperation with our strict health and safety guidelines, organising the staff rota for the day, ordering stock and recieving deliveries. Thats just before we open. Then, once we are open to the public, i ensure that every customer has a great experience in our restaurant. I also need to organise my staff breaks, keep an eye on my hot food levels, organise cleaning breaks and re-stocking of the cold hold items. Finally, ensuring that everything is extremely clean and adhereing to health and safety standards, in preparation to hand-over to the night shift manager. 
         I have learnt a vast amount of things during my time here, from stock ordering to adhereing to strict health and safety guidelines, how to stay calm under pressure and dealing with the unexpected. It has all been an invaluable experience for me.
         Having previously been in a management position, I was surprised at just how different working here was. It has totally opened my eyes as to how a manager should "manage" It is very hard work but incredibly rewarding when you get compliments from your fellow staff and customers alike. 
           My co-workers are like a second family to me. They are like no team I have worked with previously, their strength, determination and utter willingless to literally go to war for me is unparalled. They are the ones who get you through a bad day and skip with you on a good day. 
           The hardest part of my job is dealing with low staff morale, which doesnt happen often but right now, is as our Patrao is leaving. (She has been with us for over 10 years) I think everyone is a little concerned as to what will happen to the restaurant once she leaves... its all a fair bit uncertain. 
           The most enjoyable part of my job is working with my staff and the general public. Its what ive always done and think i shall continue to do so.

A typical day at Nandos involves setting up for the day such as counting tills/safe, making sure the restaurant is safe and clean, preparing relevant paperwork. During the day you supervise shifts, serve customers and answer queries, make sure critical safety checks are being done such as food temperature. In the evening is vice versa to the morning preparing the store to close. All this on paper sounds pretty straight forward but it’s a very fast paced environment and many jobs can very quickly fall on you at once. 

I have learnt a lot of skills such as communication, punctuality, time management and organisation. They have provided with a free first aid course  and management training. 

The Management are good at listening to your worries but having the time to sort them is an issue. As being part of the Management team I understand there is a lot of things to balance and tasks can be easily forgotten.

The culture of the company is amazing and the things it does for charity are wonderful. The vibe really is exciting and genuine. But that isn’t reflected into the work side of the restaurants unfortunately. A lot of the staff don’t seem to want to be there and are glad when their shifts come to an end. It’s disappointing really as working there compared to learning on courses and reading up on the background of Nandos are two completely different things. 

The hardest part of the job are the random shifts and long hours it really contradicts the idea of having good work life balance which they’re big on. I find my split days off in which are all the time I spend my day recovering from running around all day.

I do enjoy making the amazing food and talking to the customers but finding the time to genuinely do this is difficult from being so tired. 

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