Craving a career in
catering? Here's some
food for thought...

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Damian's story

Damian Parkin and Head Chef Tom McHugh, cooking up a career in catering at The Earl of Doncaster, Doncaster.

Damian
I'm Damian Parkin, I'm 15 and I'm doing NVQ Level 2 in catering and hospitality. I really like it here because they're nice people, you learn what it's like to be in a work environment and you get your qualifications out of it. Chef
We have three or four trainees, and we train them up in our way and if they're good enough we take them on. 99% of them we take on.Damian
You do a course before you start. It's food and hygiene, and health and safety, and I did them before I started here. You learn how to store things and what temperatures they should be stored at. We prep a lot of food, which is our usual daytime thing. We do cauliflowers, cabbage, carrots; every veg you can think of. Today we've been doing lasagne and chilli con carne and I've never been able to do them before, but now I can do them without thinking about it. Chef
The first day you start it's hard. You don't know who's what; you don't know what to do; you're a bit panicky, but once you get into the rhythm, it's quite easy.Damian
I wouldn't have even known how to cook some of the stuff I do and things like that, but now I can do them pretty easy. My mates didn't expect me to be able to it; even my Dad didn't expect me to be able to do it. He always said I'd never do it, be a chef, and I've proved him wrong so far. Chef
When they first come I treat them how they should be treated, with respect, and I should get respect back, and that's how we treat it.Damian
If you're not confident they'll support you and give you advice. They help you do things. They teach you everything you want to know. We pretty much all do the same thing. If head chef does something, he'll teach me how to do it and I can do it another time. Sometimes I work overtime from 4 o'clock in the afternoon until 10 o'clock and night but I get paid for that in my wages and it's pretty cool. I just like to help and I get paid for it so it's a bonus. My head chef's a perfectionist and needs things done. That's our main aim just to please him and the customers. Especially our home-made things like scones, Yorkshire puddings, pies and things - we get so many compliments for them. I won't eat my Mum's cooking because I've never liked it. So I eat mine. I cook mine and my family's dinner and we all sit down and eat it. Chef
Personally I think I'd like to see Damian like me in a couple of years. Got a good job, not doing anything bad, just getting on with the job. I'm happy here and I know Damian's happy here.

Chef
We have three or four trainees, and we train them up in our way and if they're good enough we take them on. 99% of them we take on.

Damian
You do a course before you start. It's food and hygiene, and health and safety, and I did them before I started here. You learn how to store things and what temperatures they should be stored at. We prep a lot of food, which is our usual daytime thing. We do cauliflowers, cabbage, carrots; every veg you can think of. Today we've been doing lasagne and chilli con carne and I've never been able to do them before, but now I can do them without thinking about it.

Chef
The first day you start it's hard. You don't know who's what; you don't know what to do; you're a bit panicky, but once you get into the rhythm, it's quite easy.

Damian
I wouldn't have even known how to cook some of the stuff I do and things like that, but now I can do them pretty easy. My mates didn't expect me to be able to it; even my Dad didn't expect me to be able to do it. He always said I'd never do it, be a chef, and I've proved him wrong so far.

Chef
When they first come I treat them how they should be treated, with respect, and I should get respect back, and that's how we treat it.

Damian
If you're not confident they'll support you and give you advice. They help you do things. They teach you everything you want to know. We pretty much all do the same thing. If head chef does something, he'll teach me how to do it and I can do it another time. Sometimes I work overtime from 4 o'clock in the afternoon until 10 o'clock and night but I get paid for that in my wages and it's pretty cool. I just like to help and I get paid for it so it's a bonus. My head chef's a perfectionist and needs things done. That's our main aim just to please him and the customers. Especially our home-made things like scones, Yorkshire puddings, pies and things - we get so many compliments for them. I won't eat my Mum's cooking because I've never liked it. So I eat mine. I cook mine and my family's dinner and we all sit down and eat it.

Chef
Personally I think I'd like to see Damian like me in a couple of years. Got a good job, not doing anything bad, just getting on with the job. I'm happy here and I know Damian's happy here.