Admit it – when you think of a butler, you think of Alfred from Batman – an old English guy dressed to the nines, serving the créme de la créme of society. Butlers are actually in high demand in South Africa, and around the world. To become a professional butler, you need to be a highly qualified and skilled individual though.
Being a butler to the rich and famous is not the job that most people think it is – the position is often actually referred to as Household Manager, or Duty Manager in hospitality establishments, and your roles and responsibilities are as vast and varied as the skills and knowledge you need to perform them.
What does a butler do?
A butler is responsible for everything! The list is endless, but your role could have you doing any or all of the following:
- overseeing household staff
- housekeeping or cleaning the pool
- coordinating the activities and schedules of the staff and your employer
- walking the dog
- making holiday or travel arrangements
- traveling with your employer
- packing your employerʼs bags
- doing the shopping
- make restaurant bookings
- ironing clothing
- training other staff members
- acting as a personal assistant
- organising social events or parties
- cooking, or serving food and drinks
- driving your employer around or acting as a valet
- acting as a bouncer or doorman when the need arises.
What skills does a butler need?
For all of these reasons and more, a butler must be efficient and organised, with great attention to detail and planning. 
As a butler, you need to be courteous, well-spoken, loyal, and able to carry out any and all tasks requested of you, whether they fall under this list or not.
Becoming a butler has a lot to do with management and a commitment to service excellence is crucial. The role requires good manners, professionalism, and an intuition for what your employer wants and needs before they ask for it.
Flexibility is important – you have to be prepared to be available at all hours. If youʼre woken up in the middle of the night, you better be on the ball and happy to help. Itʼs also important to look the part – youʼll be on the go all the time and you should always look your best for your employer.
Confidentiality is key
The most important responsibility and skill is discretion. Your employers will always be wealthy and well-known, and usually very protective of their privacy, and as someone who is so entrenched in the inner workings of their lives, your confidentiality is crucial. Youʼll be expected to sign a non-disclosure agreement and keep the confidence of your employers – current and ex employers included.
According to Neil Phillips, the head butler at Cape Royale Luxury Hotel says, “Private butlers build a relationship with their employer, you become friends and they start to trust you. You sign confidentially agreements saying you won’t release any information about them.”
Says Cape-based butler, Lynette Venter, “My colleagues and I have worked with princes and movie stars, but we don’t mention anything specific about them, even to each other. Nobody will even say who exactly they work for. We respect people’s privacy.”
Butler jobs around the world
These days, butlers are in demand outside of private households as well though, sought out by hotels, resorts, restaurants, and other hospitality establishments all around the world. You could find yourself working on a private yacht, on a jet, or in a holiday villa – not a bad life! Also, job experience in the hotel or hospitality industry is a big plus on a butlerʼs CV.
Butlers are usually paid quite well. According to TimesLive, a butler with a pilotʼs license could receive a salary of up to R2 million per year! All in all, if youʼre a service-oriented individual, a job as a butler could be right up your alley.
What a lovely article, thank you Hotel School, also to Lynette Venter a former graduate from the South African Butler Academy.
Salaries are spectacular and your new lifestyle as a employed butler is fantastic, however do not get blown away by the glamour – Hard Work goes into being a professional Butler. We also suggest that after you have some years of experience in the Hospitality Industry, you might want to further your career by becoming a service ambassador – Butler.
Newton Cross, who has been butler to such stars as Nelson Mandela, Uma Thurman, Oprah Winfrey and Jessica Simpson, says: “We are like air, unobtrusive yet indispensable.”
Admission of guilt to thinking of butlery from the Alfred of the Batman movie.