The Post: Food Service Supervisor, Wellington Park Hotel
The Post Holder: Jamie Annet
Flexibility and excellent communication skills are essential for Jamie Annet’s role in hospitality.
HOW I BECAME A FOOD SERVICE SUPERVISOR
Give a brief outline of your career to date.
I started working in various parttime jobs from the age of 16 in hotels and bars. After finishing college, I found it hard to get a full-time permanent job and must have submitted 100 applications over the course of that year. I was really fortunate to get a three month placement at the Wellington Park in 2016 through the job support project, EmployAbility South. I was appointed as a permanent member of the food service team in January 2017 and promoted to Food Service Supervisor in February 2018.
What was your favourite subject at school?
Geography. I loved learning about the world and all the different countries. It’s actually helped me a lot in this job because in tourism you meet people from everywhere and it’s great to know a bit about where they are from.
Did you go on to further/higher education, if so what did you study and where?
I went to SERC to get two A Levels in Film and TV. While it isn’t the career that I have gone into, it gave me a chance to develop my skills in photography, which I really enjoyed. Through the EmployAbility South programme I also obtained my World Host qualification and the ILM – Institute of Leadership and Management – qualification.
How did you get into your area of work?
When I was looking at placement options, hotel work seemed a natural fit. The three month placement gave me a chance to see if this is what I’d like to do permanently full-time and I loved it from the first day.
Is this what you always wanted to do?
Through my part-time jobs as a teenager I knew I liked tourism and hospitality but I didn’t know all the types of jobs that were out there and the potential for promotion and managing a team, which is what has happened for me. Hospitality offers a great chance to work your way up if you have the right attitude and work hard.
Were there any particular essential qualifications or experience needed?
English and Maths are essential and it’s good to have some previous experience in hospitality. The World Host qualification was very useful too.
Are there alternative routes into the job?
Paid placements, like the one I went on, are a great route into this job because it really builds up your experience and skills and understanding of the industry. You learn on the job, which then gives you the vital experience in order to apply for full time posts.
What are the main personal skills your job requires?
Communication skills are so important. When I started this job on placement I was so shy and not great at talking to people. But I jumped in and watched how my managers dealt with people and really worked on these skills and built my confidence up.
Learning how to communicate well and deal with people can all be learned if you are keen to progress. My job also requires punctuality, flexibility and professionalism.
What does a typical day entail?
The morning shift starts early – about 6am – with set up getting everything ready for breakfast and checking the functions’ sheet for the day ahead. I supervise a small team and we look after the food and beverage in the restaurant and coffee dock as well as catering for all the conferences, meetings and special events at the hotel. The evening shift can go on until around 11pm. Every day is different and it’s a chance to meet new people and learn a new skill.
What are the best and most challenging aspects of the job?
I really enjoy the big functions and special events. I looked after the Valentine’s dinners and it’s such a special time for some people so you want everything to be right so the evening is perfect for the guests.
Why is what you do important?
Every single person in a hotel can help make a guest’s visit great. I feel it’s my job to make the hotel food service as good as it can be so the guests are happy. This hotel has a long history and a great reputation so I feel a pride in being part of that.
What advice would you give anyone looking to follow a similar career path?
Get experience in catering and throw yourself into it. It’s great for confidence and learning life skills.
If you weren’t doing this what would you like to do?
I’d study photography at university. I’ve loved taking pictures since I was really young and spend a lot of time taking photos around Belfast. It’s come in handy in my job too – we had a big function and the professional photographer cancelled at the last minute. They asked if anyone could take photos at the event so I stepped in.
What is the one piece of advice you would give to yourself on your first day?
I was a bit nervous when I started so my advice would be to jump in and ask loads of questions so that you can learn the job quickly.
Describe your ideal day off.
I’d sleep in until 11am and then spend the day taking photos, eating great food and staying up late.
And finally, what’s the key to any successful job search?
My CV wasn’t great and EmployAbility South helped me re-work it to show my skills better and it really had a big affect on how potential employers viewed me. So as a starting point, look at your CV with a more critical eye and see if you can improve it. And if possible try to get advice on finding the right job for you through a recruitment agency or organisation like GEMS NI. My approach had been to apply for everything and it really helped to focus the search and go for things for which I had the right experience and skills.