Culinary Jobs

There are hundreds of cooking schools and that can make these steps seem easier. Yes it is true that cooking schools will train you well. Your education, though expensive, would prepare you for a job in a great kitchen. Yet I am not sure that cooking school is the best way to start off in a kitchen. The majority of jobs available in kitchen don’t go beyond $9 to $11 per hour. Even if you have just graduated. The point of going to culinary school is to be prepared, except that the industry isn’t exactly anxious to pay you better when you’ve just begun.

Then there are the websites. Websites that offer to keep your resume or to rotate your resume among different employers are many. How often, though, will you be able to find a proper wage for your services? I guarantee you that no refined restaurant is just sitting around waiting to receive an email from you with your credentials.

That’s not how the industry works. Executive Chefs don’t post craigslist adds. So what is the purpose of these websites? To get you a job, sure. It’s just not going to be a well-paying job and it’s not going to be easier than doing it the old fashion way.

Industry veterans started off at entry level. What does that mean? It mean washing dishes and stocking them or on a good day, peeling shrimp. It’s important that you have a work ethic. The best way to find out the lazy members of the staff is to give them a really hard job, an unpleasant, low paying one with zero perks. Hence dish boys and girls. After you have worked for a sustained amount of time at the sink and your arms and shoulders are killing you, not to mention your feet, do you still want a job in the kitchen? If you’ve answered yes, then you’re ready for position two.

Prep cook. This is the position where you learn how to julienne and boil pasta al dente. You’ll be doing a lot of prepping of vegetables for the chefs’ mise en place. Learn the terminology, some language aptitude would really be helpful. Pay attention and arrive on time. It is important that you read your stamina levels. Do you think you can do this for 6 to 10 months without a guarantee that you will move up? Are you starting to have doubts? The more seriously you take your menial tasks the more you will learn about the kitchen and the better impression you’ll make with the senior staff. Remember your hours are only going to increase from this point on.

Line cook, or a glorified prep cook. I’m kidding, this is where you get to finally cook. Although you’ll be limited to your station, your hours will increase and your responsibilities as well. This is where you are tightly fitted into the hottest place on earth and you will produce perfectly browned or caramelized ingredients that will delight the restaurant guests. At last. Do you like inventory and organization? Good, this is where your pay increases and where you will quibble over orders of ungodly amounts of olive oil, while on your feet.

Sous chef is basically the assistant to the Executive chef. This means almost as much responsibility without as much glory. Largely, these positions are responsible for the success of a restaurant, serving as back-up to the Chef, you will be learning more than you ever imagined and adding the experience to your resume.

So what do some of the country’s most successful Chefs recommend?

1. Go eat and give compliments to the chef. Meet your potential boss and tell him or her that the food was great.
2. Come back with a resume.
3. Come in every day after that. Be persistent, show enthusiasm. Show that you really want it.
4. Settle for an stage position if nothing is available and take it seriously. Start at the dishwasher’s station if you have to. What you want to do is get your foot in the door. After that, work really hard.

Manage to stay in one place long enough to build relationships there. Learn as much as you can and network. You don’t have to go to school to do this but you do need passion, drive and the personality for it. Good luck!