Part-time catering may be the best hustle and bustle of 2021

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The expected wedding season in 2021 is Busiest in ten years And estimate 2.77 million weddings, More than one million more than usual.

This is good news for catering companies, whose revenues will evaporate in 2020, and if you explore this lucrative but undervalued side business, this could be good news for your wallet.

My first contact with catering was when I was in graduate school, when a friend who worked at a catering company offered me a job. I received an hour of training from a human resources company. In my first shift, at a wedding in a historic manor with sea views, I dropped a plate of champagne.

Although I didn’t start well, I still insisted on doing catering. If you work for the right catering supplier, the money is the same, and the allowances add up. As I write this article, I have been eating leftovers all week.

Learn how to start the catering business, how much money you can make, and what skills a catering business needs now.

How to find a local catering job

Event catering service providers are everywhere: big cities, university towns and rural areas are all taking advantage of the trend of rural weddings. Wherever you go, you will find a local catering company. If you find yourself in between work, food and beverage income can give you a buffer until you find something else.

In addition, these tasks are usually carried out at any time on Friday nights or weekends, which is a bonus for Monday to Friday employees who want to make more money.

Given the part-time and seasonal nature of the industry, workers tend to come and go. Therefore, catering companies often recruit.Many caterers like to work with College students coming home from summer vacation or Teachers seeking extra income During their summer vacation.

During the peak wedding season, the best catering companies will hold two or three weddings on the same day. If you want, you can work every weekend.

In many markets, the dining season is not limited to summer weddings. The university town has receptions, graduation ceremonies and university parties. Individuals have private parties with milestones.

The company organizes holiday parties, summer picnics and other employee participation events, although Jackie Spigener, who owns the Silver Sycamore Events Resort, a wedding and event venue in Pasadena, Texas, said that company events have not fully resumed.

If you live in a larger city, there will always be more opportunities, just because food and beverages serve multiple markets, but even in my upstate New York area, if I want, I can go from May to October. Shift every weekend of the month.

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Catering work

Catering work includes bartender, waiter and chef. The work of bartenders and chefs is often performed by people with experience in this position.

A typical dining shift lasts 7 to 10 hours, and you may need to go to the location (I have walked for two hours, but have paid for the travel time). This job is manual labor, it takes a long time, and you will always remain standing.

There are benefits. In an event held in a beautiful place, you will become a fly on the wall. If you are the kind of person who tends to get bored, you would like to have a different working environment, because many catering vendors go to multiple event venues in the area.

“Dining is a very interesting job, because every event is different, you can see a lot of very cool venues and participate in some amazing events,” said Daniel Wolfe, owner of Wolfe and Wine Catering in Houston.

Eating at work

You will be full during shifts; this may be the same food the guest is eating or a separate simple meal. Food that is not provided to guests and will be wasted is usually robbed at the end of the night. I also brought home wedding decorations, bouquets and corkscrews.

This will help if you have previous experience, but it is definitely not necessary.

“If you have the professional ethics and personality of customer/guest service, all catering/food service skills can be trained,” Spigerer said.

Working while dining

Depending on the scale of the event, the caterer may need dozens of people. Some people need high-level cooking skills, but this is not something you might do. Think of you as a muscle, if you want to deal with guests, you are a good waiter.

There are positions for people of all skill levels. E.g:

New employee’s job

  • Refill cup
  • Clean up during cocktail time
  • Clean up after the event

The work of an experienced worker

  • Pass appetizers
  • Care bar
  • Serve the person sitting at the main table

Although I started with a catering staffing company, I don’t recommend it. I am basically a temporary worker to support the staff of the catering establishment, and their income is more than mine.

The agency agreement prohibits temporary workers from being hired by any catering supplier we have recruited, which makes us only able to engage in low-wage, one-time jobs.

Contacting the company directly is a better choice. Although catering companies usually hope to recruit in the spring, this year’s labor shortage means that many are understaffed. You can find the local catering service provider you want to recruit on Craigslist or by searching for event venues and catering companies in your market and contacting directly.

If you know someone who works in a restaurant or hotel with banquet facilities, they might recommend you.

The server sets up the table in the formal event
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How much money can the catering industry make?

Most restaurant workers in the US market receive payments for shifts far below the minimum wage, and most of their money is spent on tips. The hourly wages of catering workers are often competitive, plus tips.

Due to the shortage of labor in the hotel industry, this is a labor market. Employers need to increase employees at the same time, so companies must compete on wages. Contact several companies at the same time, and then choose one or more companies that pay the most.

Hourly rate

Wolfe currently pays $12-15 per hour for waiters and $15 per hour for chefs. Bartenders earn $10 an hour with a tip jar, and $25 an hour without a tip jar. Wolf said that he pays based on the cost of living, and if he is located in a market like California or New York, he might pay 20% to 30% more.

Private gatherings tend to have shorter shifts—the backbone staff will work in someone’s home (or outside), attending a dinner or cocktail party—but the chances of getting a cash tip directly at the end of the night increase significantly.

Spigner said she is currently starting to hire catering staff for $10 an hour.

LaSonya Holmes-Boulware, which owns My Girls dining and food trucks in Greensboro, North Carolina, began offering food and beverage services for $10 an hour and cooking for $15 an hour. Experienced workers can get more remuneration for work elite activities.

What the bosses are looking for

When hiring, Spigerer looks for personality (“polite”) and willingness to participate. Wolfe values ​​punctuality (because “a distraught customer is a lost customer”) and flexibility, because it is difficult to predict when the shift will end.

Attention to detail, good work ethics and positive attitude are the skills he needs most. Holmes-Boulware looks for people who are willing to work on a flexible schedule, such as Wolfe, and prefer those who have experience in activities.

I have worked in restaurants and caterers. In every market I have worked in, hourly wages in the restaurant industry are always higher. The seasonal nature of this job makes it an ideal part-time job. If you can now work with first-class catering service providers, when the demand is high, you can get a lucrative side business as long as you need or want.

Penny Hoarder writer Lindsey Danis is a Hudson Valley writer who specializes in food, freelance advice and personal finance. Her work has appeared in magazines such as Business Insider, NextAdvisor, and Greatist.


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