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Cake decorator
Cake decorators design, make and decorate cakes for birthdays, weddings and other special occasions.
Average salary (a year)
£12000
Starter
£25000
Experienced
Typical hours (a week)
41.0 to 43.0 hours
a week
Work Hours
evenings / weekends
on shifts
How to become
Explore the different ways to get into this role
You can get into this job through:a college course; working towards this role; applying directly
College
You can take a course at a college. For example
Level 2 Certificate in Sugarcraft, Level 2 Certificate in Professional Cake Decoration, Level 3 Diploma in General Patisserie and Confectionary
Some colleges and adult learning centres run hobby courses in cake decorating, where you can pick up useful skills and techniques.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
    Work
    You could start as an assistant in a bakery or patisserie and do training on the job.
    Direct Application
    You could apply for jobs if you've got the right level of skills, for instance from decorating cakes for special occasions for family and friends.
    More Information
    Career Tips
    If you're displaying your work online, make sure you
    put a watermark on your images to deter others from copying them, check copyright terms if you're using popular characters or logos in your designs
    Further Information
    You can get more details about working in the food and drinks industry from Tasty Careers.
    What it takes
    Find out what skills you’ll use in this role
    Skills and knowledge
    You'll need:
      The ability to work well with your hands
      To be thorough and pay attention to detail
      Customer service skills
      Excellent verbal communication skills
      Knowledge of food production methods
      The ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
      The ability to use your initiative
      Maths knowledge
    Digital Skills Level
    to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
    Other Requirements
    You may need a food hygiene certificate, depending on where you work.
    What you will do
    Discover the day-to-day tasks you’ll do in this role
    Day to day tasks
    In this job, you'll
    talk with customers about their requirements, produce sketches for designs and decorations to show customers, give estimates for costs and time, bake cakes to order, add icing, chocolate, decorations and messages, wrap finished cakes ready for delivery, clean work areas and equipment, check stock levels and buy ingredients, promote the business, keep accounts up to date
    Working environment
    You could work from home or at a store.
    You may need to wear protective clothing.
    Your working environment may be dusty and cool.
    Career Path & Progression
    Look at progression in this role and similar opportunities
    With experience, you could start your own business. You could also work in quality control in a bakery, or teach cake design in adult education centres or at college.
    With a good reputation, you may be able to move into designing and making cakes for high profile weddings and special events, where salaries can be much higher.
    Job profile data provided by The National Careers Service.
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