What are you like?

It takes a certain kind of person to work in the hospitality industry. According to the latest Caterer & Hotelkeeper Lifestyle Survey, most of you are prepared to work hard (more hours per week than the national average) and you enjoy your job.

The money may not be great for the vast majority, but this doesn't appear to matter to everyone and, clearly, there are opportunities to earn a good salary.

You may well be single, although you respect and value your family and partnerships. You like to relax on the beach, eat fish and drive a fast car. And to wind down you prefer playing sport to having sex. Does this sound familiar?

Who are you?

We canvassed the opinions of a broad selection of hospitality personnel by means of an e-mail questionnaire. We received 2,581 responses.

Where you work

Hotel	41%
Restaurant	10%
Contract catering outlet	10%
Pub/bar/club	6%
In-house catering	4%
Group head office	8%
Other	21%

Two-thirds of respondents were men (61%), one-third women (39%) and your ages ranged from 16 to more than 50. The majority (53%) were in the 26-40 age bracket.

Marital status

Single (never married)	46%
Married (first marriage)	35%
Remarried	9%
Divorced and single	7%
Separated	2.8%
Widowed	0.2%

Your job

We asked why you worked in hospitality and, although the answers to this question were varied, by far the most popular reason was "meeting people". The variety and challenge of hospitality also featured strongly, and "Every day there's something different," was a typical response. One person said: "I really love the rush when it starts to get busy and all the orders start flooding in. I love cooking; I love the variety; I love the challenge."

Which aspects of your job do you really love?

Meeting people	34%
Variety	16%
Challenge/problem solving	11%
Money	1.5%
Other	37.5%

We asked what three factors you considered when choosing a job. The most common selection from a list of 17 options was salary (chosen by 52%), but "how interesting the work is" (45%) and "long-term career prospects" (34%) were also frequently selected.

Other factors included "how challenging the work is" (29%) the "amount of responsibility I'm given" (21%) and the "working environment" (21%). Interestingly, "feeling valued" (21%) was seen as more important than the hours of work (12%).

Approximately how many hours do you work in a typical week?

Fewer than 10	1%
10-15	1%
16-20	2%
21-30	2%
31-40	10%
41-50	32%
51-60	28%
61-70	14%
71-80	7%
81-90	2%
91-100	1%
101-plus	1%

As you can see, hospitality is not for the indolent, as 84% of you work more than 41 hours a week. This compares with the national average of 37.6 hours for all workers (including temps) in all industries and disciplines.

Given the hours that most people work, how difficult is it to maintain a balance between work and home?

Very difficult 20% Fairly difficult 45% Not very difficult 28% Not at all difficult 7% What are the rewards for all this hard work? What is your current annual salary before tax (excluding all benefits such as car, bonus, etc)?

Less than £10,000	8%
£10,000-£14,999	12%
£15,000-£19,999	16%
£20,000-£24,999	15%
£25,000-£29,999	14%
£30,000-£34,999	9%
£35,000-£39,999	6%
£40,000-£44,999	5%
£45,000-£49,999	4%
£50,000-£54,999	3%
£55,000-£59,999	2%
£60,000-£79,999	4%
£80,000 or more	2%

### Training We asked two questions about in-work training: In your opinion, do you receive the training you need to do your job properly?

Yes	72%
No	28%

In your opinion, do you receive the training you need to progress your career?

Yes	56%
No	44%

We then asked: which of the following do you believe are barriers to training in your job? Most respondents selected more than one reason, although lack of time and money were the top reasons chosen.

Your time constraints	62%
Financial restrictions	54%
Company policy	22%
Your lack of need for training	8%
Other	10%

### Career aspirations We asked if you could do anything you wanted within the industry, what would it be? The answers were multifarious but a strong common theme was the desire to own or run a business. Quite a few people, however, wouldn't want to change their jobs.

Own or run a business	18%
What I'm doing now	7.5%

### Your lifestyle OK, so working in hospitality is obviously demanding. How does that affect the way you live? How do you relax? Where do you go on holiday? Who are your role models? Which of the following do you find successful in terms of relieving stress?

Being with partner/family	67%
Exercising/participating in sport	53%
Other hobbies/leisure	45%
Having sex	37%
Drinking alcohol	36%
Smoking cigarettes	18%
Other	11%

When we asked about your favourite holiday destinations, most of you opted for "anywhere hot", although a few replied, "It doesn't matter where I go, I just want a holiday." The most popular destinations were:

USA	13%
France	11%
Spain	10%
Greece	9%
Australia	4%
UK	2.5%

As for the venue, many of you said "a beach hotel" or "a five-star hotel", although one person wrote: "I don't stay in hotels - I want a break from them." The most popular named hotel brands were Sheraton and Four Seasons. Favourite dish What about food? What do you like to eat? Well, meat is obviously going out of fashion, as various types of fish topped the poll. One person wrote: "Anything with fish - there are too many to mention," while someone else said: "Just simple food made from fresh ingredients."

Fish (all types)	13.5%
Pasta	6.5%
Chicken	4.5%
Duck	4.5%

What is your dream car? So you want to get away? What would you drive, if you had a free choice and cost was not a consideration? Most of you would opt for something fast and expensive, although some of you are too practical to dream. "With a large family it would have to be a Toyota Land Cruiser; I'm too old to be a boy racer," wrote one respondent. Someone else wrote: "I don't care what sort of car it is so long as it's chauffeur-driven."

BMW (any model)	14%
Porsche (any model)	11.5%
Aston Martin (any model)	10%

Finally, we asked about your heroes. Names currently in the news feature strongly, although there's still a loyal following for political and business icons of the past century. Most of you respect people closer to home, however. Which one person do you most admire?

Parents or close family	20%
Richard Branson	9%
Jamie Oliver	5%
Margaret Thatcher	4%
Member of the Royal Family	4%
Marital partner	3%
TV chefs (excluding Jamie Oliver)	3%
Gordon Ramsay	2.5%
Other	49.5%