Whether you have just left school or are looking for a new career, entering the catering industry is well worth considering. The catering industry is an extremely busy one, and there is lots of interesting work available within the sector. Possibly most importantly, regardless of the economic climate there are always catering jobs available. People cannot go without food, therefore there is always work within the catering industry if you are willing to be flexible.
Working in Catering Can be challenging
It is important to understand that if you work in the catering industry you will undoubtedly be signing up for long, rather unsociable hours. Regardless of whether or not you decide to work in a restaurant or work for a firm of event caterers, you will normally have to work quite long days. While this may seem undesirable this also means that you do get large blocks of time off in between shifts. You may find yourself working three or four twelve-hour days with two or three days off followed by another four of five ten to twelve hour days. Life in a restaurant can be seven days in a row of twelve hour days however.
You also have to bear in mind that you will be on your feet for much of this time and that the there is little chance of respite. In most cases, there will be periods where you will be crazy busy, so you have to be able to think on your feet and adapt. It is also important to understand that in many roles you will actually be dealing with the public face-to-face, which for most of the time will be an enjoyable experience. However, occasionally you will be faced with unhappy and angry customers, so you must be able to cope with this.
Finding Catering Work
Of course, there is always plenty catering work available depending on how flexible you are willing and able to be. Once you have started working in the industry you will build up connections and will secure some work by word of mouth.
However, by far the best place to find catering jobs is the internet. Most firms now use specialist recruitment agencies who advertise only catering and hospitality jobs to fill their vacancies. On these websites, you can find out which roles are available in your area and apply for them simply by filling out your details online.
To find work, within the catering and hospitality industries from one of the leading specialists, visit the caterer.com catering recruitment website. There you will find hundreds of interesting and well paid jobs.