Anyone who works in the hospitality industry will gladly tell you that it is a great place to work and you learn many new skills as well as meet many different people from all around the world. Some people are drawn to management, others to manning reception and some want to test their culinary skills in the kitchen. There is actually no doubt that working in any busy hotel kitchen is an incredibly hard job that involves dedication and you need to put in many hours. If you have recently qualified from culinary school and you have yet to step into a real live working kitchen then it can be a little bit of a scary time.

The kitchen is run by the head chef and he or she can be quite ruthless in what is that they want from their other staff members. You have a difficult road ahead and you should try to hit the ground running by using as much technology as you can to help you along the way. One recommendation would be to use recipe management software that will help you to keep all of your ideas and preparations in an easy to reach place that you can refer to from time to time. It’s very likely that the other chefs have such a thing in place as well and so you will be providing the best first impression.

This is just one top tip when working in a busy hotel kitchen and the hospitality industry in general and the following are some others that you might want to consider.

• Try to stay calm – This is a lot easier said than done and especially so in a very busy kitchen where orders are coming in and going out on a very regular basis. Working in a hot hotel kitchen is not for the fainthearted and it’s going to be stressful and it’s going to take a lot of discipline from you in order to make it work. Even if you are really scared inside, don’t let the others see that you are and try to keep the outside calm at all times. Do your job as expected and steady yourself so that you can stay calm and focused on the food that you have to prepare.
• Don’t accept ambiguity – If you don’t understand an instruction from the head chef or any of the other people you’re working with in the kitchen then ask for clarification. You don’t want to be annoying everyone because you don’t understand what exactly you were asked to do and maybe you will prepare the wrong things. It is better to ask for clearer instructions than to do something that you were never asked to do in the first place.

If you don’t know something then ask questions and don’t be afraid to admit that you’re not sure. Always be aware of your surroundings because there are many people working around this kitchen including food servers, dishwashers and managers.