Letters

Counting the cost of a career change

Having followed the recent debate on ageism in your letters page, I note that Al Parkes hints at another industry taboo: career deviation.

I have all the traits specified by Mr Parkes, verifiable by quality referees, plus the ubiquitous, if superfluous, HND.

Two mistakes now make me, to quote the agency, "almost impossible to place":

1. Working overseas for a year.

2. Working outside the industry for six years.

So, in a vain attempt to "scrub the spuds", I have worked for nothing and retrained, all apparently to no avail. The six years out of the industry are viewed as a bleeding of knowledge, not adding to or building on it. The determination and hard work undertaken to achieve the results are apparently irrelevant.

Heaven forbid you have any other skeletons in the cupboard - such as children.

As a hotelier I always judged content, not the cover; actions not words. Now any deviation from a normal career path is viewed with disgust and an almost supercilious sneer.

Please look at what we - the older and more worldly exponents of man management - have to offer.

Name and address supplied.

Don't disregard qualifications

So Al Parkes and his colleague "hardly look at any professional degrees" on any applicant's CV? Well that's hardly surprising when, by his own admission, he "never took time to get a formal culinary education" himself.

It's very often the case that those who are quick to dismiss professional qualifications are the very individuals without a certificate to call their own.

Mr Parkes talks of commitment, dedication, and a willingness to put in whatever time it takes to be successful in catering, and I echo those sentiments. But doesn't he think that it takes a bit of all those qualities to take on a formal course of training and stick with it to the end?

During 18 years in the industry I have completed both craft and managerial qualifications, all via day-release from my work-place. As many who have followed this route will know, it takes "true grit" to keep up with a demanding course while working full-time and looking after family commitments.

As for looking at an applicant's previous experience and progression as a true indicator of his or her suitability for a job, may I remind Mr Parkes that we are not living in a world where everyone gets a fair deal, equal opportunities and a chance to show their mettle. There must be few within the industry who at some time in their careers have not experienced themselves, or seen at second hand, insecure managers whose sole aim in life appears to be stiflingtalent and keeping down anyone with a modicum of ability.

While I do not insist that degrees and so on should be the main criteria when recruiting staff, I believe that a combination of qualifications, experience, and personal qualities should be the framework of any assessment of a candidate, and that none of these in isolation can indicate whether a person will be good at the job or not.

CHRISTINA WOODWARD

MHCIMA, St Helens,

Merseyside.

842 applications and counting…

I am guilty of an unforgivable sin: I am female, 59 and was made redundant three years ago from Brighton Council (along with 400 others). I have to date made 842 job applications, all to no avail.

Countless employers say: "We are an equal opportunities employer" and then on the application form put "Full name/age/date of birth". I know that applications such as mine are then not considered. In fact, one agency that advertises in Caterer phoned me and said they did not handle anyone over 35.

So am I unskilled? No: I spent 30 years in the entertainment/leisure industry - the last 20 as general manager and cruise director. Formal qualifications? Oh yes: BA degree, DMS, and many others.

I am outgoing, well-travelled, articulate, numerate, organised and I get on well with people. Too old? I haven't had a single day off sick in 30 years!

It seems ludicrous that a wealth of experience and a willingness to work should be totally ignored and I am apparently consigned to the scrap heap.

I haven't given up trying!

SHEILA WILSON

Havant, Hampshire.

Keep on consulting

I have to confess to being guilty of three of the mortal sins recently exposed in your pages. Not only am I a consultant, I'm also over 40 (over 50 actually), and I'm highly qualified.

Although some cynics still consider that the engagement of a consultant during a recession is strictly for the infallibly secure, the brave, or the downright foolhardy, there is a refreshing number of enlightened managers who do not feel threatened by an outside specialist. They are quite right of course: our aim is to be an extension to the client's organisation, not an aggravation to it.

Fortunately, my particular expertise (the provision of specialist purchasing during fit-out, refurbishment, or new building works) is hardly a career threatening to hoteliers, but even where I have been invited to review in-house purchasing practices my grey hairshave been a positive advantage.

A string of qualifications is available for those who are impressed, but most people are interested in a track record which is boosted by a reputation for taking only those assignments where I'm convinced the benefits will far outweigh the fee.

This ageing consultant intends to keep going until the zimmer frame rusts.

PETER WILLIAMS

Purchasing Consultant,

PWA, Woking, Surrey.

The proper cost of sauce

I was amazed to read in your brands feature "What's in a name?" (23 March) that Over & Out sauce portions sell for 25p each! A good product though it is, even I cannot imagine a caterer charging 25p for a product that they can buy for about 4p. The approach to charging for these products varies from including them in the price, passing them on at cost, to charging for them at a price which gives a reasonable margin.

The figure of 25p certainly did not come from Pritchitt Foods and if your readers thought that they had to charge such inflated prices for a sauce portion, our sales would, I feel sure, drop through the floor.

PAUL FREESTON

Marketing Director,

Pritchitt Foods, Bromley, Kent.

Quality gradings need consistency

How I agree with Paul Sawbridge's comments about quality gradings being made compulsory. We run a small private hotel and we have our own targets to attain - but only as and when the money is available. Over-borrowing leads to receivership.

Another point that we would like to raise is the power that the tourist boards wield. We would be banned from advertising with our local authority if we did not renew our registration with the West Country Tourist Board, although we have an AA 4Qs Selected and an RAC Acclaimed rating.

This monopoly must not be allowed to exist within the tourist industry unless it is done on a uniform basis.

To give an example, we stayed recently in a hotel/motel near Fareham, Hampshire (in the Southern Tourist Board area) which sported a Three Crown Approved sign. It was the most appallingly uncomfortable room possible.

In another case, I stayed in a small guesthouse registered with its local tourist board and was told that they were never inspected (I might add there was no cause for complaint at all).

We wonder how the levels of assessment can be made uniform throughout the ETB Regional Tourist Boards.

ANNE VEAR

Co-owner,

Newlands House, Charmouth, Dorset.