Chef Jobs And Training

i am thinking of doing chefs training once qualified should i be able to either work in a kitchen environment while training and or once qualified walk straight into a chefs job

my reason for asking is i know that with al ot of employers even if qualified they like experience

You most likely will not be able to walk straight into a chefs job unless you know someone who has a restaurant and wants to hire you. Experience is very important. If a chef is not experienced, business can drop dramatically. You may need to start off as a line cook and work your way up. You should be well qualified for a job in a kitchen environment if you get the right training. You might start out making salads or side items before you can take on the role of head chef.

If your dream is to become a chef, then go for it. Chefs, cooks, and food preparation workers prepare, season, and cook a wide range of foods—from soups, snacks, and salads to entrees, side dishes, and desserts. They work in a variety of restaurants and other food services establishments. Chefs and cooks create recipes and prepare meals, while food preparation workers peel and cut vegetables, trim meat, prepare poultry, and perform other duties, such as keeping work areas clean and monitoring temperatures of ovens and stovetops. Specifically, chefs and cooks measure, mix, and cook ingredients according to recipes, using a variety of equipment, including pots, pans, cutlery, ovens, broilers, grills, slicers, grinders, and blenders. Chefs and head cooks also are responsible for directing the work of other kitchen workers, estimating food requirements, and ordering food supplies. You will need experience before you can start directing others.

I am getting out of the military soon and always wanted to be a chef, with this new GI Bill I plan on going to culinary school. My only question is how is the job markey for chefs?

RIGHT THIS MINUTE, many restaurants are hurting, so the employment picture isn’t all that good right now..But, things will turn around, they always do, and eventually the restaurant business will bounce back.

Good luck! Good choice!!

does canada want more chefs? it could be any type of chef but does canada want more chefs ?

There is a HUGE demand for chefs all over the developed World, trust me.

I have been offered work there (I am a Chef) many times!

Catersearch
Caterer.com
Jobcentre Plus

It’s all about experience. In the chef world you have to earn your respect and a high salary. You won’t be making much fresh out of the U but you could after years of perfecting your art!

As long as people value good food and natural ingredients, I don’t see the future chef’s job to be very different than what it is today. Perhaps there will be new kitchen technology that will make cooking faster and more efficient but the future chef will still have to be a multi-tasker. I can see more kitchens staffed by only one chef if these technologies come to pass but I can’t see how we can develop robots to replace human chefs. Cooking is as much art as it is science. Right now, my bread machine can never make bread as good as those from a bakery.

My brother just got a job as a chef at a fairly prestigous restaurant (its his first real chef job) and they dont have breaks there. everyone just takes ’smoking’ breaks for like 10 mins. So for 10 hours he got a 15 min break cause everyone is sooo busy. But he gets to bring home free food lol. is that normal? isnt it illegal not to give breaks?

Yup, I’ve worked in several kitchens over the past few months. Most big name restaurants will probably demand their employees to take breaks to avoid lawsuits… But most restaurants, good ones even, don’t really have scheduled breaks for everyone. A lot of times, it would be up to each cook or chef to just find time to have a small bite here and there and/or have a cigarette break. It all depends on how busy it is and how much we have to do. Maybe for someone who’s worked in a normal 9-5 job or the like, would see this as inhuman, but for people who work in a kitchen, its normal.

In my experience, getting a 35 minute break makes me lose my momentum in working. It also makes me sleepy. So I’d rather keep going and get short breaks instead.

I am graduating culinary school in feb 09 and my dream is to cook japanese food in japan. I don’t know how to break through the cultural bearier?

Why would they hire YOU to cook Japanese food IN Japan?

Do you even have experience with Japanese food, or are you fairly good with your Japanese language skills?

Have you even visited Japan before to get an idea of what to look out for?
We need to have more information about you to answer you better.

I just think you would be more successful if you brought in non-Japanese food to satisfy a more niche market.

Anyhow, your biggest challenge would be to get an appropriate work visa. Unless someone wants to sponsor you to come over and work as a chef…..but that would be verrry rare and hard to get.

Well…how do you feel about going to Japan and teaching English for starters?

What else can i do if im a chef?
I love cooking but don’t want a job were im under a lot of stress all the time!!
As a chef your jobs to cater for loads of people with different orders coming in all the time-pretty stressful!!!
I wanna do a chefs course but what other jobs could i do were i can cook and not be under all that stress?
I would like to open my own shop perhaps a cake shop or a restaurant but i know to many companies go bust …Any ideas?

there are many different types of catering jobs, hotels and restaurants can be very stressful, but the sheer speed and pressure of working in such an environment can bring a real sense of exhilaration and a sense of achievement.

Many people who train as chefs , but only work in the industry for 10 years, on average.

You could go into canteen work, cafés or work for yourself, making cakes, birthdays, weddings, for example. But in order to make a living, you will need to be highly skilled, so would need to go into the specific trade, of being a pastry chef.
A pastry chef is a specialised job, and while it usually isn’t as stressful as a normal chef, it does have it’s own pressures.

I worked as a chef for many years, and you learn to manage the stress, part of the training is dealing with fast orders, and a good manager will help you find your rhythm. But the service side of the job, was about 40% of my time, a lot of it is preparation, and maintaining a clean space to work in. And there is always a lot of fun in the job, any job that is pressurised needs a release, and most chefs I knew , knew how to wind down and have a good time.

Yes I have worked in a restaurant for 12 years! I wish to become a sous chef or executive chef . I am trying not to go to culinary school( expensive and I am not a SCHOOL person) I know experience is key!

I don’t know you could get a lot of connection at school. junior college is the least expensive, mostly hands on but you learn, food costing and purchasing which is essential to self employment and opening your own business. I’m a small business owner of a restaurant, in business for many years, who recently went back to school in order to improve the business and increase my business skills. If I were hiring a sous chef I would expect them to have business skills. I think you experience is excellent but, you need both the experience and the education in these trying times to have an edge. My cousin is an expert in the IT field. Been in it for nearly 30, 40 years, worked with NASA on many a project, knows more than the college grads she works with, and even has to train these college grads. Guess what, they make more than her even though she can do more and answer more questions, go figure. Your young, a year or two of part-time or internet classes could guarantee you future, it’s up to you. After being self employed for more than ten years I’m finding it useful!