(back)

Take me away

From the front of the house to the back, from top executive of a party planning company to working on a cruise ship: The hospitality, culinary, and tourism industries offer some of the most diverse job opportunities available. We spoke with leaders of the fields to find out how they got their start and how you, too, can break into the field.

Hats off to the chef who wouldn’t want to take credit for a five-star meal, perhaps an artfully arranged duck confit or a perfectly flaked halibut with a fruity beurre blanc? Behind that nicely folded white smock is a lot of determination and hard work, not to mention long hours and stress. For many, however, the rewards far outweigh the inconveniences. For some, the aspiration to achieve notoriety or a sliver of the celebrity pie propels them. Others keep punching the time card to see their customers smile after finishing a nice T-bone steak. If you think a culinary career is for you, plan to start at the bottom and work your way up. Jason Handelman, executive chef at the Grill on the Alley in Chicago and a 15-year industry veteran, shares his meager beginnings in the restaurant business. “My first position was a busboy in high school,” Handelman says. “From that, I got into waiting on tables and moved up. I went to junior college and figured that if I was going to take this seriously I needed to learn the back of the house, so I enrolled in [a] culinary arts program.”

In addition to his executive-chef status, Handelman has held such positions as garde manger chef at Charlie Trotter’s and tourant chef at the Union Square Café in New York City. A typical day in the life of an execu-tive chef can be hectic. “I work three mornings and two nights,” Handelman says. “My day starts out checking everything to see what’s been used up, what needs to be used, making sure there’s enough product in-house and making sure everything is being rotated so that we’re serving fresh product. I keep an eye on the cooks to make sure they are prepping enough—but not too much—so that we don’t lose product.” Staffing is always a challenge in the restaurant industry. “It’s hard to find people who take pride in their work and who care,” Handelman says. “You spend a lot of time babysitting.”

The upsides of the job are creativity and personal interaction. “I like dealing with people on food terms—pleasing people through food and wine,” he says. “People are relaxed when they come to dinner. They want to have fun. It excites me to be able to provide that.” How can you get a job like Handelman’s? “I recommend working in the best restaurants you possibly can,” Handelman says. “You make sacrifices to work in these places. They don’t pay much, and the hours are long, but at the end of the road, you’ll gain more experience and get better connected.”

Chef Karl Engstrom, who has held jobs at Disneyland, Sheraton Hotels, owned a Baskin Robins and has been head of the food-service occupations program at Mesa College in San Diego, recommends going to school while getting direct experience in the kitchen. “When a manager asks you to do something, you will have the knowledge that will put you in front of others.” If the executive-chef title scares you off, there are plenty of other positions to choose from in a restaurant: host or hostess, maitre d’, server, sommelier (wine manager) or dining room manager. There are also sous-chefs (a chef’s assistant), line cooks, dishwashers and kitchen managers. Party, anyone? Everyone loves a good party—especially the folks at Miami’s ME Productions.

With such clients as E! Wild TV, BMG Music, Pepsi, NASCAR and P. Diddy, they better know how to raise the roof. ME Productions handle everything from themed corporate parties and destination management to private, intimate parties. This industry offers a multitude of positions, and according to Linda Hamburger, manager of marketing communications at ME Productions, you just have to figure out what you want to make your niche. “Basically, you need to decide what you love,” Hamburger says. “Do you want to do baking, design, selling, work on the hotel side? Do you want to work with people, one-on-one, or behind the scenes?”

If corporate life isn’t for you, there are plenty of hands-on jobs, such as catering, being a DJ, doing carpentry for sets, driving trucks and arranging lighting and sound. Does planning a photo scavenger hunt in Key West sound like fun? Destination management is one of the perks of the job for Ted Boyd, executive sales and event manager at ME. “You don’t get into this business not to go to the parties and to be involved with the people,” Boyd says. But, he says, “you have to sacrifice a lot of social time. This is definitely not a 40-hour workweek job. It can get stressful. Say a party starts at 6, and the truck broke down and you have to set the party up in 30 minutes. But there are a lot of fun aspects. It can be glamorous. You get to go to five-star resorts. When the client lets you run the gamut of what you design, it’s incredible.”

If you’re interested in event planning, Hamburger recommends looking for internship and networking opportunities and joining organizations that offer low fees to students. There is also a certification program that, upon completion, qualifies you as a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP). In order to sit for the exam, however, you must work full time for at least three years with a wide variety of meeting-planning experience.

Bon voyage! Does seeing the world from a porthole enthuse you? If so, a job on board a cruise ship could be for you. Consider working in a cruise ship’s kitchen, as an entertainer, or in the medical, casino and salon or spa areas. “It looks glamorous,” says Frank Vingiano, a previous “tender of the wine” for Princess Cruise Line. “It’s pretty tough. Your sleeping quarters are near the boiler room and so it gets kind of noisy. But for people who want to do it for a few years to get the experience? I say go for it.” Mark Landon, who worked on a cruise ship for six years, explains that cruise ships are constantly hiring, and that generally, cruise staff work three-month contracts. “Housekeeping and wait staff work four- to six-month contracts. Concession-aires (those who work in the salon, casino, gift shop or with photography) work four- to six-month contracts,” Landon says. And all days off usually come at the end of the contract. Landon recommends sending a resume package directly to a cruise line instead of e-mailing or paying a company to submit resumes on your behalf. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people looking for adventures, just like you. So make sure your application stands out.

Article provided by