Food & Beverage Supervisor. It sounds like the kind of vacancy Willy Wonka would share on s1jobs – special skills needed for the chocolate factory include harmonising with Oompa Loompas.
While most Food and Beverage Supervisors or Managers will never enjoy a gondola ride on a river of hot chocolate, the job can be fun and is a much sought-after role in the hospitality and catering sector.
Essentially a supervisor is responsible for all those day-to-day operations that see the process of sourcing and preparing raw ingredients into the finished article on diners’ plates.
While this doesn’t involve actually making dishes (Chef would never allow that!), it does involve practically everything else.
A day in your working life can mean managing staff and their wages, ensuring quality control, keeping an up-to-date stock and an equipment inventory, checking health and safety regulations are in place and, finally, offering great customer service.
This last duty is very important: if there’s a fly in someone’s soup or 100 trifles arrive looking like a sea of neon jellyfish, it’s the supervisor or manager who’s often tasked with resolving customer complaints.
Supervisors can work in an incredibly wide range of locations, from five-star hotels and full-admission hospitals to high-class restaurants and holiday resorts.
There’s no need to worry that constantly being surrounded by food and drink, in some cases seven days a week, will see you pile on the pounds.
Why? Because you’ll be on your feet so often ensuring everything and everyone are tip top, you can throw away your gym membership.
Although you don’t need to be a high-flying academic, many employers will like to see relevant qualifications and around two to three years of experience in the food and drink industry, such as time spent as a restaurant manager.
A knowledge of food hygiene and a personal licence are the biggest ‘must tick’ boxes.
Demonstrating you have a head for numbers and some IT skills will certainly help an application, as will the ability to be a motivational team leader who can inspire staff and keep customers satisfied.
Team work is important, too, as you’ll be working with other senior staff members, such as the Finance Director or Corporate Events Manager.
Beyond that, a love of good food and the passion to share this with others, are going to take you a long way in your career.
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