Agree with PP--the hours are long and very unpredictable. Depending on the company, you may have good on-site staff which does not require you to be at every event or you may have an assistant who can be on-site for some events but for the most part, I tried to at least show up for most events and say hello to the clients. Some smaller catering companies will require you to be there to "run" the events. And if you are working for an on-premise caterer (i.e. a restaurant or a hotel), it is usually expected that you will be there to at least start the event.

It can be a very lucrative job but you will work hard. The hours are very unpredictable and even when you think you have the weekend off, there are always last minute events that pop up. For the most part, you are expected to be in the office between 9-5 to handle the adminsitrative/sales end and then there are at least 2-3 nights a week where you will be expected to show up for events or attend networking events. Unless you have a lot of experience and a good client base (which takes years to build), I don't see how you can make it a 40 hour a week job. I know several people who have worked for catering companies for years who have a pretty sweet deal with their employers but they worked their way to that point.

Sure. I did this for about 8 years. Monday-Friday 9-??? Anywhere from 5:30 to 11pm at night depending on the season. Weekends usually worked Saturdays 2pm-11pm and hardly ever had events on Sundays. Maybe you are only in the office 9-3 but then you could be offsite at an event until 10 at night. The hours are long. There is no way around it.

Has anyone worked as a Catering Sales Manager and would be willing to share their typical hours during the week M-F (11-7 or 9-5, etc...) ?