Staffing your bakery with the right people is one of the most important aspects concerning financial success and longevity. The right workers with the right skills are essential in today's struggle to be profitable and keep the doors open.

Cake decorators need to be talented, creative and able to work under deadlines with high pressure to produce quality cakes. But no matter how talented and creative, a decorator must be able to handle the stress of getting things done on time. A decorator's portfolio of work is a great way to assess skill and creativity, but not necessarily how well they can perform under pressure.

To get a good feel for whether or not a potential decorator can do the work you need done in a crunch, make the job interview a live situation. Have a cake ready, give them a time limit and design, or design idea and see what they can do.