Career guide: hospitality and catering

Have you already got your qualification and want to know what you can do with it? Or are you just starting out and are ready to be inspired by the opportunities available in this exciting, varied and fast-paced industry? Read on to find out more.

The hospitality and catering industry covers hotels, restaurants, pubs, events, weddings, health spas, holiday resorts and everything in between. You could find yourself…

• Crafting chocolate and confectionary

• Managing a fine dining restaurant

• As a head chef on a luxury cruise ship

• Mixing cocktails at a trendy bar

• Being a concierge at an exotic holiday resort

• Managing the catering for a wedding

• Sourcing ingredients for a restaurant menu

• Being the manager for a chain of busy pubs

• Owning your own restaurant

• Training to be a sommelier for a wine merchants

• As head of housekeeping for a world famous hotel

• Brewing craft beers for a microbrewery

• Styling food for magazine editorials

• Pouring the perfect coffee as a barista

• And many other exciting opportunities

What’s it like working in the hospitality and catering industry?

Working hours – the nature of the hospitality and catering industry means you are likely to be working irregular hours with busy shifts, especially over public holidays and weekends. However, it can be exciting and many people in the industry thrive in the fast-paced environment.

Customer-focussed – the hospitality and catering industry is all about creating a positive experience for your customers, whether they be diners in a restaurant, hotel guests, a couple planning their wedding or the after-work drinking crowd.

What qualifications do I need?

We offer a range of hospitality and catering qualifications including in:

Bakery, patisserie and confectionery 

Food and beverage services, and food industry skills

Professional technical qualifications

Once you’ve chosen which area you want to specialise in, there are many routes you can take to your dream job, whether it is further education, in-house training, apprenticeships or simply working your way up through the industry.

The benefits of working in hospitality and catering

• You can take your skills and work around the world

• You could enjoy flexible working hours

• Many jobs offer responsibility early on

• It can be easy to move between jobs and niches within the industry

• You get to make people happy

As well this range of full-time courses aimed at people wanting to work in the industry we also run part-time short courses for people who are interested in food and cookery and want to learn a bit more.

You can discover more about our hospitality and catering courses by coming along Freemen's Park Campus on our Open Day on Thursday 28 June, from 3-8pm.