Career as a Chef

• Education
One can go for a course after completing high school. A high school diploma is required for individuals aspiring to become professional chefs. Paid internships and summer employment are offered to beginners in this field. Internships can be very useful in providing quality experience that can lead to placement in advanced chef training programmes. For executive chefs and head cooks it is compulsory to work in prestigious restaurants and have several years of experience and training. There are many hotels who train their own chefs and cooks through private programs. Graduating apprentices are often hired by the restaurant in which they have completed their training. There are also college programs available for Cooks and Chefs.


• Skills
A chef has to carry a great deal of responsibility on his shoulders. A small mistake can not only destroy his career but also mar the reputation of the restaurant. A chef should have knowledge about different kinds of food and cuisine and how they are prepared.
Becoming a chef can be a good career move, but only for those of you who don't mind working even at odd hours. The chef should have lot of patience as the job involves standing for long hours, working under pressure and in an environment which is full of smoke and fumes. He should also be good at team work as food preparation requires lot of coordination within the staff. A foreign language can be an added advantage to communicate with the customers. A good chef will always have smile on his face in spite of working under stressful conditions. One should also have good communication skills to interact with the customers in the best possible way. As is being said “Customer is King” so in case of any argument the chef might have to intervene and solve the problem with patience and with a low and polite tone. The chef has to look after the economic point in preparing the food. He has to ensure that the food stuffs are not wasted and the ingredients are used as per the requirement.


• Remuneration
The starting salary can be few thousand dollars but as in any other profession a chef can expect to earn more and more as he goes on garnering experience. Apart from the salary the chefs are offered very good perks. They get medical facilities for self and family, overtime payments, performance bonus etc. For a good chef remuneration will never be a problem.