Culinary Careers |
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Chef Jobs, Cooking Occupation
What Is It Like To Be A Chef?
The term "chef", abbreviated from chef de cuisine, means the "chief" or "head" of the kitchen. Although the term "chef" has become synonymous with many different professional cooks, the prestige of an executive chef in one of North America's premier fine dining establishments still carries very significant weight. If your dream is to run a kitchen, create your vision of dining excellence and work with a variety of other passionate professionals in the hospitality industry, career as a head chef or executive chef is for you. After a one to four-year degree in culinary arts from an established culinary institute, you will have the entire industry at your fingertips, ready for you to give it your all.What Is The Chef Career Outlook?
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), new job openings for chefs across the United States are expected to rise by more than 20 percent over the next decade. Canada, as well, expects similar growth, due to the North American restaurant industry's unprecedented growth in recent years, which is still expected to continue. Especially for chef's in the most affluent, urban areas where fine dining continues its highest traditions, the long ours, painstaking pursuit of excellence, close monitoring of kitchen management and professional relationships make the entire demanding work environment more than worthwhile.
Of the hundreds of thousands of chefs working in the US and Canada, the majority at roughly 75 percent are male. This, however, is beginning to change. Where the female percentage was below 10 percent just 25 years ago, it is now just over 25 percent and climbing. Top rated culinary schools across the globe are reporting higher numbers of female graduates each year. With starting salaries ranging from the low $30,000s, an increasing demand and the possibility of great money for top chefs, there has never been a better time to get a degree or diploma in culinary arts.
What Is A Typical Culinary Degree For A Chef?
The most common diploma, certification and degree programs in culinary arts from today's top US and Canadian culinary schools for tomorrow's chefs are listed below:
- • Culinary Arts
- • Dietetics
- • Nutrition Science
- • Hospitality Management
- • Food Science
- • Bakery Science
Top positions in today's top culinary establishments including restaurants, hotels, resorts, spas and catering companies are quite competitive. Many culinary students can secure these positions over those without a degree through the extensive training, experience, skill sets given at each institute as well as job placement services provided through internships and after graduation. Many of today's culinary professionals gained these top positions through professional internships or work-study programs during their second, third, or fourth years at established culinary academies. Many others began as preparation chefs, sous chefs, chef's assistants or more before moving on to their chance at becoming an executive or head chef.
Who Else Works In A Professional Kitchen Environment?
Chefs can work long and sometimes unusual hours, depending on the type of restaurant, its clientele, and the particular types of foods they are preparing. The physical requirements of being a chef are also demanding, including working at a very fast pace, lifting heavy pots, pans and ingredients, remaining on one's feet for extended durations at a time, stirring vats of sauces, rolling pounds of dough and more. Although most chefs specialize in a certain type of cuisine, these types of activities are quite normal. However, chefs have a very organized and well-staffed kitchen full of many different professionals to assist in many of these duties.
Executive chefs can most often be found working in kitchens of all shapes and sizes with many of the following other types of professionals:
- • Cooks/Prep Cooks/Soux Chefs
- • Restaurant/Hospitality Managers
- • Waiters/Expediters/Bussers/Hosts
- • Station Chefs/Pastry chefs/Line Cooks/Specialty Chefs/Bakers
- • Caterers/Event Planners/Event Consultants
- • Restaurant Owners/Investors
North American Professional Chef Associations
National Restaurant Association
1200 17th Street NW
Washington DC 20036-3097
phone: 202-331-5900
www.restaurant.org
Educational Foundation of the National Restaurant Association
250 South Wacker Drive
Chicago IL 60606
phone: 800-424-5156
www.edfound.org
Chefs de Cuisine Association of America
155 E. 55th St.
New York NY 10022
phone: 212-832-4939
www.¬acfla.¬org