Culinary Careers

Overview

Chefs and cooks can have a variety of roles and responsibilities in the restaurant industry. They can lead upscale restaurants as executive chefs or be second in charge as a sous chef. They can open their own restaurants or catering businesses or even star in their own television show, centered around making unremarkable meals in just 30 minutes (not counting the time it took to go to the store, prep the food and make sure you had all the equipment, not to mention preheating the ovens and making sure the kids don’t kill themselves as you cook. But hey! 30 minutes! Just like that!)

In the culinary industry, 88 percent of jobs are held by food preps and server supervisors, while the remaining 12 percent is made up of chefs and head cooks. The job market is growing, but not at the same rate as other professions. For the most part, the salaries are average with chefs at upscale restaurants hauling in the small percentage of high earnings.

Salary range

Celebrity chefs Rachael Ray, Gordon Ramsay and Wolfgang Puck may bring in a combined salary of about $40 million, but your typical chefs top out at about $66,000. And their salaries start at about $22,000, which is equivalent to about 10 pounds of saffron, one Yubari cantaloupe (the most expensive melon in the world) or how much Rachael Ray made every 11 hours in 2008.

The salary range of chefs varies widely, depending on the quality of restaurant. Chefs of upscale restaurants will make more than the usual chef does, but the median salary for a chef is $32,000 - $38,000.

If you have aspirations of making Ray-Ramsay-Puck money, consider the following advice: Get an endorsement deal with Dunkin’ Donuts, think in 30-minute increments, say ‘Yum-O’ often, put your face on soup cans, adopt a funny accent or develop a Fox TV reality show, where you constantly curse and lose your temper over meat and starches, throughout the 44 minutes on air.

Job prospects

Job prospects for those in the culinary industry are expected to grow by about six percent throughout 2018, which is slower than most occupations.

Typical work day

A chef or cook can work early mornings, afternoon or evenings depending on the restaurant hours and staff schedule. If you work in a more upscale restaurant, the hours may be longer as the ingredients may take longer to prepare. Executive chefs typically have long days, because they are responsible for overseeing food dropoffs in the morning, prep throughout the day and actual cooking and serving of food during restaurant hours.

A kitchen staff usually works together in phases: Opening of the restaurant, prepping food, cooking and serving food, closing and cleaning the restaurant in the evening and making a smorgasbord of leftover food to eat together in the parking lot or kitchen away from the cameras late at night.

Skills required

The skills required for chefs are tricky, in that they are not. If you want to become a chef, you should be familiar with making good food people like to eat, or at least have a strong interest or passion in the idea of making good food.

Good chefs are also creative, attentive to details, have an understanding of sanitary guidelines, work well under pressure and are open to continually learning new tricks, methods and recipes. They also have to be good communicators and well organized to run a kitchen and the numerous prep cooks, runners and others underneath him or her.

Career growth prospects

The opportunities for advancement in the culinary arts industry all depends on someone’s ability to gain experience and training and translate that into success as a cook. Prep cooks, line cooks and serving supervisors work their way up by working under head cooks and chefs as an apprentice. You can move up to the position of sous chef, which means you are second in command. Once you become a head cook, restaurant manager or chef, you can begin taking on more responsibilities, such as leading a team of workers and creating menu items. Most kitchens are lead by executive chefs, head cooks or chefs de cuisine. Once some cooks become chefs or heads of kitchens, they can have more credibility to venture out on their own and open their own restaurants or catering businesses.

Pros and cons

Working in the food industry means you get to work on your feet in a fast and often fun environment. You get to make food people hopefully enjoy for a living and experiment with new methods and recipes throughout your career. The job is far removed from the mundane routine of an office 9-5 job.

However, the job can be stressful, and running a kitchen and being responsible for the quality of a menu is no simple task. Chefs and cooks also have to be mindful of the potential dangers working in any kitchen entail.

The money is also typically not remarkable (unless you’re Rachael Ray, of course).

Education required

You can become a chef or head cook through several avenues. Top-of-the line chefs and cooks mostly earn their positions by holding postsecondary degrees through culinary arts schools, technical schools, community colleges or a two-year or four-year college degree in hospitality. However, some chefs advance by working their way through apprenticeship programs. Hopeful chefs and head cooks can also take vocational courses throughout high school, universities or community colleges to train in the culinary arts.

Large hotels or restaurants can have their own training programs, and an increasing number of industry leaders working with training programs sponsored by independent cooking schools. Cooks can also become certified through The American Culinary Federation, which can help chefs advance to higher-paying positions.

Overall, culinary school can help a chef move through the ranks quicker, but doesn’t make or break a chef’s career. Mario Batali, for example, is a culinary school dropout, but still owns about a dozen Italian restaurants throughout the country and makes millions cooking pasta. Served al dente of course. (Yum-O!)

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