Culinary Careers
Chefs, head cooks and food preparation and serving supervisors oversee the daily food service operation of a restaurant or other food service establishments. Chefs and head cooks are usually responsible for directing cooks in the kitchen, dealing with food related concerns, and providing leadership. They are also the most skilled cooks in the kitchen and use their creativity and knowledge of food to develop and prepare recipes.
Most workers in these occupations have prior experience in the food service or hospitality industries. Most start as food preparation workers or line cooks in a full service restaurant and work their way up to postions with more responsibility. Some attend cooking school or take vocational training classes and participate in internships or apprenticeship programs to acquire the additional skills needed to create menus and run a business.
For students in culinary training programs, most of their time is spent in the kitchens learning to prepare meals by practicing cooking skills. They learn knife techniques and proper use and care of kitchen equipment. Training programs also include courses in nutrition, menu planning, portion control, and purchasing and inventory methods. Students also learn sanitation and public health rules for handling food. Although formal training is an important way to enter the proffesion, many chefs are trained on the job.
Forty three percent of food preparation and serving supervisors were employed by limited service eating places, made up mostly of cafeterias and fast food restaurants and other places that offer simple carry out food items. Another twenty five percent were employed by full service restaurants. Supervisors are also found in schools, the special food service industry, and a wide variety of other places that serve food.
Some employers provide employees with uniforms and free meals, but federal law permits employers wages the cost of fair value of any meals or lodging provided, and some employers do so. Chefs, head cooks, and food preparation and serving supervisors who work full time often receive typical benefits, but part time workers usually do not. Chefs, and food preparation workers held more than 2.8 million jobs in 2000. Almost 60 percent of all chefs, cooks and food preparation workers were employed in restaurants and other retail eating and drinking places. About 20 percent worked in institutions such as schools, universities, hospitals, and nursing homes. Grocery stores, hotels and other organizations employed the remainder.
The US department of labor reports that there should be plenty of job openings for chefs, and cooks. Many current cooks are reaching retirement age or are leaving the workforce, causing a great need for talented employers. In addition to needing new chefs and cooks to replace retiring workers, employment in the food service industry is expected to expand, as more Americans spend their leisure time in restaurants rather than cooking themselves, and travel more, staying more nights in hotels.
Because of the increase in demand for higher end services, the number of openings for fast food cooks and short order cooks is expected to decline over the next ten years. In addition, as hospitals and schools attempt to make their menus and service more attractive, they are outsourcing cooking and serving in their cafeterias to third parties, resulting in fewer institutional and cafeteria chefs and cooks.
While some basic culinary skills can be learned through on the job training, to obtain a higher paying job and advance in a culinary career, you will probably need to have some advanced training.
For someone still in high school and contemplating a career as a cook or chef, the best advice is to complete high school, making sure to select, if possible, of course in math and business. If a school offers internships or training programs in food preparation, they should be taken, as they provide a sense of what a culinary career could provide.
Following high school, particularly when seeking a career as an executive chef or other managerial job, further education at a college offering culinary degrees, or at a culinary institute will provide more career opportunities with less on the job training than simply working ones way up the ladder beginning with a lesser skilled job in the kitchen.
