Catering Services Job Description
A caterer is someone who prepares and serves food to a group of people. Some caterers own their own businesses, providing meals and buffets for special occasions, such as wedding receptions or banquets. Others are full-time employees who work for industries ranging from hotels to casinos to sports and entertainment arenas.
Other People Are Reading
-
Basics
-
Self-employed or not, caterers have to be accomplished chefs if they hope to get hired. Not only must they understand how to make a wide-array of foods, but they also need to understand the value of presenting it. A good caterer must decorate a room with items such as table clothes and silverware to match the occasion and often finds herself managing a staff of servers, bartenders and cooks. Catering an event is much like managing a restaurant for a day--or several days, depending on the occasion.
Skills
-
On top of possessing top-notch culinary skills, a caterer needs to be highly organized and creative, with strong communication skills. He should be energetic, driven and have an ability to keep things moving because most caterers have to juggle many tasks and supervise many different types of workers. If a caterer runs his own business, he also must understand how to market himself, as well as balance books and hire and train help.
-
Background
-
When hiring a caterer, most companies look for candidates who have experience cooking for large groups of people. Aspiring caterers can learn many of the desired traits by attending culinary school or being a chef in an established and respected restaurant. Also, according to StateUniversity.com, "Another way to prepare for a catering career is by earning a family and consumer science degree or a restaurant management degree from a four-year college."
Prospects
-
Since catering is such a wide-ranging trade featuring a large number of individually owned companies, there is really no firm data on the industry's outlook. The good news is the concept of catered events has been around for a long time, with no signs that it will go out of style. "With continued growth in the food and services industries throughout the United States, catering firms will be in demand to handle wedding receptions, parties, luncheons, business functions, and other events through 2014," reported StateUniversity.com.
Earnings
-
According to PayScale.com, catering managers earned a median salary of anywhere from $30,000 to more than $50,000 per year in February 2010. Much of a caterer's salary was determined by the industry in which he worked, and mostly, by experience. Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that food servers outside of restaurants earned a median hourly wage of $9.32 in May 2008.
-
References
- Photo Credit Food image by robootb from Fotolia.com
