The world of culinary arts has been gaining popularity by leaps and bounds and with it, increasing career opportunities. People are making their passion for food and cooking or baking into a successful career. Culinary arts is now a competitive environment but most larger metropolitan areas offer a good starting place for breaking into the industry. If you specialize in an area, often smaller locations are a wonderful place to start as your skills may be more in demand.
There are four common areas in the culinary art field:
- Restaurants from short order to fine dining
- Hotel and resorts
- Catering and institutional
- Personal chef
In any kitchen - from institutional to five-star dining - the various chefs all play key roles in putting meals together and planning menus.Generally, most kitchens are run in a hierarchy with the lead role belonging to the executive chef. After you graduate from culinary school, you may not begin your career as an executive chef or even a sous chef, but each role is critical to a smoothly operating kitchen.
The typical flow in the kitchen from top to bottom is:
- Executive chef
- Sous chef or Assistant chef
- Chef de Partie or Senior chef
- Demi chef or Specialty chef (for example, a sushi chef)
- Pastry chef
- Cooks - saucier, fried, seafood, salad, etc.
- Kitchen prep
The catering industry is a specialty unto itself. Catering involves different logistics as often the caterer prepares food in a commerical kitchen and then transports their creations to the event; they may also transport all the prepped items to an event and complete the preparation and cooking at the event. Caterers often hire wait staff as well.
Personal or private chefs are not only private cooks these days. They often shop and prepare food for their client (single person or family) and sometimes travel with the client to handle food preparation while on a trip. Some personal chefs have nutritional training as well and can help their clients meet specific dietary needs.
Employment in the Culinary Arts Field
After you've earned a culinary degree, there are many areas to get your career started. Most common are in different types of restaurants or hotels. Chefs can also find opportunities in hospitals, educational institutions, personal care homes, nursing homes, railways with eating cars, cruise ships, airlines and with catering companies.
Examples of jobs include chef, baker, caterer, restaurant owner, banquet manager, restaurant manager, hotel and restaurant management and ownership, baking chef, pastry chef, sous chef, and private chefs. Chefs can work in restaurants, hospitals, medical centers, schools and higher educational institutions, corporate kitchesn, personal care homes, nursing homes, railways with eating cars, cruise ships, craft and catering companies.
Often culinary schools have a job or career placement program. They may also have services that can assist in resume preparation. One of the best ways to expand your knowledge and show real world experience is to apply for externships or apprentice programs.
You may need to be willing to relocate after culinary school to secure a chef's position. Most big cities offer many opportunities as they have large numbers of various restaurants, large hotels and resorts or other entertainment facilities that require food service. Some of the best opportunities can be found in cities with high tourism as a major player in the city's economy - look into international cities that cater to a wide variety of tourists.
Pros and Cons of the Culinary Art Field
Advantages include:
- Growth of employment opportunities in recent years
- Abundance of positions expected to increase over the next decade
- Good benefits for full-time positions
Disadvantages include:
- Long work hours
- Environments where accidents can easily happen (e.g., hot ovens, slippery floors, sharp equipment used)
- Extremely stratified or hierarchial work environment
- Little or no benefits for part-time positions
Salaries in culinary arts differ from restaurant to restaurant and city to city. Generally speaking, metropolitan areas and resort towns are the best places for obtaining work in the culinary arts field. In 2008, the average salary of chefs and head cooks was just over $38,000. The lowest 10% of positions earned less than $22,000. The upper 10% of positions earned at least $66,000.
Necessary Skills
One key skill is creativity. Chefs need to be able to come up with recipes that are unique or have their own “signature mark” on them. An innovative eye and palette go a long way for a new chef. Working as an executive chef or head cook requires good leadership and communication skills and ability to motivate. Any chef must have a good sense for tasting and smelling. Personal cleanliness is a must considering state and federal licensing requirements.
