The roar of the crowd, the smell of the air, the bright lights of the cameras. With your charming personality, coy good looks, and world-renowned flair with a whisk and a designer mixing bowl, you step out to greet your adoring audience. Reflecting back on the path to your dream, you know you did not achieve your success by gourmet brownies alone.
Perhaps this seems a bit out of touch with your more realistic goal of becoming a chef, but even the most famous cooks on television acquired their skills and their success through education and experience. The path they took may have varied a little from the one you’ll take, but the basics were probably the same.
Job prospects
There are millions of job opportunities available for you in the food-service industry, the vast majority of which are at entry-level and probably won’t require you to have any type of formal education, perhaps not even a high school diploma. (Given that, they probably won’t pay you very much either). There may be a great chef here or there who climbed up from the trenches without ever getting a degree, but if you’re just starting out, don’t expect to hop right onto the gravy train to fame and fortune.
You’ll need more under your apron belt than basic cooking skills and that designer mixing bowl to make a name for yourself.
About the competition
High-end culinary positions are competitive, so years of training and experience are the ingredients du jour for a career in a fashionable restaurant kitchen where the best-paying, most elite jobs can be found. Distinctive recipes, interpersonal flair, and a savvy business sense may put you on the track to culinary advancement, but an education in the culinary arts will train you in the finer details of haute cuisine, and provide a background in restaurant and kitchen management, as well as a dash of food industry marketing.
Necessary ingredients
If you haven’t gotten a head start by piling on the Home Ec classes in high school, you can begin your culinary training by attending a vocational school or reputable cooking institute. If your goal is to cook in an upscale venue, you may wish to pursue your formal training at a school that offers associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in the field, as they may offer a wider variety of coursework and training. (Programs that offer degrees require you to have a high-school diploma to be considered for admission.)
Most professional training programs will require you to complete an apprenticeship or internship after you finish your coursework, and you may receive additional on-the-job training in job-placement programs through your school.
Just desserts
Whichever route you choose, graduation from a reputable school will give you a leg up on jobs in the field, but the role of executive chef or world-famous cooking show host will come only after a few years of experience and promotions. Advancement in the field will come more easily if you also display the ability to be a team player, take on added responsibilities, and demonstrate initiative in learning new skills.
Of course, all this will be for naught if you lack the most obvious skill of all: good taste and a knack for making great food!
As far as wages go, the bigger the city and the more upscale the restaurant, the higher the wages. In 2004, the median income for head cooks and chefs was around $34,000 a year. The highest paid chefs earned upwards of $55,000 a year. That’s pretty good bread for pursuing a career in something you love to do!
