Benefits of Becoming a Professional Chef
Foodservice is a fast-growing industry which makes choosing to become a chef an appealing and lucrative career for many people. Additionally, the proliferation of celebrity chefs on YouTube and the growth of the Food Network have glamorized the industry. Qualified chefs can find employment at many foodservice establishments, including hotels, restaurants, diners, hospitals, schools, cruise ships, and other institutions. Becoming a chef is an incredibly satisfying career that comes with many benefits.
A career in culinary arts and catering is an excellent way of surrounding yourself with motivated, creative, and independent people committed to making great meals for others to enjoy. The foodservice industry is diverse, and you will enjoy working and meeting with other chefs as you work and collaborate in the kitchen.
Because of their abilities in the kitchen and knowledge about different cuisine, chefs are held in high regard. They command respect, and many times, their advice is sought on recipe ingredients, cooking techniques, and many other aspects connected to the culinary arts. Besides the esteem, sharing expertise opens doors to make new friends, socialize and create opportunities for further career growth. This is a lifetime title that doesn’t lose value or require a license renewal to maintain.
Just about every hotel, restaurant, or diner has a chef that either works or does the kitchen supervision. Compared to most professional careers, as a chef, you have much freedom to become more creative. Cooking encourages you to create new flavors and make adjustments along the way or make menu combinations. The chef determines what goes on the day’s menu and how meals are prepared. Even standard recipes are only guidelines that you can change in terms of ingredient ratios or add new ones to make your special dish.
Chefs can find jobs nearly anywhere they want to go and can enjoy long-term employment once they find jobs that match their skills and interests. As a chef, you can also enjoy the freedom to hop around as you look for the right job fit. For instance, if you hail from San Ramon in California but have always wanted to live and work in Los Angeles, you can confidently move there knowing that the big city has many job opportunities for professional chefs.
And if you don’t like being employed, you could try a catering business with you as the chef. You even have the freedom of where to open your catering business and the type of cuisine to specialize in. The possibilities and options are endless, unlike many other restrictive careers.
You can work up the ladder through experience to become a chef. Many hone their culinary skills while working for other more experienced chefs. Typically, in the more established institutions, chefs start as prep cooks before becoming short-order cooks or line chefs. The more experienced ones become sous chefs, some executive chefs while others climb to corporate chefs.
As your culinary skills grow, you also master the different aspects of operating a restaurant or other catering operation, such as inventory control and human resource management. You may also choose to become a culinary teacher or work as a private chef under the employment of affluent individuals.
