As we all get busier, more and more people turn to catering
and prepared food for their special events. This means that in your studies,
you shouldn’t feel like you have to limit yourself to studying solely for a
career in a restaurant. Growing numbers of newly graduated chefs are striking
out on their own, turning to this field for an alternative culinary
career.
Benefits of choosing catering over traditional restaurant work
While both career choices are fast paced (isn’t that why you chose culinary
work?), catering has a different pace than working in a restaurant. A
restaurant has fast hours, when people wait in line and the kitchen goes crazy.
A catering business has fast days, when everything must be done at once and
ready to go when the guests arrive. It involves coordinating all the dishes at
one time-and usually with a smaller staff. People who open their own catering
businesses often hire their own waiters, or serve the food themselves, so
there’s a lot more multi-tasking on the part of the catering staff. And while
this may sound quick, catering also involves a lot of downtime. Hours may be
spent planning menus with clients, experimenting with new tools and mapping out
a day. After all, few catering companies cover special events seven days a
week!
Negatives of making this career choice
A catering business tends to be less steady than a restaurant. And if you’re
starting at the ground level, it’s unlikely you’ll be needed every day. If you
start up your own catering business directly out of culinary school, you’ll
have to build your own reputation-and you won’t have a storefront to lure
people in. You’ll rely on friends and connections for your business, which is
guaranteed to be slow at times. And you’ll have to invest in a lot of your own
cooking supplies, which can be expensive.
What to do now
If you’re in culinary school and are considering working in catering when you
complete your degree, you should take the time now to find a job or internship
with a catering company. Not only will this provide a prospect for future
employment once you finish your coursework, but it will also give you a
realistic, inside look at how the catering sector works.