Chefs: Cooking Up a Dream Career

Career World, Nov, 2000 by Hanna Bandes Geshelin

Chefs use their imagination and skill to make people happy.

When Angela Billings transferred to the chef program at Worcester (MA) Vocational High School, her future started to sizzle. Like many high-energy people who love pressure and a fast-paced environment, Angela loves the world of professional cooking. Unlike most careers, which depend mostly on sight and hearing, being a chef also requires you to use your senses of smell, taste, and touch. "As a chef or caterer," says Angela, "you'll feel fully alive, and you'll know the tremendous satisfaction of making people happy."

"Cooking is like a bug that you catch," says Jeff Henry, a senior at Worcester Vocational High School's Culinary Arts program. "Once it gets into your blood, you'll never be the same again. Cooking is very creative," he explains. "In a kitchen you find out what you're best at. You develop your own style. And you learn something new every day."

After Jeff graduates from high school, he'll begin work on an associate degree in hotel and restaurant management. His dream is to own his own restaurant.

Patricia Pond, a retired chef now living in Brooklyn, NY, agrees that cooking gets into the blood. "My great romance started when I was very young, in my mother's kitchen. Food is love, to give and receive. I loved all of it: long hours, late nights, and hard labor."

Wanted: Iron Chefs

"I love the heat, the fast pace, and the high pressure in a kitchen," says Damien Eftekhar, a culinary arts student at Kendall College in Evanston Illinois. The job is physically demanding. Cooks stand on their feet in hot kitchens for long hours. Comfortable shoes are a must, and support stockings common. Cooks need strength to lift ingredients--a bag of sugar or flour can weigh 25 or 50 pounds--as well as huge pots and pans and other cooking equipment. Cooks wash their hands frequently, so chapped hands and cracked skin are common, especially in the winter. "If your skin splits," explains Jennifer Sclamo, a classmate of Jeff's, "you have to wear latex gloves when you work."

Besides physical strength and the willingness to put up with minor physical problems like chapped hands, burns, and cuts, cooks need good human relations skills. Restaurant cooking is a team experience, with many players necessary to fulfill customer needs. It's almost always stressful. The restaurant might suddenly get very busy, a key person might be out sick, or an important piece of equipment might break. And some workers get short-tempered when things go wrong. Customers don't care about kitchen problems. They just want a delicious meal served promptly. This means that chefs must be able to work under pressure and overlook the irritability of other team members who also are stressed.

What's the difference between a chef, a cook, and a caterer? All are professional cooks. An executive chef is the kitchen boss, and in larger kitchens a sous chef is the second in command. Besides supervising the other kitchen staff, executive chefs decide the size of servings, plan menus, and buy food and supplies. Other cooks, sometimes called assistant or apprentice chefs, have special assignments. They might have special job titles like vegetable cook, fry cook, or sauce cook. Many restaurants also employ a baker or pastry chef. Less experienced employees do "prep": They clean, cut, and organize ingredients for the chefs and cooks, wash dishes, and do other tasks as needed. Caterers are chefs and cooks who prepare meals for special functions like weddings and business meetings.

Cooks have odd work schedules. Breakfast cooks often work from 5 a.m. until mid-morning; dinner cooks often work from mid-afternoon until late at night. And those without seniority work weekends and holidays. Working conditions vary widely, depending on the job and which part of the country you're in. Some employers provide uniforms and free meals; full-time chefs cooks, and other kitchen workers often receive benefits. In some large hotel kitchens, workers are unionized.

The Main Course (of Study)

How do you prepare for a career as a chef? First, be sure to study as much math as possible. "Cooking is all math," says Jennifer. "You have to be able to figure out how many slices of turkey you'll get off a bird so you know how many to roast. And baking requires precise measurement." You also need chemistry to understand the processes involved in food preparation. English is also important because chefs write the menu. "You have to be able to make everything sound appetizing so people will order it. You don't want to look stupid by spelling something wrong, either," says Jeff.

Beyond high school, future chefs get cooking and business training. If you think you'd like to manage or own a restaurant, a two- or four-year degree in hotel and restaurant management is important. Graduates of a culinary arts program, Where cooking skills are taught, often start in higher-level positions or in better restaurants than people without formal training.