If you are looking for overnight or night jobs, you may not have thought about a night baker position. Think about all the places that sell or serve baked goods. There are local bakeries, grocery stores, restaurants, commercial manufacturers, hotels, and donut shops. The minimum age to work is usually 18 as the associate or baker will be operating equipment and machinery. Some of the stores that are looking for help right now are Panera Bread, Donut Shops, The Fresh Market, Hilton Worldwide, and Whole Foods Market.

You can become a baker through on-the-job training or by an apprenticeship program. Although not necessary, culinary school can be helpful. Some employers start the inexperienced as trainees and teach them everything.  A baker can also pursue a certification to distinguish his or her skills.

This work can be stressful as there are deadlines to meet. There is some physical risk from operating stoves and equipment and from lifting ingredients. The hours are in the early morning, late night, weekends, and overnights.

Night Baker Job Description:

Pie Making: make dough, roll out pie crusts, assemble pies and assist other bakers

Bread Making: Prepare and bake bread, rolls, pastries and desserts. Must follow recipes and know about icing and decoration.

Baker: Prepares products according to standard recipe. Maintains inventory of raw and finished goods for quantity and for quality. Monitors storage and refrigeration. Rotates goods and keeps track of expiration dates. Ensures the freshness of items. Keeps accurate logs. Keeps everything clean.

Orders and maintains equipment such as slicers, case cutters, ovens, utensils, scales, mixers, film wrappers, racks, unicarts, skids, pricing guns, compactors, cake machines, coolers, freezers and cleaning equipment.

The night baker will have shelves stocked and cases clean for the day shift.

The job prospect is good. Everyone eats bread and baked goods. There are also jobs posted for night shift bakery associates and managers.

If you are looking for a night job in a factory or plant, it might help if you know the kinds of places that employ people on night shifts. If you know, for instance, that there is a water plant nearby, you can apply there. Sometimes when we think of manufacturing jobs, we only think of one type of place. There are, however, many facilities that have machine or assembly workers around the clock. Here are some to consider.

1.       Machinists and Tool Die Makers:

Machinists use machines to produce metal parts to be used in many applications. The airline and automotive industry uses many of the pieces they make. Parts are usually made to order and have precise measurements. Machine operators either use manual or computer assisted machinery to make large and small batches of items. Toolmakers and die makers are somewhat different in what they produce. Toolmakers make tools that are used in machinery, jigs and fixtures, while die makers make molds, and forms using CAD machines.

While these jobs usually do not require overnight hours, there is a lot of nighttime overtime available when customer orders pick up.

2.       Manufacturing Assemblers:

Assemblers take finished parts and put them together with their hands and with machines. The resulting product can then be sold in the marketplace.  The employee has to know how to read a blueprint or schematic and apply that to the assembly. Quality control will inspect the item before it becomes packed to be shipped.

3.       Mechanical Engineer Technician:

If you have ever wondered who was behind the assembly and manufacturing process in a factory, here is the answer. Mechanical engineer technicians design engines, machines and tools. After a design is approved, the engineer takes the tool from prototype to test, to manufacture.

4.       Plastic and Metal Workers:

When you think of factory work, you might picture metal and plastic assembly lines. Some factories make plastic and metal pieces that will eventually become part of larger products. Workers are employed in the areas of setting up machines and operating or monitoring the machines. The set up workers are important. They test things out and make sure the production will go smoothly. The operators load the machines and watch for problems.

5.       Power Plant Operators:

These distributors, dispatchers and operators work in places that generate electrical power. Businesses and homes rely on the electricity that is produced in plants and stations. Because we need power all the time, the jobs associated with power plants are scheduled day, night, and overnight. Someone working a night shift in a power plant might be operating and monitoring equipment, reading charts and meters, and regulating the flow of power.

6.       Sheet Metal Workers:

Sheet metal workers fabricate and install thin pieces of metal used to make things like ducts, rain gutters and siding. They measure and mark pieces and then they cut, bend and drill holes. The pieces are installed and fastened with bolts and rivets in some cases.

7.       Water Plant Operators:

All of our drinking water and waste water has to be processed at a plant. Operators are there to test water, add chemicals, monitor machines, clean equipment, and follow government regulations.  They also have to know what to do in the case of environmental emergencies. Plants must be monitored constantly. Because of this, there are shifts working 24 hours a day. Additionally, there might be employees who are on call nights, weekends and even on holidays.

As machinery and assembly becomes garnered by computers, jobs are becoming more skill oriented. The good news is that some factory jobs pay very well now. While some of these positions can be dangerous and physically demanding, the job security, pay and benefits are something to consider. 

While there are plenty of night jobs, a lot of them are specific to certain educational, skills or experience requirements such as in the fields of healthcare, transportation, and management. If you qualify for one of these more professional positions, that is great. However, there are some job seekers who just want to quickly get a night shift job. Here are a few companies who hire for 2nd and 3rd shift jobs. Most of these opportunities do not have very stringent requirements except for background checks.

1. Caregiver to Pets: PetSmart hires overnight workers to feed, comfort, exercise, and clean areas for animals that stay in their pet hotel. Yes, PetSmart has a PetsHotel; dogs and cats reside in style on cots while watching television and playing with toys. The company trains pet care specialists to be certified in safety.

2. Home Instead Senior Care is looking for caregivers to provide security and support to elderly customers in their homes in sleeping or awake overnight shifts. The companion’s duties are to carry on conversations, assist with toileting, remind the client about medications, do some light housekeeping, prepare meals and help with grooming.

3. WIS International has job ads for staff to work on their inventory teams. The teams travel to warehouses and retail establishments to count inventory. At times the employee will need to stay or work overnight. Additionally, work is generally performed in early morning, weekends or late night hours when businesses are closed. This company also hires drivers who earn slightly more than inventory takers.

4. Care.com has dozens of ads for babysitters. Parents who work evenings and overnight need someone to watch their kids; getting them to bed, monitor while sleeping and get them up and off to school in the morning.  Some moms or dads need help with picking kids up from school or activities, preparing dinner, studying, cleaning, and everything else that a parent would do with a child.

5. Marriot Hotels in many locations need guest services representatives and night auditors for 2nd and 3rd shifts.  This job is two positions combined. One is to check in guests, accommodate their preferences, open an account for them, assign a room and issue keys, answer phones and generally provide customer service. The other part of the job is to close out guest accounts for the day. This part is done late at night and includes finalizing invoices, counting money on hand, and preparing financial reports.

As you can see, there are some unique opportunities to work at night and you do not have to be a rocket scientist or take a job that is unsafe or awful.  Just search our job board with the phrase, “night shift” and these job ads pop up.