career diary of a caterer
you've heard the hype - now you can own it for yourself! career diary of a caterer is a 30-day-in-the-life conversational look at running a catering business, including the ups and downs of daily activities, staff members, vendors, and catering events.
author jennifer heigl presents a look at the ins-and-outs of running a catering business with her spouse, chef jeffrey heigl. career diary of a caterer offers readers a glimpse at the multitasking endurance it takes to run a successful food service establishment.
perfect for students, co-workers and colleagues who are dreaming of their own restaurant or catering business, career diary of a caterer is a wonderful gift for all those interested in the catering industry.
what folks are saying
★★★★★ "Five stars! Author Heigl...shares wonderful examples of a few perks of the job as well as why she likes being a caterer. After reading the author's account of a-day-in-the-life, I know that it takes an exceptional person with a lot of endurance, incredible multitasking abilities, and the talent to "think on your feet," in order to be a successful caterer. I highly recommend Career Diary of a Caterer for people interested in the food service industry..."
Cerri Ellis
Reviewer,
ArmchairInterviews.com
★★★★ "Four stars! As most entrepreneurs do, they work in every aspect of the business. This book details 30 days of her job. It shows challenges and solutions. Anyone interested in starting a catering business or a restaurant needs to read this."
Stephanie Collins
Reviewer, ReviewYourBook.com
"Jennifer Heigl's Career Diary of a Caterer is a thorough handbook detailing the day to day responsibilities of the often-challenging-but-always-rewarding real life of a caterer. An essential read for anyone interested in the marketing, cooking, business, management, and financial skills necessary to begin his or her own endeavor."
Courtney Febbroriello
Author of Wife of the Chef
Owner of Metro Bis Restaurant
"Career Diary of a Caterer was easy to read and enjoyable. If you are starting a business in catering, this true account will help you tremendously."
Mary Lou Burton
Owner, Bravo! Publications
an excerpt from the book
Predictions for the Day
Deal with bad weather
Focus on staffing and hiring
Due to a sudden snowstorm in the Portland area we're late getting to the office. Because snowfall in the city is unusual, when it shows up the whole town seems to grind to a halt. Having grown up in Michigan, a small amount of snow doesn't bother me. We make it to the office in plenty of time. Many of the area's schools are closed for the day, but our client is open so the kitchen must remain active. Once we arrive at the shop, Jeff heads to the kitchen to begin his lunch-prep routine. Meanwhile, I plan to concentrate on the resumes we've received so far, since I didn't get to them yesterday. I posted a request for staffers on a local online bulletin board and also distributed this inquiry to several local culinary programs. After a week we've received close to sixty resumes via e-mail and fax, and I sit down at my desk to sort through them.
It's been an interesting experience for me as a business owner. Even though I receive a large number of resumes every time I place a job posting, I'm surprised how few of these respondents are actually qualified for the positions we're trying to fill. Many will claim that serving experience isn't all that important, but we truly want to hire people familiar with banquets and catering. That old adage, "serving is serving," gets bandied about a lot in the food service industry, but working as a caterer is a whole lot different than being a waiter. In a restaurant you deal with individual tables and individual orders, providing a complete restaurant experience that includes discussing the day's specials, taking everyone's order, delivering food to the table, and processing payment. In catering the menu is already decided, so one is usually concerned with replenishing buffet items and busing dirty dishes and silverware. With butlered or plated events, there's a real skill involved in delivering food items efficiently and politely.
We've had problems in the past with servers who lacked catering experience. In several of our early plated events we missed serving tables or delivered the wrong item to the wrong person. In one instance our serving staff passed by an entire table of VIPs, including the woman who hired us for the event. Needless to say, she was not happy about that. Now we have very explicit requirements for the hiring process, which makes the overall procedure much more thorough. Conventional wisdom states that satisfied customers tell five friends about their great experience, but dissatisfied ones will spread the word to as many as twenty acquaintances. People tend to remember bad service more often than good. In a small town like Portland, it only takes a few of those situations and you're out of business.
Today, somewhere around half of the responses I've received have little to no catering experience, so those resumes go directly into the shredder. More than a dozen of these people have no serving experience of any kind. I realize this is a part-time gig, but you'd think folks would understand you need at least some experience to do this job. In the past I've received resumes from environmental scientists, nurses, marketing managers, and even police officers. Another lesson we've learned is to make note of those who've owned a catering business in the past or show a particularly high level of interest in how we operate. We've hired servers who took what they learned from working for us and used that knowledge to open their own catering business as direct competitors. While I admire the entrepreneurial spirit, I find this to be a very sneaky way of showing it. It's not that we're in possession of deep corporate secrets. I simply want to hire friendly, capable people who aren't here to steal our business.
I'm left with eight interview candidates out of 60 respondents. If past experience is any indication, I imagine only two or three will be offered a job. Hiring people is one of my least favorite parts of owning a business, but it's a necessary evil.
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