Catering Manager
What the work is
Organises and controls the operations of a catering business to provide catering services to clients, including for special events and functions.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Manages event schedules and food preparation timelines to ensure the smooth operation of a catering business
- Manages budgets and financial aspects of a catering business and promotes catering services to attract new clients
- Liaises with clients to determine specific food requirements and preferences
- Oversees the preparation of food and beverages, and purchases supplies for catering events according to dietary requirements
- Arranges for the timely delivery of catering services to a function or event, including setting up equipment to serve food and preserve its temperature
- Manages and supervises staff, including hiring, training and performance evaluation, and ensures compliance with food safety and hygiene regulations
- Maintains records of events, expenses and client information, and finalises transactions between customers and the business
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a fictional catering company running a wedding and a corporate lunch on the same Saturday. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A wedding where the food comes out on time and the couple hug you at the end
- A new staff member who started shaking now carries plates with confidence
- A client who rings the next week to book you for their next three events
Hard days
- A venue with no kitchen, a broken oven and a hundred guests arriving in an hour
- A client who changes the numbers on the morning of the event
- Staff who do not turn up on the biggest day of the month
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 161232, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.