(NAPSI)—If you’re considering a career in the food and hospitality industry—or already have one—a new tool can help you take a big bite of success.

That’s because the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF)—the philanthropic foundation of the National Restaurant Association—created a Food and Beverage Service Competency Model. It’s the first ever designed expressly for the restaurant and food service industry.

That industry trains America’s workforce, offering one in three Americans their first job. It’s also one of the nation’s largest employers. Currently, a million restaurant and food service outlets employ more than 14 million workers.

The skills learned and developed within the industry range from employability to technical and business leadership and management skills. The Model charts the knowledge and abilities needed to start and move up in restaurant sector employment. And, it demonstrates the personal effectiveness competencies, academic competencies, workplace competencies, industrywide competencies, industry-sector competencies, occupation-specific requirements and management competencies necessary for success.

The Model, funded in part by the NRAEF, is part of the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration’s Industry Competency Model Initiative and profiles the employability and technical skills essential to achieving lifelong career success in the industry. It’s interactive and available on the U.S. Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop website (www.dol.gov/dol/topic/training/onestop.htm)—along with 26 other high-growth industry sector competency models including construction, energy, health care, retail, and advanced manufacturing.

Each model helps aspiring employees and entrepreneurs understand what they need to know and master to advance within each industry and the fruitful career pathways available.

Learn more at www.NRAEF.org and (800) 424-5156.

On the Net:North American Precis Syndicate, Inc.(NAPSI)