Alright! I need a little advice!
I am new to cake decorating and loving it. I resently applied for a position on craigslist that just said "cake decorater wanted" Turns out its at a Coldstone Creamery making ice cream cakes. My question is, is it worth my time?
I really want to get my foot in the door as far as cake decorating goes. I would love to work in one of the many shops in my area but I don't really have the resume experience to get the job. I also want to get some more experience with piping and with mass product. Can anyone give me a little advise one way or the other?
Thank you for your time!
I had cold stone for my wedding cake, it was a great big hit, but I also had a fake cake to cut for the wedding. I wouldn't say this would be the place to learn about cake decorating.
Hi, whisperingmadcow
I've never worked at Coldstone, but I imagine you wouldn't learn any advanced decorating skills there. With that said, you mentioned that you'd like to get experience with mass production. If that's the case, go for it!! Maybe do it part time only. It will help you learn what it takes to run a business smoothly and also time management.
I love coldstone, but if it's cake decorating experience you want, I don't think it will be worth your time. Have you seen the cake designs they have? The most challenging decoration on a coldstone cake is a piped rosette. They're all stock designs, a lot of crusting with cookie and candy crumbs, or decorated with plastic character figures. There's almost no room for creativity and the skills you might learn there could be practically mastered at home in a day or two. Unless money is a HuGE factor, your time would be better spent with an internship (even 1-2 days a week) with an established decorator, or a part-time entry level job in a bakery/cake shop.
No it really wouldn't be worth your time SHEEEESH
Mike
Mike: I'm sure Whisperingcow appreciated feedback, but this strikes me as a little bit... short. When you give someone advice, maybe you could give a reason why you think it wouldnt be worth his/her time. The "SHEEESH" struck me as, "what a dumb question". Anyway, just keeping it real. And trying to be friendly. And helpful to the OP.
Whisperingcow: I agree with others. If the cakes are done with basic decorations, the only thing you will probably learn is how to work fast in large quantity. I spent a summer decorating cakes at Kroger and here's what I learned:
-How to move my heiny fast. I had a quota per hour to have to decorate
-How many times cake was frozen and defrosted before a customer gets it. Not pretty (7 times)
-How to smooth a cake, fast!
-How to cut and torte sheet cakes fast!
-Why commercial icing tastes artificial, but looks nice
-How to make a fast rose bouquet. We had contests
-Why a cake decorator has every right to charge for their time and quality ingredients. Their cakes didnt compare to store bought
No it really wouldn't be worth your time SHEEEESH
Mike
Mike: I'm sure Whisperingcow appreciated feedback, but this strikes me as a little bit... short. When you give someone advice, maybe you could give a reason why you think it wouldnt be worth his/her time. The "SHEEESH" struck me as, "what a dumb question". Anyway, just keeping it real. And trying to be friendly. And helpful to the OP.
Why Thank You. Hmmm millions of people unemployed. The OP tosses this job offering as a trivial job. She is new to decorating. Wouldn't ANY experience W/ ANY cake be wothwhile while getting paid to learn something one doesn't know. So I thank you for your constructive criticism.
Mike
No it really wouldn't be worth your time SHEEEESH
Mike
Mike: I'm sure Whisperingcow appreciated feedback, but this strikes me as a little bit... short. When you give someone advice, maybe you could give a reason why you think it wouldnt be worth his/her time. The "SHEEESH" struck me as, "what a dumb question". Anyway, just keeping it real. And trying to be friendly. And helpful to the OP.
Why Thank You. Hmmm millions of people unemployed. The OP tosses this job offering as a trivial job. She is new to decorating. Wouldn't ANY experience W/ ANY cake be wothwhile while getting paid to learn something one doesn't know. So I thank you for your constructive criticism.
Mike
Hey Mike, thats *totally* an argument I can agree with! I didn't get the feeling that's what you meant on your first post, since you didn't say much. I do agree with you though that with the economy and high unemployment, it's worth considering. But... I think he/she only applied for it, and wasn't actually asking us if he/she should take the job; it was more a "is this worth my time or should I keep looking for a job with more applicable experience" kind of question.
Loriana, Did you feel like it was worth it? Some of those things can be really important in the long run.
As having been a previous employee of cold stone, the extent of cake decorating you do is pull a pre-baked cake from a supplier, use a knife to cut it into the shape whether it be round or rectangle. Then take the cake pan lay the cake in it fill it with ice cream then add another layer of cake and top with rosettes or candy/ cookie pieces. not very fun as I learned quickly and alot of the employee are very childish high school kids who don't work they will leave it to YOU the one who is on their game to do EVERYTHING!
HTH
let us know what you decide.
Ashlie
Thanks cupcakeluv, I was really hoping to hear from someone who had worked there. I guess my thinking was just that I could say I had actaully been a decorater some where as opposed to just saying "well, I have taken all the wilton classes, and I lOVE to make cakes for my friends and family" which sounds kind of lame.
Mike, this would be a second job. I would be taking it only because of resume value... if there is any...
Mike, this would be a second job. I would be taking it only because of resume value... if there is any...
Yup, that's the impression I got from your first post.
...I think we have to be careful not to pass judgement, you know what I mean? People have to do what's best for them. I think it's nice you considered asking CC'ers for advice and am glad cupcakeluv has had experience at Cold Stone Creamery. You asked about Kroger... and I am glad I had the experience with speed training and commercial baking for a short time. It was eye-opening.
Thanks cupcakeluv, I was really hoping to hear from someone who had worked there. I guess my thinking was just that I could say I had actaully been a decorater some where as opposed to just saying "well, I have taken all the wilton classes, and I lOVE to make cakes for my friends and family" which sounds kind of lame.
Mike, this would be a second job. I would be taking it only because of resume value... if there is any...
If you don't know what they are doing there then it is always worth the experience. Whether you learn what they have to offer in a day, or a month. Right now they have knowledge to give. Take it, learn, and move on, it can't hurt.
Mike
IF you don't have much decorating skills or have never worked at a very fast pace to decorate trying to learn on an icecream cake isn't a smart idea. You have to be really fast to decorate an icecream cake.
I did icecream cakes when I worked at an icecream store in my early 20's. I literally had less than 2 minutes to ice and decorate each cake before the icecream began to melt.
Take more classes, buy instructional dvd's and just practice to get experience and to learn more. Please don't try to decorate for pay until you have sufficient ability under your belt.
just a little story that came to mind when you said you were a beginner decorator...When I was a bakery manager, I didn't get to interview a new decorator, the GM just took her word that she knew how to decorate cakes. In the orientation I mentioned that if we were out of a product such as oreo's or fresh fruit that we could do a dept. pull from the shelves and use it. Well I gave her a stack of cake orders to do, and went to my weekly manager's meeting. When I came back an hour later, she had pulled canned frosting from the shelves, there were cake crumbs all through the icing she horribly iced the cake with, and she pulled the Betty Crocker candy letters to say happy birthday and the kid's name. She didn't even know the difference between a round cake and a sheet cake let alone the difference between a 1/4, 1/2 and full sheet cake. The order was for a party style 1/4 sheet cake filled w/ rasp filling and to say Happy Birthday and the kids name. The cake she did was a 2 layer round cake, It was aweful and I had to fire her on the spot them make up for an hour of lost time to get all the other orders done and my manager responsibilities done too.
Now I AM NOT saying that that is how you would do things at all...I am just saying don't open yourself up for failure if you don't have the skills yet. Get the skills then get the job!
well, I have taken all the wilton classes, and I lOVE to make cakes for my friends and family" which sounds kind of lame.
It's all in how you spin it: "I've taken several cake decorating classes... I'm very passionate about the art of cake decorating... I've done freelance cake decorating for ____ years." And of course, have a portfolio available to share with the interviewer. I'm not saying you're going to "fool" an interviewer with semantics, but the interview is about selling yourself, and you need to know how to do it. And in my experience, the interview is only a small part, it's your portfolio and how well you trail that's really going to decide whether you get the job.
And remember, it's not about going to a fancy school, and sometimes it's not even about years of experience IF you have the talent (some people are naturals from the second they pick up a piping bag). This is not to say that practical job experience wouldn't help--of course it does--but don't assume that because you don't have YEARS under your belt that someone might not be willing to take a chance on hiring you.
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