Tips for a Successful Career in Catering

There are so many roles and positions available in the catering industry and our team at Cucumber Recruitment has experience in just about all of them – even the most overlooked careers in healthcare catering.

Read on for tips for a successful career in catering and advice from our team and how to secure a successful role in the catering industry.

Tips for a Successful Career in Catering

• Develop some sort of career plan
• Talk to your manager about your plan
• Show your willingness to learn and develop your skills
• Share your best practices
• Listen to others
• Share your ideas
• Improve your industry knowledge
• Understand the kind of business you want to work for

Family-friendly roles

Whether you’re looking to work a few part-time shifts or build a career with good prospects, the catering industry can be a great source of family-friendly, exciting jobs.

The general culture of eating out in the UK means that there are always waitress jobs in the catering industry. Whether in a restaurant, cafe, hospital, or care home. For a working mum, waitressing can be an appealing option.

Many parents work a regular lunchtime shift while the children are at school or childcare. Alternatively, you might seek evening or weekend waitressing opportunities, if your partner or childcare provider can look after your child’s evening or weekend meal and bedtime routine.

If you love food and cooking and thrive under pressure, a position in a kitchen as a Chef or similar can be a very rewarding career. You’ll need professional qualifications to work as a chef, either through a foundation degree or a college course.

You’ll usually work at lunchtimes, evenings and weekends, but often shift work is available so that you’re able to balance home and family life. Chef jobs can vary widely – from mass catering in pubs or schools to limited menus in sectors such as healthcare.

Climbing the ladder

Once you have some experience in the catering industry, you can consider catering manager jobs. A catering manager runs the food service within a restaurant, bar, school, college, workplace or food supplier.

This involves making sure there are enough staff and stock, and that customers are happy with their meals. Shift opportunities can be available with these roles, and in many locations, a catering manager will only oversee lunchtime food service – so it can be a good option for parents.

There are of course other jobs in restaurants and catering, from kitchen staff roles and inventory management to marketing and admin roles.

Key Skills

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong organisational and time management skills
• Decision-making skills
• Ability to manage in a diverse environment with a focus on client and customer services
• Good business and commercial acumen
• Strong leadership and motivational skills including the ability to build strong relationships with customers and staff
• The ability to think quickly, work in stressful circumstances and stay calm in a crisis
• Financial, budgeting and stock-taking skills
• Knowledge of food, food hygiene (including hazard analysis and critical control points) and food preparation.

Make a difference

Working in the catering industry within a healthcare setting such as a care home or hospital can be very different from other catering roles. You are dealing with an older generation or patients with health conditions and requirements, so some of the modern cooking techniques in restaurants are not suitable in a care home or hospital. You have to think more about the eating needs and dietary requirements of the residents in a care home, whereas in a restaurant you can be a bit more creative.

The meals you provide in a healthcare setting can make a world of difference to the people to whom you cater. A healthy meal can improve overall mental and physical health and leave a lasting impression on a lonely person in a nursing home or hospital.

Contact our team if you would like to learn more about the available roles in catering.