Career Advice on How to Become A Manager of Food Preparation

General Career Information

The food preparation manager has the task of attempting to train workers in food preparation and safety.  This individual evaluates the quality of work areas and determines if food, supplies and sanitation meet the utmost basic levels to keep from killing anyone who eats at a given establishment.  Since many of the employees are borderline savages, this is not as easy as it sounds.  An element of blind luck is clearly involved.

Other responsibilities for the food preparation manager can include making recommendations for increasing food safety, which are usually ignored and overseeing the general state of equipment.  If the food preparation manager sees that equipment is in need of repair or replacement, he or she will usually oversee this task as well.  Much of what the food preparation manager does on a daily basis is not “sexy,” but it is vital to making sure that a given restaurant or kitchen is functional and operational.

Career Facts:

Food preparation can be fun, well, not really.  But it certainly can be interesting when one is attempting to do it with a group of high-school students working their first job.  Close to forty percent of all food preparation workers you will be supervising are actually under the age of twenty-four.  If you are conducting a job search in this field, make sure you like working with youthful personnel.

Career Opportunities and Job Outlook- Unknown:

A Day in The Life:

Food preparation managers perform a very wide range of tasks within the restaurant, ranging from hiring employees to making sure that equipment is up and running.  Many of the employees hired are often high-school students and are working their first job.  Obviously, this adds another level of complexity to the work, as food preparation managers must try and keep teenage buffoons from getting third degree burns or causing general mayhem.

A food preparation manager may also find that he or she is doing work that is also associated with a food service manager position, such as working with the day’s cash receipts or the cash receipts at the end of a given shift. 

In short, a food preparation manager needs to make sure that the food prep is clean and functioning properly.  Further, a food preparation manager needs to hire and fire employees and make certain that the best employee is on a given workstation.  Food needs to be prepared in a timely fashion and arrive to the customer in a fashion that at least approximates edible.  Failure in any of these aspects of the job can lead to an overall failure on the part of the food preparation manager.  Is it as glamorous as it sounds?  You bet!

Average Salary:

$30k

Career Training and Qualifications: