If mingling, entertaining and being involved in a vibrant working atmosphere is your thing- then raise a toast! As an apprenticeship in the hospitality and catering industry maybe right for you!
What’s it about?
The hospitality and catering apprenticeship is one of the most popular programmes, attracting thousands of candidates per year. Depending on your strengths and interests, you could either be working behind the scenes in a kitchen or up front, pouring drinks for the Friday night crowd. It’s your choice!
The apprenticeship covers a large range of occupations within the industry. It covers work in restaurants, hotels, cafés, pubs, and contract caterers – it also supplies other industries with food and drink.
You can choose from a number of career paths, one which you’re most interested in- such as service, where you could train as waiting staff; cookery, where you could train as a chef in a restaurant; or maybe you interested in the wining and dining side of things, and hospitality is more your forte- here you could work in a hotel reception area or a B&B.
It’s a huge public sector, and completion of the advanced apprenticeship could lead to management or supervisory roles!
Who’s it for?
This sector often requires night and weekend work, with some unsociable hours and lots of time spent on your feet – however, it’s a young and vibrant sector, with most employees under the age of 25. This does mean however, that you need to have high levels of motivation and need to react quickly and confidently to solve problems.
You need to be good at dealing with the public and be an excellent communicator- you’ll have to cater for some ‘interesting’ characters you’ll find!
What do I get out of it?
If you’re into service, you’ll learn how to serve customers, or train in drinks service – service is one of the fastest growing sub-sectors. For the Gordon Ramsey’s out there, you’ll learn how to cook on a large scale for institutions like the NHS or armed forces. Whilst those keen on hospitality will get the chance to learn how to run a B&B or youth hostel, or keep a hotel crisp and clean.
In England and Wales, the framework at level 2 an apprentice in this sector must follow is: a relevant NVQ at level 2, pass a knowledge based assessment, Key Skills and an assessment in Employment rights and Responsibilities.
In Northern Ireland; NVQ level 2, pass Application of number + Communication level 1, and an assessment in Employment rights and Responsibilities. And in Scotland; S/NVQ level 2, Core Skills and further enhancement assessments must be passed.
Once qualified a starting salary between £9k-£13k can be expected, with job roles as chefs, waiters, bar persons, hotel receptionists and housekeepers available to those who complete the apprenticeship.
Apply now and you could be running your own Hotel Babylon in no time! …or the next Fawlty Towers.
What vacancies are there?
Check out our hospitality & catering apprenticeship vacancies section to find the right opportunity for you!
