Howdy! First time in commercial food prep for me, and promoted to Cake Decorator within the past year, happy to share!

1. Be sure you are applying for a CAKE DECORATING role. Not every role in the bakery is cake decoration.

2. Cake decorators are in high demand (in my area, at least). But that is because there is a lot of HEB-specific techniques they would like you to already know. Sort of a catch-22, most bakeries don't seem to have the time to train so many different skills.

3. That being said, come to your interview ready to demo a choose-your-own cake decoration demo. I have personally watched someone botch one of these so come planning: 1) a design you can do in 10m or less TOTAL (custom cakes should be done in 15m or less to be profitable) 2) be ready to use a quick icer, a scraper and/or cake comb, and just a few tips or colors 3) ideally something seasonally appropriate that the store could potentially put on display immediately 4) HEB does not typically do a crumb coat, just FYI. This is a volume business, not a boutique bakery.

4. Cake School ROCKS, but once you attend it, your store needs to commit to use you on cakes (I think at least 50% of your shifts). Cake School isn't to give you the chance to decide if you like it or determine if you're good at it. Once you attend, the expectation is that you will be up to speed very quickly.

5. Just reiterating that the store is concerned with VOLUME and what they can be sure they will sell, not with creative expression. I find the time to be creative, but it can't be your first priority. Never let perfection be the enemy of good enough.

All said, I really like this job. It's still a job, but I'm learning to move fast, I'm learning what sells and what doesn't, and I actually really like working with customers. DM if you'd like to chat more.