Land And Keep A Professional Cooking Job
If you’re looking to switch careers into the culinary field, or pick up some part-time kitchen work, it takes more than a white hat and comfy shoes. Take some tips from a trained chef.
Shuna Fish Lydon is a trained chef and proprieter of the Eggbeater blog, where she gets a lot of emailed questions about working as a chef, but none so much as how to land that first gig, the apprenticeship. Here’s the start of what she sends back, and what she’s using in her own jobs search:
- Eat out as much as you can afford. Bring a little notebook and pen with you wherever you go. Take notes. When you find a menu you love, ask your waiter for the full name of the chef and pastry chef. Ask what the hours of said restaurant are.
- Print out your resume/CV and bring it, in person, to this restaurant and ask for the chef/pastry chef by full name. Only go to a restaurant before services. If a place is open for lunch and dinner it’s best to show up between 3-4 pm. Never ever ever ever call or go to a restaurant and ask for anyone managerial while service is going on.
- Flattery will get you everywhere.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg, of course, but probably the most important part of the application process—not ticking off the chef before you’ve really had a chance to make them mad. Hit the link below for Lydon’s full 18-point list of application tips, along with a good bit of advice on actually living through your early trial by fire and subsequent climb up the kitchen ladder.
Have you recently found cooking, baking, or otherwise working in the back of the house? Tell us how you did it, and what newcomers should expect, in the comments. How Do I Get a Professional Cooking/Baking Job in a Restaurant? [Eggbeater via Serious Eats]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@Doc Benway: Great book and the exact reason I decided not to pursue cooking professionally, because I know its just not for me.
@Haggie:
Absolutely correct.
Mourad Lahlou (chef of Aziza restaurant in San Francisco) on how the current economy affects his restaurant:
"Labor used to be an issue, but now the talent level has shot through the roof. It's kind of cool, but it's kind of sad-we placed an ad for a part-time server position and asked people to show up between 1 and 3 p.m.: 327 people showed up."
Source: 7x7.com
Deprong Mori
#19.) Do this when the economy is good and restaurants are having a tough time finding skilled kitchen personnel. Showing up at a kitchen after you get laid off from a six-figure dotcom job with a software sales resume will get you laughed out the door. There are thousands of trained professional chefs that are trying to find work right now.
Foodservice is either in your blood, or it's not. I spent 18 years working 6-7 days a week, 10+ hours a day, no holidays, no sick days, in 100+ degree heat. I left it to work in IT so I could get vacations, five day work weeks, and health insurance . . . but every day I get up in the morning wondering if I made the right decision.
My checks and coats are still hanging in my closet, and my knives are still sharp.
Cooks Rule!
@Doc Benway: Good call... good book.
jonny6pak
@Falaris: I used to be a cook (I'm not a trained chef) before I got into law and I sometimes miss it. Yes, it was super stressful and the hours sucked at times, but I always felt like I did a good day's work at the end of the shift and I loved being able to make things that people enjoyed and savored. I especially loved it when I got to make new creations and learn new skills in the kitchen. I guess it's not for everyone.
jonny6pak
Read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. All your questions of why will be answered. If you have never worked in a Kitchen its hard to understand.
As a Chef and Restaurateur... Experience is nice, but I have learned that somebody with little to no experience but good skill, retention, execution and a passion for the craft can be much better than a Culinary School graduate.
Don't expect banker's hours, expect to wash dishes and mop floors. It takes a "Special Kind of Crazy" to survive and thrive in this business.
With all that said, I LOVE this business, I am that kind of crazy.
Jess Owen
It is a lot of work but it is very busy work. The day flies by.
I cooked for many many years before accepting my current job and one day want to go back to it.
There is nothing more satisfying to me than making someone happy with food. Especially my wife!
hardtoremember
I love to cook, but I would never want to be a chef at a restaurant. Burning hot, high stress, and doing the same repetitive motions over and over for years. Plus your schedule is terrible. It would ruin cooking for me I think.
I don't understand why people want to work in this industry. The hours are horrible and stress is high, it's just like Information Tech... wait a minute... :(
This is excellent, my wife is nearly through cullinary school and just started her first position in a kitchen at a new restaurant. To me, your average office worker, the work environment seems horrible... hoping they get their scheduling and work flow in order soon!
azzy
Hello Lifehacker,
I must thank you officially. Today Eggbeater received more traffic than it ever has in its short lived (4 yrs) life. Almost all of it from this link.
Zow.
Thank you so much. If you find yourself in London with a sweet tooth let me know.
Shuna Lydon
F-That. Spent a year in the kitchen for money. At first a great environment with chef/owner that let me prove myself from day one, well ... only after scouring all the burners and a complete celaning of the walk in. He let me be creative and I went from prep to sous quickly because i learned fast and didn't crack on friday night service with a full house.
A very romantic time: inviting friends and indulging them on off-the-menu items, drinking Knob Creeks with the chef at close of kitchen, and running to the nearby market for last minute saffron 5 mins before first service.
After place closed I found a replacement job at Les Halles where it only took me 3 shifts of getting cursed at and blamed by an indifferent sous to quit for greener pastures.
Can't even imagine working such horrible hours and for such little pay again while trying to raise a family.
Better to be known as the ex-pro in my office where coworkers come glean ideas for their weekend dinner parties...
Ha, I work in the animation industry and I've worked in a kitchen and they're fairly similar: long hours, little benefits, crazy schedules and stressful, repetitive work and everybody smokes.
But out of the two, I consider cooking to be far less stressful.
@Doc Benway:
+1 for Kitchen Confidential, really great book - definitely worth of a read.
endon
@jonny6pak: Definately takes passion. Watching Boiling Point (Ramsay) puts it in perspective :P
@tim d: I'm with you on that, was a chef for six years before I decided to go to university. It's very hard, but also very rewarding.
littlemissellie
@UnderLoK: I went from the food industry to IT.
One of the best decisions I ever made.
@azzy: as a chef i have bad news for you. their scheduling and work flow will never get in order. it was 10 years before i saw my family on a holiday, weekends mean nothing, and days off are a great concept if it ever catches on.
jesspatrick
I love how people are comparing it to IT jobs...no. no. no. no. no. oh, and no.
@UnderLoK: I hope your kidding.
Love working in restaurants and it has saved my life many times. Restaurants are universal, worldly, places to earn and learn.
My first job in a restaurant was when I was 12 and I learned to fry cook. Any time I've needed a meal (and I have had the best culinary creations in the world), money to travel (you name it and I've been there), passion to learn(new dishes from world known chefs). I've had many careers(including IT, Advertising, Sales etc. ...) but cooking is the best and most rewarding.
I've catered movie sets, political events to statesmen, in war torn countries, resorts, and too many places to list. Every place I have cooked I learned the regional cuisine.
Prestige, a good cook can command his worth; Yet an excellent cook owns absolute power.
danahyatt
As a former restaurant manager, I'd advise anyone thinking about making this move not to do it. For every inspiring artsy Job at Charlie Trotter's, or the French Laundry, there are thousands of low-paying, repetitive and crappy jobs in kitchens. Retirement benefits are practically non-existent, unless you work for a big company. Vacation time is sub-standard when compared to other industries. You'll work weekends and holidays,when everyone with a "real job" is having fun.
Ever wonder why you don't see many older cooks? Because people grow up, realize they're being exploited, and leave the industry.
Jeff Nichols
While I won't get behind encouraging foodies to pursue a restaurant job as a change of pace from their humdrum desk jobs, I'm at least glad to have a link to send to the dozens of people who ask me how they, too, can become a chef & share in my glamorous lifestyle of burns, cuts, and 10-hours of standing while wearing support socks!
I mean, *I* love it, but there's a REASON the saying goes, "If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen."
Many restaurants and/or chef supply stores offer cooking classes. This is a great way to get connections, because often the head chef runs them. When you show up to a lot of their classes they know you are serious they might take you on.