I was talking about careers in the world of food, catering and hospitality to some classes of senior students lately and it was revelation to them as to how many opportunities were out there for young, ambitious and hardworking people who were prepared to take a chance on the sector. There is so much negative comment on the industry that young people are dismissing it altogether as a career path. By the time I was finished with them there was definitely a changed perception in the room especially when they hear about my journey giving a life of adventure and achievement and above all complete job satisfaction. Most jobs don’t deliver this.
There is no easier industry to set up on your own either if you have an entrepreneurial streak to be your own boss. You can be up and running after just a couple of years training in this sector if you are hungry for success. There are literally hundreds of different positions connected to the hospitality industry. I like to break the overall sector in to three distinct areas namely the traditional hotel, restaurant, catering and food businesses, then the industrial areas and finally the institutional sector.
All three areas can operate at the many levels from budget to a high class standard of product. There are numerous positions where weekend work is not required, there are always pathways to progress and it is one industry that you can travel the world with which I did myself. Serving a table or chopping an onion is pretty much the same no matter where you are. You can literally back pack your way from country to country with short stay hospitality jobs along the way to cover you costs.
The first sector of catering involves all of the traditional hotel and restaurant locations as well as the likes of resorts, food trucks, fast food, private catering, food production, recipe development, food styling, media and tourism sites to name just a few. The Industrial sector revolves around corporate offices, factories, transport like ships, planes and trains, media and sports catering and finally the institutional sector has the likes of colleges, care homes, associations, hospitals and clubs. Within all of these there are dozens of different titles that can really give you a wonderful career and financial security.
Obviously I went into food and cheffing working in five countries abroad but that led me back home to self employed writing, training, consulting, inspecting and tourism all of which I do now. Then there is management, floor service, bar, wine and cocktails, reception, concierge, accommodation and specialist roles like conferencing, meetings and events or even as a wedding coordinator. Other areas are admin and office work, sales and marketing, leisure, fitness, spa and beauty, all connected to hospitality.
Finally there are even more niche spin off services like education, inspecting, food science, designing, maintenance and even with the many suppliers needed to equip the industry there are another whole list of opportunities. So when it is explained in that much detail to people then it has a much more attractive look about it. For too many students a hospitality job is just a part time pocket money earning stopgap to help pay the rent or social life through college while they wait to qualify and get a real job.
Well jobs do not come more real than in my world and when I see the multitude of workers who trudge in every day to sit in front of a screen in other industries and who hate every minute of their daily grind then you would wonder. They would run out the door in the morning if they got a chance but when you have a profession you love and that you really want to get out of bed in the morning for each and every day, then you know you are on the right life journey.
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