Ok so heres the delema and a lil background info. I used to work as a catering pastery chef i do fondant work for myself i didnt go to school and im curantly unemployeed. now to the job offer its a busy bakery high volume with cakes wedding and party and a small store front italian bakery. there ad was for a baker and cake decorator like 2 differnt people. i go to the interview with all my pictures ready to go she looks at them and tells me im good at the detail work and says it looks great!! and then shes like hows your butter cream skills i told her that there ok i dont do alot of butter cream cakes so im a lil rusty.(being honest!) so then she tells me about 6 times throughout the interview that shes going to give me a day to try decorating she doesnt think that her decorators will think im going to work out so then shell put me in the bakery. (sounds to me that she wants me baking not decorating i dont mind baking but i really wanna decorate) then there was money talk.....she asked what i made catering and i told her this is what i was making and it was a differnt kind of job im looking to make this much and it is a 25% pay cut (but this job is alot less hours) and she told me i would have to work to get there cause shes going to have to train me (train me!!!! no matter who you are starting a new job it should be expected that you need 1-2 weeks to get there style down and learn there ways thats not training!!) so im going in on wed to try decorating!!!! let me know what you think i was really hopeing to get in to my own thing(though i dont have the cash) or get in to a smaller cake shop where they dont do a couple hundred wedding cakes a week!! but i do need a job! what should i do .... what do you think about this interview??

I think it sounds like she is evaluating your skills, her needs, and how everything can mesh so she can get the most out of your position. A probationary period, at an entry pay level, is common in many industries. Overall, the interview sounds up and up.

I understand that you want to be able to do your own thing according to your dream. Keep that dream, and use this (and other?) experiences to build your skills, confidence, name, credit, bank account, business knowledge.....The great thing about dreams is they don't go away! But if you jump in unprepared, it will not succeed.

Best of luck to you! Show your best work on Wednesday!

Good luck, I would grab this is an opportunity for openning of doors. There is always parts of cake decorating that we love better, but going in at the baking level will give you more ideas for cake receipes and I am sure with your skills and design ideas within a short time you will be moved to a different section of cake decorating.
This will help you see tips and ideas and more importantly contacts for making more cakes at home for yourself.
I could never mass produce at home as I work also and I know I take too long to decorate cakes (I am too picky) but if I ever wanted to do more cakes I would need to find out more tips and ideas.

Keep your dreams as this will always push you to do more in the
decorating side.

Thinking of you and let us know how you get on.


Louise

thanks icubed you prove to have alot of valid points i guess im going to try my best and pray this works out!!!

Here is my take on it:

The interview does seem on the up and up. The lady you spoke to really has to have the company's best interest in mind. If they have decorators who have been there for a while...and they say that your not going to work out, then one of a few things has just happened.

1: They know how their shop does cakes...and even though you may have the skills to do it...if your personal style is different, it will show in the cakes you do for them. This may stray from their standard.

2: They just plain dont feel your up to the task.

3: They KNOW your up to the task, and worry about their jobs and positions..so they push you out before you get a chance to shine.


I have much different views on life than most people. This could be a real opportunity for you...and door that you may not be able to pass up, no matter what the situation. However...if things dont work out the way you would like, you have to come to a decision.

Will you be happy doing what they ask of you? Or will you be mad at yourself, because you have once again pushed your dreams aside?

Like I said, my views on life can be quite different...so please take my crazy into consideration...lol

It sounds like they want to get as much out of you for as little as possible. Kie you said what job doesn't train, not to mention you really don't need it.

thanks guys i consider everybodys crazy around here!!!! D3sc3n7 she pretty much told me that no matter who she puts in the decorating room to try they always say no cause they want perfection there way first day!!! i was a lil shocked when she told me here decorators will let her know but i probly wont fit in there but she did say she liked my detail work and that she might be able to put me in the decorating room here and there to make parts for cakes!!! the other thing i have to ask is i need to make X amount to live (we all know what we have to make to live)and i told her flat out i need to make this much and she was like so would you wanna do hourly or salery and truthfully to start i just wanna make enough to live im not trying to get greedy but should i tell her hourly and base it on working 40-45 hours or should i tell her salery and possible work a lil more and know ill make my cash??

it all comes down to what you want. Dont worry about her, their decorators, their shop...the quality of their products....not of that matters

will you be HAPPY working there? You say your unemployed right now...so I'm guessing your figuring out how to make ends meet already. Do you want to settle for this job that you may or may not want? Or do you want to keep looking for what YOU want, not what someone else wants.

For the feeling I get from the situation, I would go hourly, with a minimum of hours needed per week. Heres the thing on salary, you get paid a flat wage no matter how many hours you work. Do you think for one second you'll be working less then 40 hrs. a week? More then likely it'll be more then 40 hours & no overtime.

here's my opinion...if you are unemployed and this job is being offered to you, then take it. It doesnt matter that its not your dream job. Hey, at least its the same field. As far as the money, I'd be nervous of going salary because usually that means you work more and dont get extra pay. They may have you there from dawn to dusk! If you're hourly you will still have time to pursue your cake decorating skills, side cake baking, searching for other employment etc. while still bringing in that ever important paycheck. Good Luck, and dont let their decorators intimidate you.

I'd go hourly with her--so you can apply pressure if she has to short your hours for whatever reason--after you're in you can tell her she can put you in the decorating room or behind the coutner for that matter to make up hours. In other words does she wanna get a new baker or find new counter help?.

There's obviously abundant ego in the decorating room. I'd be careful to appreciate their work verbally, genuinely---I mean complement them. I get the feel that Ron Ben-Israel might not 'work out' there.

Sounds like she's low balling you on the money--sounds like she'd like someone with your skills.

I'd carefully set her straight over her need to "train' you.

"Work to get there' with your skills is just code for I don't want to pay that much huh.

Work that out in your head--how low you'll go and still be happy.

I'd suggest you go straight for the baking and slowly win them over. Lemme tell yah--baking solo beats the heck outa decorating in an ego infested room where there's no room to breath. oh my oh my

If they need yah they know where to find yah for the decorating.

be careful about the decorating divas already working there....they can make your life miserable...(don't ask me how i know)....

i think she can tell you can decorate from your pics....they just need to see how much you can produce....it's all about numbers ....

i worked starting at a kinda low wage at one place i worked....they gave me a significant raise only 1 week later....and i kept getting raises after that, so low start out worked out okay for me before.

First I'd say, look at how much you "need" the job, and 2nd, what is your gut telling you? I stopped by an italian bakery one day, they had a sign in the window for help. When I went in they said they needed counter help, I thanked the girl and said I decorate. She called her father, the owner out and he went through my pictures. He was estactic, telling me he turns down wedding cakes all the time because he's too afraid to even try them and he's been hoping for someone with my skills to come in. We work out a pay plan. He says that while we build the business toward the custom cakes he'll have me help him out in the kitchen learning to bake other things, helping with their basic cakes, etc. I figure it's good experience and new things I can learn. He calls me everyday for 2 weeks waiting for me to start. I start and all of a sudden, he doesn't think he can pay me the price we agreed upon that a basic cake decorator only makes "x" amount, but I can stay if I want to accept this pay. I thanked him for his time and left. I answered an ad from craigslist one day, they are looking for someone who can do specialty cake decorating. Same thing, we work out a pay plan, but they'll have me helping with other things until we can grow that part of their business. Long story short, from day one I'm filling cupcakes and gee they don't think they can pay what we had agreed upon (and they knew I had over an hour commute each way). Again, I said thank you but their pay would just about cover my commuting expenses. They kept asking me to stay, all the while telling me that NO ONE who decorates cakes makes more than $9 hr. (this is right outside NYC). I said no thank you and the owner began degrading the very work she had hired me for. I find that even though I'm not asking enough for my own cakes yet, I still do better than either of these places were willing to offer. I think they knew I had limited experience and they figured they could take advantage of me. This way, I can make the cakes I enjoy doing most.

Whatever you decide, good luck. It's always worth a shot to find out, you can always leave.

I think you could easily learn a lot from the bakery since they seem to do a lot of business (they must be good if so) Even if the salary sucks the learning experience might be worth it for the time being. Plus it's a job and you can just try to save up as much as possible, learn as much as possible - then say tata and go out on your own when you're good and ready Good luck