- Employee
- 12/12/2025
Behind the Scenes | Sam Lifka, catering employee
From technicians to schedulers, and from IT specialists to catering staff – it takes many hands to keep TU/e running smoothly. But who are the people behind the scenes? Cursor puts them in the spotlight. This time: Sam Lifka, catering employee at Appèl.
You’ll run into Sam Lifka on campus over the past two and a half years whenever you attend a reception or join an organized lunch. Dressed in a white shirt and black pants, he makes sure guests get their food and drinks — at least on three days a week. On the other days, the Fontys-trained commercial economist works on his own online business: he sells leather belts. At TU/e, he works under Anneke van Rijswijk with a six-person team, handling banqueting for caterer Appèl. Banqueting is simply a fancy word for hospitality service at events.
What time do you clock in?
“That changes day by day. I usually start in the morning — sometimes at 8, sometimes three hours later. I work on call with a zero-hour contract. Most days I work eight hours, always on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and sometimes on weekends. That might be for a Sinterklaas celebration, a concert, or the Christmas market. I always end up with about 24 hours a week.”
What does your job involve?
“We handle catering for groups. Sometimes that’s faculty or students, sometimes external companies coming here for a meeting. I often work at graduation ceremonies or PhD defenses. When staff order a coffee break, I prepare coffee, tea, and pastries if needed. If it’s self-service, we just clean up afterward; otherwise, we also serve the drinks.”
“For lunches, we set up a buffet. For groups up to twenty people, we prepare the sandwiches and wraps ourselves in our pantry in Auditorium. For larger groups, Appèl’s sandwich line takes care of it — they’re also located in Auditorium, behind Subway. We also cater in Matrix, MetaForum, and Atlas, so we walk back and forth a lot with our carts. At WinTU/er Wonderland, we serve hot chocolate or glühwein.”
How did you end up in this job?
“I deliberately chose this location — the TU/e campus. Through hospitality gigs via an agency, I got to know several workplaces in Eindhoven. This was the one I liked most. I enjoy the variety that banqueting offers and wouldn’t want to work every hour in the same cafeteria.”
What do you enjoy most about your job?
“Serving drinks, collecting empty glasses, refilling them, loading and unloading the dishwasher, frying snacks, assembling platters, making sandwiches, cleaning up — I enjoy all of it. It’s the variety that I like most. No day is the same.”
“I also appreciate the freedom of working on call, and that I’m part of a young team supplemented by temp workers. That part is fun because I meet new people, though it can also be tiring.”
Is that the least fun part of your job?
“Sometimes it’s just me and one colleague handling a 350-person reception, with five temps helping out. When they’re new to campus, they don’t know their way around. So besides supervising, I end up doing a lot myself. For example, I may need to clean the promotion room in Atlas or pick up coffee supplies in Matrix while 350 people are in the Senaatszaal. Because of new regulations, temp workers can only work 60 hours at the same location, so we often get new people.”
What time do you clock out?
“That also varies. When I leave, everything has to be clean and tidy. I usually don’t go home until around seven. The upside: I never get stuck in traffic. I live in Sint-Oedenrode and plan to stay there.”
What do you do on Mondays and Thursdays?
“That’s when I ship leather belts. During my commercial economics program, I had to make a webshop for an assignment. My father runs a leather-belt wholesaler and produces belts in his own workshop in Erp. With my online store, I’m now one of his customers. I manage the website, pack orders, and ship them. Right now, I handle around ten orders per day. If that number increases, I’ll work fewer hours in catering — though I’d miss the social contact.”
“I recently spent a full week at the Margriet and Libelle Winterfair in Den Bosch, selling belts from the Christmas collection — with glitter and prints — from my booth. I can only do that thanks to the flexibility my contract gives me.”
What do you do once you’ve clocked out?
“Every Monday night I go to a pub quiz at Café De Spijker in Eindhoven with my high-school friends. My specialty is the vibes — the others usually know the answers, haha. We often finish second.”
“I also spend a lot of time traveling. I’d still love to go backpacking in Sri Lanka. In 2023 I spent three months backpacking through Southeast Asia. That’s where you see the upside of my job: freedom.”
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