- ‘Tell us about yourself. …
- ‘What experience do you have in catering or hospitality? …
- ‘What are your strengths and weaknesses? …
- ‘How do you handle working under pressure? …
- ‘How do you handle difficult customers? …
- ‘How do you work within a team?
Catering Manager Interview Questions
6 Caterer Interview Questions and Answers
How do you handle high-pressure situations and deal with on-the-job stress?
Catering involves intense planning and the coordination of many moving parts. You must meet many deadlines before the event and, at the event, spend hours on your feet ensuring that everything goes right. Throughout the event, various unforeseen things can crop up at any point. How a caterer candidate navigates these unavoidable pressures and manages his or her stress levels is a major measure of their suitability for the job.
What to look for in an answer:
- Ability to manage stress and stay focused and organized
- Calm and poised demeanor
- Experience in high-pressure situations
Tell me about your knowledge of food handling.
Caterers must be knowledgeable about every aspect of food handling, including following and enforcing food safety and public health regulations. Interviewers use this question to determine how well a caterer candidate understands and follows health and food safety guidelines. A skilled caterer candidate’s answer should demonstrate in-depth knowledge of food handling practices to prevent food poisoning and ensure guests get an excellent dining experience at events.
A candidate’s answer should emphasize:
- Knowledge of food health and safety guidelines
- Use of protective gear
- How to prepare food to deliver superior guest experience
An answer to this question could look like this:
What are the details of a party you’ve planned, including what you served, how you decorated and guest response?
Catering and party planning have a great deal in common. By asking a caterer candidate to describe a party he or she planned, whether successful or not, you can see where the person put his or her attention and how creative and/or practical his or her focus was. For example, was the food unique and theme-specific or was it economical and easy to make en masse?
What to look for in an answer:
- Creativity in designing event-specific meals and presentations
- Practicality and realistic planning
- The ability to effectively execute on an idea
How would you handle a difficult client or one of his or her guests?
Catering an event always doubles as an audition to cater the next event. The impression you, as the caterer, make with clients and their guests is therefore paramount. If anyone in attendance complains to you or presents you with an issue, solving it must take precedence without interfering with the flow of the event. This takes a careful balance of planning, coordination and communication.
What to look for in an answer:
- Listening and communication abilities
- Quick-thinking and creative problem-solving skills
- Patience, courteousness and compassion for others
What is your food handling experience, including preparation, serving, storing and cleanup?
Handling food is not like handling other products, as there are certain health and safety considerations to keep in mind at all times. All food service workers, including caterers, are required to abide by local, state and federal government food safety and public health guidelines, including wearing protective clothing like hair nets and storing food properly to prevent spoilage and contamination.
What to look for in an answer:
- Awareness of public health and food safety guidelines
- Commitment to maintaining a clean and sanitary environment
- Personal health and hygiene
What experience have you had in the field of hospitality?
Catering is primarily a hospitality job. From the taste of the food to its presentation, the success of a caterer is wholly dependent on the guests’ experience. If a candidate hasn’t worked in food service, in particular, it helps if he or she at least has some customer service experience. This lets you know a candidate understands how to put the customer’s needs first.
What to look for in an answer:
- Experience serving and dealing with customers
- A desire to serve others and a willingness to put others’ needs first
- An amiable and engaging demeanor
Why do you want to work as a Catering Manager?
Try to cover two things in your answer. First one, what you can bring onboard. Second one, what you like about the job. Starting with the second one, you can say that you love the variety of duties. One can learn a lot in this job, and it is in no way repetitive. Each event is unique, and though you follow similar processes every time (planning, budgeting, negotiating, hiring, etc) you always deal with new people and new conditions, which makes for a fascinating job and a great learning experience.
But you have other reason why you decided to apply–because you consider yourself an excellent candidate for the job. You have some experience in catering, perhaps even relevant education. You participated in many events–in different roles, and understand first hand the challenges a catering company can face during them. What’s more, you have excellent planning and organizational skills, and believe to have what it takes to manage the catering successfully.
To sum it up, considering your skills, experience, personality, and preferences, job of a catering manager seems like the best possible choice for you, at least at this stage of your professional career.
Catering managers often have to handle a lot of pressure and stress. They need to be able to manage their time well, delegate tasks effectively and communicate clearly with staff members. When answering this question, it can be helpful to mention specific strategies you use to reduce stress and how they help you perform your job more efficiently.
Catering managers often need to manage budgets for their events. Employers ask this question to make sure you have experience with budget management and can do it well. In your answer, share an example of how you managed a catering budget in the past. Explain what steps you took to create the budget and how you monitored its success.
Example: “I think it is very important for employees to be on time for work. I would first talk with them about why being late is an issue. If they are having trouble getting to work on time every day, I would offer them some tips for improving their time management skills. For example, I might suggest they set alarms earlier or leave for work earlier than usual until they get into a better routine.”
Example: “I believe that a catering manager should be someone who is organized, detail-oriented and has strong communication skills. These are all essential skills for managing a team of employees and ensuring that clients receive excellent service at events. I also think it’s important to be flexible and able to adapt to changing situations. Catering managers often need to make quick decisions when unexpected things happen.”
Interviewers ask this question to see how you handle conflict. Catering managers often have to deal with customers who are unhappy about something, so it’s important that they can remain calm and professional when doing so. In your answer, try to show the interviewer that you can be diplomatic while also standing up for yourself or your team.
What experience do you have when it comes to discussing our recently posted CATERING MANAGER position?
Answer tips:
Speak about specifics that relate to the position you are applying for. If you know you do not have much experience in the job you are applying for, plan for this question ahead of time and ensure you can provide some relatable examples based on what you have done.
Almost all interviewers will appreciate confidence and pride in the work experience you have earned and your passion in transfering these valuable skills to your future role or position.
Answer sample
FAQ
What questions are asked in a catering interview?
- What experience have you had in the field of hospitality? …
- How do you handle high-pressure situations and deal with on-the-job stress? …
- How would you handle a difficult client or one of his or her guests?
What is the role of catering manager?
What are the 10 most common interview questions and answers in restaurant?
- How would you go about designing a new menu for our business? …
- What cost-reducing methods have you found to be useful? …
- Can you describe a time when you handled a tricky customer complaint? …
- What would you suggest to improve our customers’ dining experience?
