Preface: Get information on career as a chef. Read this article
to know whether you are fit to be a chef.
While you can break into the kitchen for an entry-level position
and learn on the job, if you have aspirations to be a chef,
advanced training is a must.
The American Culinary Federation accredits over 100 formal
training programs and sponsors apprenticeship programs around
the country. Typical apprenticeships last three years and
combine classroom training and work experience. The ACF also
certifies pastry professionals and culinary educators in
addition to various levels of chefs.
Vocational or trade-school programs typically offer more basic
training in preparing food, such as food handling and sanitation
procedures, nutrition, slicing and dicing methods for various
kinds of meats and vegetables, and basic cooking methods, such
as baking, broiling and grilling.
To determine if you are cut out for a cooking career, consider
these important characteristics: chefs, cooks and food
preparation workers need to be able to work well as part of a
team, have a keen sense of taste and smell, and work efficiently
to turn out meals as quickly as possible. Knowledge of a foreign
language may improve communication with other restaurant staff,
vendors, and the restaurant's clientele.
Advancement is common in the field. For example, many food
preparation workers move easily into assistant or line cook
positions. Chefs and cooks who demonstrate an eagerness to learn
new cooking skills and to accept greater responsibility may move
up within the kitchen and take on responsibility for training or
supervising newer or lesser-skilled kitchen staff. And there are
always opportunities to move from one kitchen or restaurant to
another.
